By Sydney Ayers
"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition."
Yes, this line is from a Monty Python skit, and devotees know this particular skit had cast members representing priests from the Inquisition showing up at the most inopportune
times to torture others with such things as a "cushy pillow" and a "comfy chair."
If only that was the case in today's business world, where crises show up unwanted and unannounced, often catching people unprepared.
A recent survey reported in an industry trade publication found that 53% of marketing execs have experienced a business crisis resulting in negative news. The same survey also
found that 57% of these execs admitted their companies did not have a crisis plan in place.
While executives often cannot predict a crisis, they can expect one will affect their organizations at some point. We view a crisis as any critical event or period of time
that can bring significant change, either good or bad. Crises generally can be separated in to two categories: surprise events and non-surprise events. A surprise event is
anything "out of the blue," like plane crashes, death of a key officer, fire or earthquake. A non-surprise event is one that management should/could have foreseen, such as
layoffs, mergers or lawsuits.
We have developed a crisis matrix that analyzes crises and helps clients navigate through them. One axis rates whether the event is surprise or expected. The second axis
defines the interest level, or newsworthiness, of an event.
Crises with high public interest are the events that will thrust your company or your client's company into the media spotlight and, if handled poorly, will keep it there.
Scandals, embezzlements, major recalls and sudden tragedy often can become newsworthy, regardless of whether they are surprise or non-surprise events..
While there are no hard and fast ways to address a crisis, there are a few universal truths that apply to virtually every potential crisis situation:
1. Have a crisis plan. Having a crisis plan seems so basic, yet, as evidenced above, many companies don't have one in place. The plan need not be extensive because there is
no way to anticipate every eventuality. A good plan should simply provide a general roadmap for the crisis team and enable them to make effective decisions under extreme
pressure.
2. Assign roles for the crisis team ahead of time. The crisis team should include executives, subject-matter experts and others who can provide the appropriate level of
information to those requiring it. Team members also need to be senior enough within the company to lend credibility. No one is going to listen to the assistant to the assistant
of the president.
3. Prepare spokespeople. Reporters and others know that not all questions they ask can be answered. Spokespeople need to be prepared to answer a variety of questions posed.
Equally important is helping them learn how to say "no comment" without actually saying it [for more tips for dealing with tough media situations, see page 1].
4. Communicate to employees at the appropriate level. The aforementioned article correctly pointed out that even though the media will demand answers when a crisis hits, the
most important constituency is the organization's employees. Imagine learning your company is in the throes of a crisis in the morning paper. Employees are the foot soldiers in
the community at large. While they don't need to know every detail, they do need to understand what is happening, how they will be affected and what the organization is doing to
address the situation.
5. Communicate when the crisis is over. This is an important step that some organizations miss, thus extending the life of the crisis. During a crisis that recently affected a
university campus, it became clear the crisis was over when reporters resorted to asking the same questions again and again. At that point, the public information officer declared
the crisis over. Did that mean the university had closed the door on further public comment? Of course not. Dialogue continues, but no longer is it in crisis mode. PRN
CONTACT:
Sydney Ayers is the CEO of Ayers Strategic Public Relations, and a member of PRSA/Counselors Academy. She can be reached at sydney@ayers-
pr.com.