Steps For Good Organizational Crisis Communication

By Gary Ward


Crisis communication is how a company, organization or individual defend their reputation whenever the public challenges it. These events are unpredictable and can seriously impact the organization and their performance. It will also threaten on the expectations the stakeholders have and might generate negative outcomes if not handled properly.

Preparation is important in minimizing the damage it will potentially have to let all people concerned know of what is happening. Failure to do so will make it harder and longer to achieve a resolution and may have more severe impact financially and on the reputation. Here are some steps for having a good organizational crisis communication in Washington city.

Anticipate all potential crises that can occur by having your team brainstorm or because something will happen after a big decision would be made. Doing this would make you realize that they can be prevented by changing some methods of operation currently existing. You will also have time to think about possible response rather than when pressured by an actual problem.

Identify the team members that will handle situations like these including the head officers of all departments. You could also hire a consultant that specializes in this and another with specific knowledge related to the crisis. Legal counsels are not advisable because they are more concerned about the legalities than public opinion which is just as important.

Train in advance some spokespersons who are authorized to speak in behalf of the organization so they will be ready when the crisis breaks. Some are better at written communication while others at public speaking so assigned their responsibilities accordingly. Leaders are not necessarily good public speakers so a spokesperson can do this instead of them.

They must be properly trained in knowing the ways in giving information that are necessary for the interested parties to know. People tend to focus more on other things than those messages that are more important for the company. Having them trained helps in preparing them to minimize the possibilities of media and stakeholders misunderstanding it.

A notification system should be established to allow you to reach the stakeholder with the use of different methods available. This is a way to assure they the message will be received by everyone because using only one method does not guarantee their receipt. There is an available technology where it keeps contacting them until it is confirmed.

A monitoring system is also useful to track down what others are talking about you and the crisis currently being experienced. They are technologies available that can help you do this and these services are either free or not depending on the features you need. Monitoring their feedback will help you in adapting strategies and tactics accurately.

Develop holding statements that would be sent to those involved whenever a crisis will happen after anticipating the possible ones that could happen. When it happens, assess the situation clearly before implementing the actions you have prepared for it in advance. Then analyze after on the things that you have learned from it and use them in preventing and preparing for another possible problem.




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