Showing posts with label crisis communications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crisis communications. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Thursday, August 31, 2017
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Be ready or you won’t like the results
By: Scott Stein, VP of Client Services, Leonard & Finco Public Relations
Having a thorough crisis communications plan for your business has always been important. In today’s 24 / 7 communications world, it’s even more important. You want to be prepared if something does happen.
What is needed in your crisis communication plan? Here are a few suggestions...
Having a thorough crisis communications plan for your business has always been important. In today’s 24 / 7 communications world, it’s even more important. You want to be prepared if something does happen.
What is needed in your crisis communication plan? Here are a few suggestions...
- Select a Crisis Communication Team. The team should include the company CEO, a VP, your PR person, senior management and the company attorney.
- Identify potential crises that could happen. Every day there are news stories about a business in crisis. Don’t be swayed by the “that could never happen here” attitude.
- Set up clear procedures and protocols to follow when a crisis occurs. Include a task & timeline that spells out specific duties and who should take care of those tasks.
- Select and train a spokesperson. Having the right person front and center is crucial. It may or may not be the company CEO. Be sure he or she is the right person in front of the microphones and cameras. Your CEO may also have higher priorities during the crisis.
- Set clear media policies and procedures and be sure everyone in the company knows what to do if the media contacts them.
- ID your target audiences and don’t forget to communicate to your internal audience.
- Draft sample news releases / media statements. When the crisis is taking place is no time to start writing a news release or media statement. Have some basic releases / statements prepared in advance that can be filled in with the specifics of the situation.
- Based on your target audiences, compile contact lists. Be sure to include media outlets, vendors, staff, regulators, local officials and others who may need to be contacted.
Once your crisis communication plan is developed, don’t let
it sit on a shelf and gather dust. Review it, update it and practice it
regularly so you’re ready to go if a crisis hits.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
PR Lessons from a Tragedy
By: Cole Buergi, VP of Business Development, Leonard & Finco Public Relations
My deepest sympathies go out to family and friends of the
passengers and crew of Germanwings flight 9525. It’s tragic that the co-pilot, reportedly
suffering from depression, locked the pilot out of the cockpit and deliberately
crashed the airliner in the French Alps killing all 150 on board.
Crisis situations such as this bring to the forefront the importance of having a well thought out crisis communications plan prepared in the event of a tragedy, whether purposely done or caused by accident.
Clearly, Germanwings and its parent company Lufthansa, did not have a plan in place, chose to ignore it or simply got bad advice judging by Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr’s comments a day after the crash. He reportedly said the co-pilot passed all medical and aviation test and was 100 percent able to fly without any reservations. He added that, “Nothing was noticed that wasn’t proper,” referring to the co-pilot’s status. Just days later, Spohr was backtracking, acknowledging that the airline was aware the co-pilot had suffered from depression in the past.
In a crisis situation, it’s important to respond in a timely fashion. Equally important is the response be well thought out and accurate. In this case, Spohr should have simply stated that Lufthansa was working with the investigation team to understand what happened and that Lufthansa is fully cooperating with law enforcement during the investigation; reviewing its own files to get a clear picture of the pilot and co-pilot’s history. Remember, at the point Spohr provided his comments, no one knew precisely what happened.
Crisis situations such as this bring to the forefront the importance of having a well thought out crisis communications plan prepared in the event of a tragedy, whether purposely done or caused by accident.
Clearly, Germanwings and its parent company Lufthansa, did not have a plan in place, chose to ignore it or simply got bad advice judging by Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr’s comments a day after the crash. He reportedly said the co-pilot passed all medical and aviation test and was 100 percent able to fly without any reservations. He added that, “Nothing was noticed that wasn’t proper,” referring to the co-pilot’s status. Just days later, Spohr was backtracking, acknowledging that the airline was aware the co-pilot had suffered from depression in the past.
In a crisis situation, it’s important to respond in a timely fashion. Equally important is the response be well thought out and accurate. In this case, Spohr should have simply stated that Lufthansa was working with the investigation team to understand what happened and that Lufthansa is fully cooperating with law enforcement during the investigation; reviewing its own files to get a clear picture of the pilot and co-pilot’s history. Remember, at the point Spohr provided his comments, no one knew precisely what happened.
To say anything more creates the opportunity for a situation
like this. By saying one thing and then being proven wrong creates doubt that
Lufthansa may lack the process and procedures to adequately assess who is
mentally capable to fly for their airline. Not only does it make Spohr seem
like he doesn’t know what he’s doing, it also casts a dark shadow over safety
on Lufthansa and Germanwings.
What do you think the airline should have said – or not
said? What other examples do you have of
crisis management gone wrong or, more importantly, done right?
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