Crisis Management and Communication: A Comprehensive Guide
UNIT 1: The 7 Reasons for Effective Internal Communication
1. The Unit for the Purpose: Defining a clear “why” for internal communication, ensuring it is SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and opportune).
2. Control Over Messaging:
- Establish a well-defined, flexible, and fast editing process with a short approval chain.
- Create a fast and interactive channel to reach all employees, leveraging mobile technology to build trust and control messaging.
3. Support of Middle Management: Implement a cascade of information, addressing the need to prepare millennials for management roles.
4. Brand Promise and Consumer Satisfaction: Empower employees to deliver on the brand promise and exceed customer expectations.
5. Crisis Management: Strengthen internal communication to effectively manage crises and maintain stakeholder trust.
6. Enhanced Work Environment: Foster a positive and productive work environment through transparent and engaging communication.
7. Transparency and Rumor Control: Minimize rumors and promote transparency through open and proactive communication.
UNIT 2: The 8 Scales of Cross-Cultural Communication
1. Communicating: Explicit vs. Implicit – Understanding how different cultures convey messages directly or indirectly.
2. Evaluating: Direct vs. Indirect Negative Feedback – Navigating cultural norms around providing constructive criticism.
3. Persuading: Deductive vs. Inductive – Adapting persuasive communication styles based on cultural preferences for logic and evidence.
4. Leading: Egalitarian vs. Hierarchical – Recognizing cultural differences in leadership styles and organizational structures.
5. Deciding: Consensual vs. Top-Down – Understanding decision-making processes across cultures, from collaborative approaches like Japan’s Ringi system to more centralized models.
6. Trusting: Exploring how trust is built and maintained in various cultural contexts.
7. Disagreeing: Confrontational vs. Avoid Confrontation – Managing disagreements effectively while respecting cultural norms for expressing dissent.
8. Scheduling: Structured vs. Flexible – Adapting to different cultural perceptions of time, from linear and schedule-oriented to more fluid and flexible approaches.
- Linear Time: Sequential task completion, one step at a time.
- Flexible Time: Fluid task management, adapting to opportunities as they arise.
UNIT 3: Crisis Plan
Pre-Crisis Phase
1. Introduction: Importance of preparation, including updating the Crisis Management Plan (CMP), establishing a Crisis Management Team (CMT), conducting drills, and drafting key messages.
2. CMP: Developing a comprehensive plan outlining roles, responsibilities, and procedures for crisis situations.
3. CMT: Assembling a multidisciplinary team with representatives from public relations, security, legal, operations, finance, and human resources.
4. Spokesperson: Designating and training individuals to effectively communicate with stakeholders during a crisis.
5. Pre-Drafted Messages: Preparing key messages in advance to ensure timely and accurate communication.
6. Communication Channels: Identifying and establishing reliable channels for disseminating information internally and externally.
Crisis Response
1.Intro: The public relations help develop messages that will be sent to different audiences, there is a enqvistigacion to create the response to the crisis, divided into 2; Initial response and reputation repair and behavioral intentions.
2.Initial response: the experience of the practitioners and the investigations have been mixed to give some guidelines on how to act in the face of the crisis based on 3 pts; be quick , precious and constant. VACUUM OF INFO.
Tips: – You have to be quick and try to have an initial response within the first hour.
– Be necessary to check all the facts. – Keep the spokespersons. – Make public safety a number one priority. – To offer an expression of concern for the victims. – Be prepared for advice on the stress and trauma victims
3.Reputation repair: -Attack -Negation -Scapegoat -Excuse -Provocation -Factibility (lack of info about the events led to the crisis) -Accidental -Good intentions -Justification -Reminder -Compensation -Sorry.
4.What to do?:
-For crises with minimal attributions of responsibility of instensificadores criris and without factors: The instruction information and response is sufficient.
-To “”” and a factor of intensification: add strategies as an excuse or justification.
-To crisis with attributions of responsibility for crisis and without intensifiers: add strategies as an excuse or justification and response.
-“” With a instensificador factor: add compensation strategy and or apology.
-To crisis with strong powers of responsibility of crisis: add compensatory strategies or apology more info of instruction and response.
POS-CRISIS PHASE.
1.Tips:
“Give me all of the information promised to the parties interested as soon as you know the info.
-Keep to the stakeholders in the progression and recovery efforts.
-Analyze the cirisis management effort to draw lessons.