What Now—the storm has passed?

As we farewell a difficult summer, any organisation that isn’t seriously considering a crisis communication strategy, must be living under a rock.

It is a common mistake for organisations to think only of their public relations function at times of crisis and celebration. Most public relations professionals love a party, but they also understand the importance of managing reputation every other day. The difficulty at times is convincing less conscious companies that reputation management is a 24/7 commitment that requires a place in the executive management structure. So, why is a position on the management team so essential; and what can public relations do to help protect an organisation from potential harm? 

First and foremost, having a function at the top which deals specifically with reputation is fundamental to ensuring that every aspect of how an organisation engages with its wider networks is consistent with its Mission. From a position of management, information can be exchanged more effectively through the management structure and across all functions of the organisation. This also assists the strategic process by helping to keep everyone on the same course. Often it is friction caused by fractional ideals and misunderstandings that creates the most potential for risk.

Managing effective communication processes across the whole organisational landscape helps to gain a better understanding of differing perspectives and potentials for things to go astray. Capable public relations managers assist organisations to become more conscious to potentials for harm through developing and adopting research practices that include consultation, environmental scanning, risk mapping, scenario planning and measurable evaluation.

Most importantly communication should be consistent, transparent and authentic. In this way a more effective and holistic communication structure can be evolved to assist maintaining a positive culture across the organisation. But what happens if a major issue develops from left field that no amount of internal planning can predict? 

This is often a time of great stress on resources and warrants the need for a collective approach. In the unlikely event of a major crisis, the public relations function can play a vital role in coordinating and effectively communicating relevant and consistent information during volatile and rapidly changing times. At no other time in an organisation’s history does information need to be completely aligned to the core values and expressed in unison.

Crisis communication strategies of the past have included establishing a crisis response centre where information is gathered and processed, and a senior spokesperson is responsible for all outgoings, thus limiting the opportunity for confusion or miscommunication. With recent communication technology developments, organisations have had to develop more intelligent methods of communicating across their networks to ensure continuity. At a recent military communications conference, the Head of the US Coast Guard spoke about adopting Twitter as his response to the dangers of uncontrolled communication. By tweeting to his chain of command he is able to be more confident that everyone is speaking from the same script. A social media response component is an important addition to any savvy crisis communication strategy today.

Perhaps one of the most important things an organisation can understand in relation to crisis management is that the public relations function shouldn’t be wound down, once a storm has passed. Often, the public relations role is seen as something to be wheeled out when necessary, but otherwise kept in the store room with the party lights and ghosts of Christmas past. 

Human nature is such that negative perceptions hang in the air well after a crisis has finished. If there is work to be done to restore faith in an organisation, particularly in relation to its key stakeholders, this work can take many months. It is perhaps the most important time for public relations to play a major role in management as this is a time for evaluating the crisis in terms of its impact on future direction; reassuring nervous stakeholders; rebuilding of reputation; and if managed very carefully, even an opportunity to capitalise on the momentum of any positive outcomes.  Once trust is gone, it is an extremely difficult and slow process towards organisational health.

Great insight, strength and determination are required on the part of all key personnel to regain faith in their Mission, lead by example and recover abundant relationships. This more than any other is the function of effective public relations.

Share your thoughts on the role of public relations in crisis communication.