Crisis Management
Sooner or later, every organization with any kind of vitality gets into trouble. That trouble could stem from the misdeeds of an employee, rising public sentiment again a policy or an unpopular business decision such as deciding on a particular plant location or laying off a number of employees.
Every organization should have a plan in place to deal with crisis. At a minimum, such a policy should designate a single spokesperson and mandate the creation a communications tree or checklist that allows everyone concerned to be notified quickly in case of emergency. A communications tree states who the people to be notified are and what their telephone, cell phone, private e-mail and fax numbers are. From there, the first recipient of an emergency call knows exactly who to notify in turn and so on, down the line, until the entire crisis team has been alerted.
Be aware, however that like the old party game, each caller on the crisis communication tree will add to or forget to mention something about the problem. For that reason, the best way to relay a message is to simply state the problem in one sentence and then pass on a set time for the team to meet in person.
Once the team has gathered and gone over the facts, the individual in charge must determine the organization's position and that position must be everyone's position. When outsiders learn that a crisis team member has the inside story, they will ask questions and the only appropriate response is the organization's official position and nothing more. When the press calls, a position of "no comment" is never acceptable because the reporter has a responsibility to gather information from wherever he or she can and simply for the sake of accuracy, that should be your appointed spokesperson.
"We're in trouble"
The worst crisis is one where your organization failed in some way to follow common sense or its own policies. While lawyers may argue differently, history has shown that being forthright from the very beginning is the best possible course of action. Eventually, the facts come out, and if your organization has sidestepped responsibility or denied responsibility from the outset, then you can expect blame and deepening public mistrust.
At the outset of a problem, sometimes not all the facts are known. In that case, again be honest and say so but promise that once the facts are known, you will issue a candid statement and answer questions.
Treasurer caught stealing
Suppose you were managing a small city of 50,000 population and were enjoying good economic growth, well-managed schools and stable employment. Out of the blue, the state police arrest your city treasurer and accuse him of embezzling more than $100,000 over a period of two years. As the mayor, you know the individual well, have played golf with him and entertained his family in your home. As far as you know, he is a model city treasurer.
The crisis begins when someone calls you and says that "The City Treasurer has been arrested for stealing city money." Consider your situation:
You don't have all the facts. Before responding to any questions, you need to know exactly what has happened. You need to do that fact-gathering quickly because as a public official, you will be asked very soon. Your first response might be, "Our Treasurer? Couldn't be! I've known him for years!"
That response is not only inappropriate, it is just plain dumb. You are in no position to defend the treasurer on a personal level and in fact, have no responsibility to do so. Your organization, in this case city government, is your real responsibility.
Public reaction to a situation like this is very dangerous and you would be well advised to consider it as you formulate a response:
"That's the last time the Mayor gets my vote!"
We always recommend that any statement of this type begin with a positive note. That could be to mention that city government has an unblemished record going back 125 years or that your city wins awards for good government or whatever is truthful and appropriate to the moment. Your statement should also speak to the criticism that you know will be coming. This will preempt some of it and allow you to again position your organization as solid and honest. The statement should reiterate the facts as you know them, even though that can sometimes be painful, and lay out the course of corrective action that you and your crisis team have come up with.
An occurrence such as the one described will damage the past equity the city has built up in terms of favorable public opinion. In future months and years, when something similar happens in another town or city nearby, the daily newspapers can be expected to remind their readers that your treasurer was caught stealing. That's the nature of newspaper reporting and there is nothing you can do about it except put safeguards in place to keep it from ever happening again and then describing those safeguards in detail to the press once they are in place.
Large & Page Communications, Inc. 242 Newbury Street, Hartford, CT 06114-2234