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 or a disruption in service due to a natural disaster.

 

The worst crisis is one when your organization fails 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 failed to be candid from the outset, then you can expect blame and deepening public mistrust. In fact, often the bad publicity will linger for days, weeks or months. But bad news can pass quickly if it is treated honestly from the beginning.

 

Without thorough preparation, it is almost impossible to react to a crisis in a way that will minimize damage. We have found that training exercises that simulate actual TV news interviews and insistent, probing reporters’ calls are a valuable investment.

 

We provide both half-and full-day crisis training called, “How to Work With the Press.” It uses real newspaper reporters and a real TV news crew and all interviews are recoded and then played back to those in attendance for critique. Every participant experiences an interview and everyone learns how easy it is to make a mistake that might just appear later on TV. Discussion material includes crisis communication preparation, answering difficult questions and valuable information about what journalists and reporters really want to know when they interview someone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large & Page Communications, Inc.