- Opening statement/Definition
Firms and business enterprises are sometimes faced by different crisis and emergencies that necessitate quick action to prevent further loses or property damage. Therefore, different enterprises require a dynamic workforce that can actively work as a team to be able to enhance a quick recovery of a given organization from a given crisis. As a result of potential crisis within the corporate market, many organizations have crisis communication plans that are set up even during times of stability in order to enhance effective and swift approach to arising crisis.
- Risk Assessment
Firm of all, effective response to a crisis requires thorough audit. Plans of how to assess a risk should be prepared for in advance. Based on the type of crisis, it is important to determine who has the privilege of being in the crisis response team. People have different abilities and not every member can be able to actively participate in a given crisis. Specialization is essential to make sure that the crisis is solved quicker and amicably. The team that is selected to be part of the communication crisis team should focus on the impacts of the crises on vital facets of a given organization. This should include the management functionality, smoothness of operations, internal cohesiveness of the organization which would include the relationships between the management and the workforce.
- Developing the Plan
First of all, a well-defined hierarchy is essential for an effective communicant crisis plan. It is therefore important to establish a chain of command in the team that plans to respond to a crisis (Guth & Marsh 47). Despite a detailed chain of command it is important to understand that the quality of participants in the plan dictates how quick a response measure can be attained. There needs to be an elaborate process that is used to recruit members into the communication crisis team. The cohesiveness of the command chain makes sure that information is checked and evaluated before it reaches the public domain.
However, one thing that is worth noting is that information may at times leak into the public sphere without the consent of the crisis team. In such a case the communication crisis team has to be prepared to counter the different responses that the company might get from the public. The crisis plan team has to be prepared to lay out a mechanism that will be able to protect the brand of a given organization. The mechanism has to be quick and effective bearing in mind that information in the social media and other tools used by the general public moves relatively fast. This means that other mechanisms such the process of recruiting members in the team should be quick so that the company can be in position to quickly salvage its reputation.
- Response
There are different kinds of crisis that might face a given company. Some of the crisis that a company might suffer from includes natural hazards such as fire. Other crisis might include internal operations such as the embezzlement of company funds as well as other vices such as company debts. These types of crisis pose the risk of tarnishing the brand of a given company. Therefore, an effective communication channel has to be laid in place in order to make sure that the situation does not get worse by leaking into the public domain. The communication crisis team should have ‘response templates’ which has a solid framework upon which the team can rely on in case of a crisis. This allows the team to be prepared in advance. Preparation in advance allows the team to do various safety practices so that they are prepared to deal with a real crisis.
- Recovery
It is important to note that any crisis that faces a company or any other organization has an impact. Due to the crisis wrong information and facts might get into the public domain. Therefore the communication crisis plan team has to be prepared to spearhead mechanisms that will jump into the public domain to answer burning questions that the general public might have, as well as correct the misrepresentations of the company that might be in the public domain (Mickey 23). In this way the company or organization can be able to fix the situation brought about by the crisis as well as protect their brand in the public eye.
Works Cited
Mickey, Thomas J.. Deconstructing public relations public relations criticism. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2003. Print.
Guth, David, and Charles Marsh. Public relations: a values-driven approach. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2011. Print.
