Crisis Communication

Crisis can be defined as “a major catastrophe that may occur either naturally or as a result of human error, intervention or even malicious intent. It can include tangible devastation, such as the destruction of lives or assets, or intangible devastation, such as the loss of an organization’s credibility or other reputational damage. The latter outcomes maybe result of management’s response to tangible devastation or the result of human error.”

Characteristics of Crisis

Crises may hit different organizations in different ways. The impact of crises is also different from one another. However, they do share some common characteristics. They are:

Element of Surprise – A crisis is never an expected event. It takes everyone by surprise.

Insufficient Information – Since a crisis is an unexpected event, no one would have enough information to explain the details right away.

The Quick Pace of Events – In a crisis situation, things happen at very rapid pace and the news of the crisis spreads all over the world very quickly. It is important to stay calm and not panic in such a situation.

Intense Scrutiny – A crisis situation always attracts lot of attention and is a subject of intense scrutiny.

Company Example

The Pepsi Cola Crisis of 1993 is an example which proves the above points. The newspapers came up with the report of a syringe found in one of Pepsi’s products Diet Pepsi. The company suddenly came under the scanner for all wrong reasons. The CEO of Pepsi-Cola Craig E.Weatherup found himself facing the media, the public and also government officials all together. His immediate course of action ensured that the situation was brought under control. His course of action to deal with the crisis ensured that he answered to all the affected constituencies. He used the Media and also the Government to his advantage which helped the company to regain the trust of the public.

Communicating During Crisis

The first thing that has to be done during a crisis situation is not to panic and get control of the situation. This is very important as without control, things can take their own direction and it becomes very difficult to handle the situation later. Next, managers have to gather as much information about the situation possible. The management will have to face the media, public and other affected constituencies sooner or later for which they will need all the information available. A centralized crisis management center will have to be setup. This facilitates the communication process and helps a great deal in handling the situation. Management will then have to communicate with the media, public and all affected constituencies quickly and frequently to keep them updated about the proceedings. The media will have to be dealt with care as they are the management’s window to the world. A major source of information to the public is the media and hence care must be taken in communicating with the media.
The management should also realize that the world moves on despite the crisis and managers should concentrate on continuing the business and bringing things back to normal. Plans should also be made to avoid another crisis immediately and also in future.

Visit the following site to get a detailed crisis communication plan

http://www3.niu.edu/newsplace/crisis.html

My Experience

The Parliament of India came under attack by terrorists on the 13th of December 2001. Although cynics may argue that security lapses allowed the terrorists to get into the premises of the Parliament, terrorists attacks are unexpected and there are examples world-wide to show security lapses in the best of security forces. As soon as everyone realized that terrorists had attacked the Parliament, all the doors leading inside were closed. The Gates of the Parliament were also shut, leaving the terrorists no means of escape. The Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Black Cats - the Para-Military forces of India were immediately alerted and they swung into action in no time and killed all the terrorists. One woman security guard was also killed in the incident. But the immediate action of the Para-Military forces ensured that the terrorists did not damage the Parliament and also everyone inside the Parliament was safe.
This is one crisis situation which was handled very well. The local police alerted the Para-Military forces as soon as the terrorists attacked. This ensured that the best people handled the situation. The forces did not give room for the terrorists to create any further damage. People who were in the Parliamentary surroundings and also Media who were present at the Parliament on that day covering the news were kept at a distance so that the terrorists would not be able to create a hostage situation. After the attacks the Media and the public were given complete information about the attacks. Security measures in and around the Parliament and also around all important government buildings have been increased to prevent such attacks in future.