Crisis Management

Crisis management is perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of running a business. Nevertheless, there are several key principles involved in crisis management and adopting the wrong tactics can either escalate or defuse a crisis depending on the methodology used.

Once your management is grounded in the core principles and methodologies, we can respond effectively to a wide range of specific crises. Anticipating the types of crises that a company is likely to encounter can help develop useful strategies. Furthermore, the skills required to respond to a crisis can be amplified and honed in these simulated crisis situations.

From our experience we have discerned certain basic principles, including the following:

Media Interest
The media is the prime driver behind most crises and you need to understand them, much the same way you understand your customers and competitors. Business can never rely exclusively on the media to deliver its message.

Identify the problem and apply the strategy
An organisation must first make certain that it is addressing the core problem, and not the side issue. Once the problem has been defined, you can determine the goals of the crisis management process and the strategy to drive this process. This strategy must be flexible and tailored to the problem you are trying to solve rather than an artificially imposed standard of “good” or “bad” crisis management.

Manage the flow of information
The media is responsible for a lot of misinformation and this can either be intentional or unintentional. Such misinformation can distort public perceptions and proper corporate decision-making. Consequently, managing the flow of information is critically important in a crisis situation.

Things could get worse before they get better
Working on the basis that the situation is likely to get worse before it gets better. Be careful not to be overly optimistic or make categorical statements early on in a crisis.

Measure results in real time
Crises grow and evolve. It is critical that you monitor the effectiveness of any crisis management campaign to evaluate the effectiveness of any crisis management strategy. Snap surveys, select polling and specific target groups can provide useful data regarding the public perception of your problem within 48 hours of its unfolding.

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