Be prepared to solve crises
By now it’s an accepted fact that organizations of all kinds need crisis management plans in place. Where some encounter trouble is the fact that you need to be ready and able to actually execute these plans. In a recent blog post on MeetContent.com, Georgy Cohen offered these bits of wisdom:
- Know their roles
The crisis team should be operating from a common playbook. When a crisis hits, there should be a process in place for convening available team members and assigning roles. This should be a well-rehearsed process, and there should be no surprises—there is no time for surprises. - Be empowered to fulfill them
This means everything from being fully trained to having administrative access to the blog to knowing that in the absence of approval from Stakeholder A and Stakeholder B, she can go ahead and hit “send” on the big message. Empowerment and knowledge mitigate uncertainty and inaction.
Seems obvious, right? Yet you would be stunned at the number of CEO’s that don’t have, for example, the passwords for their own organization’s social media accounts. One rogue late-night Tweet and your reputation is on the line until you can wake the right person. Talk about a crisis waiting to happen!
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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. , an international crisis management consultancy, and author of Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training.]