Category: Organization Development

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Frequently Asked Questions About Peer Coaching Groups

peer-coaching-groups

Frequently Asked Questions About Peer Coaching Groups (PCGs)

We assume that you have already read the information on the page Start a Virtual Support Group to Help With Stresses of COVID-19. The information on that page would answer all of the typical questions about planning and operating a support group. However, the following questions still tend to get asked. The phrases “support group” and “peer coaching group” (PCG) are used interchangeably.

About the PCG Process

About Membership

About Facilitating

About Coaching

About Modifying the PCG Process

About Using Materials and Getting Help

Who Are the “Peers” in PCGs?

All members are “peers” in that they come together as equals to support every member’s progress during the group’s meetings. Thus, in a PCG intended as a support group, you could have a senior executive from one company with a secretary from another company — and they’d still be peers in the group.

How Are the PCGs So Good at Helping Members to Support Each Other?

Support means more than letting people express their feelings — and affirming and validating them, as well. It also means helping people to perceive their situations differently and to act on those situations. PCGs are great for helping people to do all of that. In PCGs around the world over the past two decades, members often report that networking and support are the two biggest outcomes that they are getting from each other.

How Can People Feel Safe and Accepted in PCGs?

All of the members in the PCG have something in common — they all understand each other’s situation. Members also share biographies and introductions with each other. The ground rules (that are asserted at the beginning and end of each meeting) ensure confidentiality, that all opinions are honored and that members can respectfully disagree with each other.

However, the most powerful experience of safety and acceptance for each member is when he or she is getting help from other members in each meeting. Help is in the form of nonjudgmental feedback, advice and thoughtful questions, as well as contacting each other between meetings.

Are PCGs Really Just Therapy Sessions?

No. PCGs are focused on each member’s current priority in life or work, and about what he or she can realistically do about it before the next group meeting. Unlike therapies, PCGs are not focused on continuing to analyze each member’s past in order to address a strong, recurring emotional and/or mental problem that has had a significant and adverse effect on the member’s life. (Note that some approaches to therapy, for example, Carl Roger’s self-directed therapy, would seem somewhat similar to the approach used in support groups.)

Don’t I Have to Be a Therapist to Do a Support Group?

No. There is a large number of support groups started by the members themselves. Many of the topics correspond to the vast range of medical maladies that many people experience around the world. In those groups, members help each other by doing what many people do with their friends: they listen, they affirm, they encourage and they empower.

How is the PCG Process Evaluated?

Near the end of group meeting, each member shares out loud, a rating of the quality of that meeting from “1” (very low) to “5” (very high), and what he or she could have done during that meeting in order to improve that meeting. Also, more comprehensive evaluations can be done half-way through the number of meetings and shortly after the last meeting.

Where Can I Get Members for My PCG?

There are millions of people concerned about the virus and many of them have concerns like these. To recruit two to four people for your group, you could reach out to your friends, neighbors, members of organizations that you belong to, contacts in your social media groups and contacts in your email. Give them the Web address of this page Help Each Other Deal With COVID-19 Impacts and ask them to read the “Introduction.” It concisely explains the need for support groups and how they could be so very helpful.

I Want to Join a PCG. Can You Help Me?

At this point, we are not equipped to manage a waiting list of facilitators and potential group members, and then to begin matching them together. Thus, we are counting on people to self-organize their own groups now. (If you’ve got ideas, we’d love to hear them.)

How Can a Person Know If They’ll Be a Suitable PCG Member?

If a person isn’t sure whether they would be comfortable in a PCG process, then read this article and decide:

What Do I Do When I Facilitate?

The specific tasks of the facilitator are itemized in the section “Facilitation Tasks” in the Quick Reference. There are even more specific talking points in facilitating through a Quick Reference in the document:

Where Can I Learn Even More About Facilitating PCGs?

In addition to the tasks in the section “What does the facilitator do?” in the Circles Quick Reference, the facilitator could review the guidelines in the following document:

That document is about when to intervene, what to do if the process is not working for some members, how to deal with conflict, how to address problems in attendance and participation, how to remove and add members, and how to deal with strong emotions.

How Do I Know What Priority to Get Coached On?

Choose whatever priority is most important to you now. You are the expert at what is most important to you. Do not worry about how small or large in scope that the priority is. Your priority can change from one meeting to another.

What is “Coaching” in Each Meeting?

Coaching is the nature of the help that members use to help each other in their meetings, whether it is advice, brainstorming or thoughtful questions.

NOTE: There are strong feelings, especially among practitioners in the profession of personal and professional coaching, that coaching is only the asking of thoughtful questions. Thus, they might strongly disagree with the above definition of coaching. However, the goal of PCGs for support is to be helpful to each member according to their nature and current needs in their meetings.

What Are Some Coaching Approaches (or Models) to Use in PCGs?

There is a vast number of coaching models available to practitioners today. Many of them pertain primarily to one-on-one coaching formats. However, in a group format like PCGs, there are several people coaching concurrently and their time is limited for all of them together. Thus, it is often best to use models that are simple and straightforward to use in a group.

Two examples are “Head, Heart, Hands,” meaning to ask questions about what the member thinks and then feels, but then always what he or she will do (for example, with the hands). Another example is “Caring, Curious and Concise,” meaning that all questions should come from a place of caring and curiosity regarding the member who is currently getting coached in a meeting. Also, because of the tight time frame in a meeting, all questions should be posed concisely to the member.

How Do I Know What Kind of Help to Give a Member?

You might ask the member who is currently getting help during the “Coaching Time Slots” part in the meeting. For example, ask “What kind of help would be most useful to you now? Advice? Materials? Questions? Brainstorming?”

What If a Member Finishes Their Time Slot Early?

Each time slot should include the member’s selecting at least one realistic action to take before the next meeting. If a member believes that he or she has finished the coaching because an action was selected already, then the member should get coached on how that action could occur. The coaching should continue until all of the member’s allotted time has been used.

What is “Successful” Coaching?

A member is doing successful coaching if he or she is continually attending to the member who is currently getting helped. Successful coaching does not mean that the member’s priority or problem has been successfully solved.”

How Do I Know What Actions to Take Between Meetings?

The actions that you take (as a result of the help that you get from other group members) is up to you to select. However, it should be an action that is realistic to accomplish before the next meeting.

How Much Can I Modify the Process?

You can modify the process to suit the nature of needs of your members. However, you should always retain:

1) individual time for each member to get coached in each meeting,

2) verifying that each member’s actions from the coaching are indeed realistic, and

3) an evaluation activity in each meeting that requires each member to rate (out loud) the quality of each meeting.

How Can I Modify the PCG to Suit My Culture?

If you believe that your members would benefit from having the PCG process adapted to a particular culture. then use the guidelines in this article:

How Do Members Do Virtual PCGs?

See the section Select Which Virtual Technologies to Use.

Can I Use Your Materials in My Group?

All of the resources marked with the Creative Commons terms on the bottom can be freely shared.

Where Can I Get Help?

See Sources of Help

(In order of above photos, courtesy of Pixabay, Prateek and Tembella Bohle on Pexels.htm)

For the Category of Personal Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

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Corporate Ethics

Two-business-women-sitting-in-a-rom

Corporate Ethics

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Corporate Ethics

Also consider
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Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

›Return to All About Boards of Directors



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Overview of the Field of Organization Development

Overview of the Field of Organization Development

Much of the content
of this topic came from this book:
Consulting and Organization Development - Book Cover

Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD

Focus and Scope of This Topic

The purpose of this topic is to acquaint the reader with the field of Organization Development, a field with a rich history of research, publications and highly qualified practitioners dedicated to improving the performance of organizations, whether they are teams, departmental units or the overall organizations.

The information in those topics is not sufficient to develop competencies in guiding successful significant change. Those competencies comes from extensive experience in applying those types of information.

NOTE: This topic distinguishes the difference between “organizational development” and “Organization Development.” The former phrase refers to the context, focus and purpose of the change while developing an organization. The latter phrase refers to a field of people with expertise in guiding successful organizational development. An organization can be a team, departmental unit within an entire organization, the entire organization itself or a collaboration of organizations. However, there are various articles below which refer to “organizational development”, but it is clear that their content relates as directly to the field of Organization Development itself. Thus, those articles are included in this topic.

Sections of This Topic Include

Overviews of Organization Development

General Resources

Other Highly Recommended Readings

Also consider

What is Organization Development?

A Traditional Definition

Like many relatively long-standing fields, the members of each are constantly discussing what their field really is. However, the following definition is standard and often used as the starting point for further discussions about the definition of Organization Development.

“Organization Development is an effort planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization’s ‘processes,’ using behavioral-science knowledge.”
— Beckhard, “Organization development: Strategies and Models”, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1969, p. 9.

Some More Modern Definitions

Today’s organizations operate in a rapidly changing environment. Consequently, one of the most important assets for an organization is the ability to manage change — and for people to remain healthy and authentic. Consider the following definition of Organization Development:

“Organization Development is the attempt to influence the members of an organization to expand their candidness with each other about their views of the organization and their experience in it, and to take greater responsibility for their own actions as organization members. The assumption behind Organization Development is that when people pursue both of these objectives simultaneously, they are likely to discover new ways of working together that they experience as more effective for achieving their own and their shared (organizational) goals. And that when this does not happen, such activity helps them to understand why and to make meaningful choices about what to do in light of this understanding.”

— Neilsen, “Becoming an Organization Development Practitioner”, Englewood Cliffs, CA: Prentice-Hall, 1984, pp. 2-3.

Experts might agree that the following definitions of Organization Development represent the major
focus and thrust of many of today’s Organization Development practitioners.

“Organization Development is a system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization’s effectiveness.”

— Cummings and Worley, “Organization Development and Change”, Sixth Edition, South-Western Publishing, 1997, p.2.

“Organization Development is a body of knowledge and practice that enhances organizational performance and individual development, viewing the organization as a complex system of systems that exists within a larger system, each of which has its own attributes and degrees of alignment. Organization Development interventions in these systems are inclusive methodologies and approaches to strategic planning, organization design, leadership development, change management, performance management, coaching, diversity, and work/life balance.”
— Matt Minahan, MM & Associates, Silver Spring, Maryland

Organization Development Practitioners as “Organizational Physicians”?

There is a complex integration of various systems in an organization. Likewise, there is a complex integration in the human body. Therefore, when trying to understand the field of Organization Development, it might be useful to compare aspects of the field of Organization Development to aspects of the field of medicine.

For example, the study of the theories and structures of organizations (often in courses called “organizational theory”) is somewhat similar to the study of anatomy and physiology of human systems. Similarly, the study of organizational behavior is somewhat similar to the study of psychology and sociology in human systems.

So in Organization Development, its practitioners might be considered to be “organizational physicians” intending to improve the effectiveness of the organization by:

  1. Establishing relationships with key personnel in the organization (sometimes occurring in phases called “start-up”, “entering” and/or “contracting” with the client organization);
  2. Researching and evaluating systems in the organization to understand dysfunctions and/or goals of the systems in the organization (“diagnosing” the systems in the organization);
  3. Identifying approaches (or “interventions”) to improve the effectiveness of the organization and its people;
  4. Applying approaches to improve effectiveness (methods of “planned change” in the organization); and
  5. Evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of the approaches and their results.

There are many practitioners who would oppose that comparison, believing that physicians too often take a mechanical, linear and detached approach when treating their patients. Those practitioners would assert that approaches in Organization Development are much more dynamic in nature.

Additional Perspectives On What Organization Development Is




Other Overviews of the Field of Organization Development

It is useful now to build from those various definitions to consider various overviews of the field. The field itself is so large that an overview should start with a relatively small scope and then broaden from that.

Basic Overviews

Broader Overviews

Diverse Perspectives on Organization Development

The topic of organizational change has received a great deal of attention over the past several decades as organizations face new and complex challenges like never before. Correspondingly, the field of Organization Development is receiving a great deal of attention now, too. As the field has grown, so has the diversity of perspectives on the field. The question “What is Organization Development?” is now common in discussions among those interested in the field.

Field or Profession? (Ethics and Certification)

Organization Development is sometimes referred to as a profession. Yet others assert that it is a field because it does not have a standard code of ethics or universal accrediting body. Early practitioners recommended a Credo, which is widely respected. The Organization Development Institute has also recommended an International Organization Development Code of Ethics.

The Organization Development Institute admirably suggests levels of certification for Organization Development practitioners, but these do not appear to have become standard for practitioners. The Organization Development Network is a large organization that also focuses on developing the field and serving its members, including by developing a framework of competencies.

Scope of the Field?

Some have distinguished Organization Development from other fields because it works from a systems perspective and according to humanistic values to help people to change for the better. Others might respond that other fields or professions, however, such as trainers and community organizers, also work from a systems perspective and according to humanistic values — and, thus, that description is not unique to Organization Development. Those people might assert that Organization Development must proclaim a scope for their field, in particular, a scope to changing organizations.

Focus on People Side and/or Business Side?

Another area of diversity about perspectives on Organization Development is in regard to how people view organizations. Some focus especially on the structures, strategies, policies and procedures (the “business side”), while others focus especially on the human relations and interactions (the “people side”). Still others focus especially on the politics and power, while others focus especially on the cultures and values of the organization. The following article gives more information about these perspectives:
Understand the Preferred Lens Through Which You View Organizations

Currently, there seems to be strong focus on “soft” skills in Organization Development, for example, coaching, leadership development, facilitation, conflict management and process consulting. However, many would assert that the “hard” skills, such as organizational theory, strategizing, and various quality management initiatives should also be a focus in Organization Development. The following article gives more information about these perspectives.
What Type of Organization Development Practitioner Are You?

Organization Development Versus Change Management?

Recently, there have emerged many opinions that Organization Development and change management are two somewhat different disciplines. The opinions are that Organization Development is focused primarily on changing a whole system, for example, a team, departmental unit or organization, while change management is focused on the necessary changes among people in the organization in order to accomplish the overall change in the organization.

Others believe that change management is not a separate discipline and is actually an aspect of what Organization Development naturally focuses on when changing the entire system, that is, that Organization Development also focuses a great deal on what is needed to change people. Other views on change management might sound much like how others would define Organization Development, for example, “Organizational Change Management is about an organization achieving a desired future state from its current state with minimal disruption or negative impact to the organization” … “Change Management … is not organization-wide or enterprise-wide. It is change specific to a project or program” (Rona Puntawe).

Various Perspectives on Organization Development




History and Theories of Organization Development

There is a rich history in the field of Organization Development. Professional practitioners in the field should know that history, including the early beginnings of the field and the major players in it. They should know its history and evolution, including its major phases of development over the years that bring us up to the dynamic changes that are now occurring in the field.

Future and Emerging Theories of Organization Development

Dialogic Organization Development

As quoted from the website Dialogic Organization Development, “Dialogic Organization Development is the next step in the evolution of organizational change theory, from thinking of organizations as organisms that adapt to their environments, to organizations as conversations where individual, group, and organizational actions result from self-organizing, socially constructed realities created and sustained by the prevailing narratives, stories, and conversations through which people make meaning about their experiences.”

Other Perspectives on the Future of Organization Development

Other Fields and Organization Development

The field of Organization Development includes a wide range of perspectives on the scope and, in particular, how it relates — or does not relate — to other fields. Many believe that an activity could be classified as an “Organization Development” activity if it is focused especially on changing a significant part or all of an organization. Others believe that activities focused especially on changing a person or people (such as learning and development, coaching, training and facilitation) within an organization also changes the organization itself and, thus, each of those activities could be classified as an “Organization Development” activity. Here are some articles that further portray differences in perspective.




Recommended Competencies for Organization Development Practitioners

Almost as diverse as the opinions about the focus, scope and nature of Organization Development are the opinions about the competencies that its practitioners should have. The following link will take you to a list of recommended competencies from different organizations and professionals in the field.

Organizations Focused on Organization Development

The following lists are by no means complete, rather they are a good starting point for learning even more about Organization Development.

Associations

Educational Organizations

Organization Development Education Association lists many Organization Development educational organizations.

Some Organizations With Many Resources about Organization Development

Books Focused on the Field of Organization Development

The field of Organization Development encompasses a wide variety of business-, management- and organization-related practices. Therefore, a list of Organization Development-related books could well be exhaustive in length. The following are some of the major books focused primarily on the field of Organization Development.

This short list is by no means meant to represent the singular “foundation” texts in the field. Rather, the list is a good starting point from which to gain some basic understanding of the field.

Organization Development-Specific Books

Much of the content of this Library topic came from this book:
Consulting and Organization Development - Book Cover

Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development by Carter McNamara, Authenticity Consulting, 2006. This book is about the field of Organization Development and combines major practices from the field with major practices from the field of consulting, as well. (The author of this book is the author of much of the content in this Library.)
Field Guide to Consulting and Organizational Development

Organization Development and Change
Sixth Edition, by Cummings and Worley. South-Western Publishing, 1997. Available from Amazon Books. This is one of the best books about the background, movements, theories, models and case studies regarding Organization Development.

Organization Development Classics : The Practice and Theory of Change — The Best of the Organization Development Practitioner
by Van Eynde (Editor), Judith C. Hoy (Editor), Dixie Cody Van Eynde (Editor), Donald Van Eynde (Editor). Jossey-Bass, 1997. Available from Amazon Books. This is a collection of classic articles from the pioneers in the field of Organization Development. Together, they provide a very meaningful overview of the field.

Practicing Organization Development : A Guide for Consultants
by Rothwell (Editor), Roland Sullivan (Editor), Gary N. McLean. Pfeiffer & Co., 1995. Available from Amazon
Books. This is one of the best books with guidelines and practical about applying all phases of Organization Development.

Annotated Lists of Organization Development-Related Books

Peter Vaill provides an extensive, annotated bibliography of organizational behavior and development books. (To read the bibliography, you will need the free program Adobe Acrobat Reader.)
An Annotated Bibliography of Foundational Literature in Organizational Behavior and Development

Another list of Organization Development books is recommended by members of a LinkedIn group about Organization Development.
List of recommended Organization Development books

Other Highly Recommended Readings

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Organization

In addition to the articles on this current page, see the following blogs which have posts related to Organization Development. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog.

For the Category of Organizational Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

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Educational Programs in Organization Development (OD)

Women-discussing-in-a-meeting-room

Competencies for Organization Development (OD) Practitioners

The contents of this page has been moved to https://staging.management.org/organizationalchange/org-change-competencies.htm.

 

For the Category of Organizational Change
and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.

Related Library Topics

Recommended Books


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Explaining Why Business Continuity Needs Crisis Communications

women-wearing-headsets-in-a-workplace

You have to assemble the whole puzzle before you’re truly crisis-ready

Business continuity is just one element of strategic crisis management, and failure to recognize this reality can leave you dangerously vulnerable to communication or reputation-related threats. Any company believing that a business continuity plan alone makes it prepared to face a serious crisis situation is in for a sudden (and costly!) surprise.

Not to minimize the importance of business continuity planning! To be clear, making sure your organization can continue to actually function during tough situations with as little disruption as possible is a piece you can’t go without. But, if you’re not ready to communicate about issues you encounter when, for example, your production line has to shut down, or a key staff member posts something inappropriate online, you’re still missing a critical part of the puzzle.

While ten to fifteen years ago I’d say the risk of loss posed by the actual disruption of things like supply lines or operations centers were much more obvious than those related to communication related to those issues, that’s not really true anymore, is it? It feels fair to say that the vast majority of negative headlines today are generated by poor crisis communications practices connected to operational hurdles, not the hurdles themselves. To me this says most are now educated on the sheer level of trouble saying the wrong thing – or saying nothing at all! – can create.

Getting real

I don’t want to be unrealistic here. After all, everyone has a budget to mind and a pile of priorities they have to juggle. If I may though, here’s a statistic — according to Weber Shandwick’s study, “The State of Global Reputation,” your average global executive attributes 63 percent of their company’s market value to its overall reputation. Given that fact, wouldn’t protecting and nurturing the single most valuable resource your company possesses (reputation, in case that wasn’t abundantly clear…) feel like a can’t-skip piece of making sure you have a budget to mind or priorities to juggle?

How do you rectify the situation and ensure you have both business continuity and crisis communications covered? The answer is simple: have a plan for both! And, answer this one with me now…do we create the plans separately, never the twain shall meet?

NO! (we surely all said together, yay) These plans need to know each other very well indeed. They must be created with the needs of each specific organization in mind, they need to complement rather than conflict, and ultimately they have to work to both keep operations running as best possible and mitigate reputation damage during the entire process, through to recovery, in a real-world crisis situation with the many variables those create.

As with so many crisis management-related topics, it’s a holistic approach that’s best in the end. Sync up your business continuity and crisis communications planning, train to use those plans, and when it comes time you’ll be ready to face the bad – and then move on!

[Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy.]

We love to connect with readers on LinkedIn! Connect with Erik | Connect with Jonathan

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management

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Edgy Marketing – Balancing Speed and Reputation In The Digital Space

A-laptop-with-a-marketing-search-on-it

Preventing marketing-related crises of reputation without sacrificing effectiveness

One of the most common questions for clients to ask us today is, “How far is too far when it comes to edgy marketing?”. Competition for audiences across all forms of media is at an all-time high, and for brands that are struggling to break through theidea of ‘any publicity is good publicity’ starts calling. While I’ll never agree that any publicity can have good aspects (disagree? let’s hear your thoughts – catch me on Twitter @nomorecrisis), if your brand voice doesn’t feel out of place doing something that walks that line then it’s not a complete no-go, you just need to be careful.

So, what protections should brands put in place to prevent marketing efforts from crossing that line and sparking outrage, or worse?

The answer for this one is short, but time and budget-related constraints often mean this critical piece of crisis prevention is cut early, only to have missteps create greater costs down the line.. Brands need to have a specific person or small committee dedicated to asking, “What could go wrong with this marketing effort?”, and give them confidence they won’t be canned for putting the kibosh on an ‘almost complete’ ad or plan. If possible these filters should be familiar with the brand but not fullinsiders, as it’s often tough for those closest to these projects to take an objective viewpoint.

With success in social media marketing so often equated to speed, how do we avoid missing out?

I’ll borrow a phrase from the Navy SEALS here that applies to almost anything you can think of: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. While speed is a factor in social media marketing, risk assessment and dynamic adjustments to new information can’t be discarded. Your speed comes from advance preparation and planning, including making crisis or reputation management protocols part of day-to-day operations so you aren’t faced with a massive checklist when it’s time to get a project out the door now. Yes speed is a big part of many marketing efforts, particularly if you’re trying to capitalize on current events or engage in the type of publicity grabbing sparring that brands like Wendy’s have taken to new heights, but remember – being first is meaningless if you’re charging into your own destruction.

Stop and think…

While successfully playing the edge can be a powerful tool for earned media that far outvalues your spend, it’s not for everyone. Before investing the money and energy into vetting a full campaign give some serious thought to whether your brand should even be swimming in those waters. Take a serious look at your audiences, work to understand their expectations, and before taking the plunge make sure you’ve built up enough goodwill to absorb a minor fail and quick apology to boot!

[Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy.]

We love to connect with readers on LinkedIn! Connect with Erik | Connect with Jonathan

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management

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Digital and Online Now Main Source Of News

What does this shift mean for your own crisis management efforts?

I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that most people get their news online today, with a massive number neglecting traditional reporting in favor of social media.

In 2000, about half of all Americans used the internet. Today, with smartphones and home internet connections available in almost every corner of the country, that number is more than 9 in 10.

This pervasiveness has touched nearly every aspect of our lives, including the way we stay on top of current events. According to a recently published Pew Research Center report, Americans are consuming news on the internet more than ever. Of the 9,220 U.S. adults that Pew interviewed between Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, 2020, more than 8-in-10 (86%) said they get their news from a smartphone, computer or tablet “often” or “sometimes,” with 60% falling into the “often” category.

This quote, from the Allconnect blog, demonstrates just how many actually are consuming news online. With more than eight in ten choosing to get their news on the internet, it seems clear where your focus should fall when it comes time for crisis management and response. With this rise in online news consumption comes the ability for important stories and neglected causes to cut through the clutter or evade the powers-that-be to make it on the public’s radar. Unfortunately, it also gives the enemies of good reputation management, things like rumor, biased reporting, and anonymous critics, an easy foothold. In fact, a Pew study from 2020 revealed that users who relied most on social media for their political news may be less informed than other groups, with only 17% of this specific group recording “high political knowledge” scores, compared to 41% or higher for those using print, radio, or news websites and app.

So, what does this all mean to your own reputation management and communications efforts?

  1. You need to speak to people where they want to listen, and today this means online or directly to their preferred device.
  2. Your communications need to be stronger than ever before, because the rumor mill is working overtime and there are armies of trolls working to feed it every day.

It’s a tightrope, as your haters are waiting to pounce on one side while you dance to convince the fence sitters that you aren’t out there doing evil. Oh, and don’t forget the random trolls throwing curveballs to switch things up. However, navigated carefully, the internet and social media can be tremendous assets that actually amplify and spread your message, even when more “traditional” channels have failed.

Good luck.

[Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy.]

We love to connect with readers on LinkedIn! Connect with Erik | Connect with Jonathan

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management

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Are You Prepared For 2021? New Crisis Management Survey Out Now

2021-goals-written-on-a-note

[There’s a link to our new survey at the end of this post, but if you’re eager to get your copy of “10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Crisis Management in 2021” now, just click here.]

Preparedness is key to surviving the new normal

Over the course of 2020, we have seen a number of developments which indisputably change how organizations need to view crisis prevention and crisis management. Communications methods and tools which worked in the past are falling to the wayside, and many formerly functioning plans may not work “as-written”…but what should take their place? Our Bernstein Crisis Management experts sat down to put together thoughts on how the landscape of crisis management and communications are changing.

The “new normal” is here to stay. The world has been turned upside down and because of this, communicating is no longer an option or luxury for any company or organization, whether private, public or nonprofit. Stakeholders and interested audiences want and demand more interaction and communication during turbulent times.

The new reality is characterized by:

  • Decentralized communications taking the place of centralize, hub-and-spoke communication
  • Minimal or restricted access to resources, transportation, mobility and on-the-ground data
  • More channels, greater message dilution, less control of organizational messages
  • Increased distractions, conflicting priorities
  • Disinformation and “Fake News”
  • Stakeholders wearing multiple hats at the same time
  • People primed to believe the worst (if they believe anything at all)

In 2021, more than ever, most organizations will find themselves having to manage a crisis within a crisis (or multiple crisis). While tempting to try to use one crisis as a “shield” for another, the reality is that nested crises increase and make more urgent the need to adequately respond to all the crises.

In addition, we expect basic crisis prevention to become more intensive, and more complete. Virtual training will become the norm for things like media prep, and shareholders will demand that plans are adequate to prevent significant interruption of business or financial loss.

It boils down to one question — “are you and your organization ready for this new reality?”. To help you self-diagnose, our team of expert consultants at Bernstein Crisis Management has put together a new (and free) survey, 10 Questions To Ask Yourself About Crisis Management in 2021. For your copy, click here now.

[Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy.]

We love to connect with readers on LinkedIn! Connect with Erik | Connect with Jonathan

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management

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Crisis Preparedness and Response Is About To Get Tougher

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And You Thought 2020 was bad already…

The Crisis Preparedness and Response for almost 40 years of crisis management experience have seen America more prone to erupt in new crises than right now. No one likes to look at hard truths, yet part of our job as crisis management professionals, and that of those in related fields such as risk management, is to look for trouble before it occurs and, if we can, help our employers or clients head it off. If we can’t, take advanced steps to mitigate the damage. In that spirit, the following may make you wince – and it may save you a whole lot of stress and financial woe.

Take a look at this list of the types of crisis that could routinely affect just one of the industries with which we’ve done a lot of work, followed by my comments as to why the chances of each type of crisis have been exacerbated at this time in our nation’s history. Even though this list was created as part of our planning for food industry clients, we’re sure you’ll see how much of the same applies to your own organization – regardless of industry. It’s pretty common sense, and though it may be painful to consider what could go wrong, if you do think ahead you’ll be able to do more to mitigate the threat.

The following are crises that could impact food industry businesses, with the notes in italics highlighting how the risk of such crises increases as a result of stressors ranging from Covid-19 to natural disasters to massive social unrest about various topics to unemployment and, of course, unprecedented political divides:

  • Accidents resulting in injury or death — on-site or off-site. Stress is already a factor in workplace accidents, and stress is up exponentially.
  • Activism – Internet or on-site. Intense emotions on all sides of current issues are likely to produce a far higher level of activism, with the worst of it spilling over into violence. People are feeling out of control in so many areas of their life that, when they see a chance to make a difference through activism, they’re much more likely to take it now than, say, the same time a year ago. Differences on issues could also spill over into the workplace. Various stakeholders could demand your organization take a stand on issues, leading to very public criticism. Activism groups and tactics are likely to intersect with quite a few areas of potential crises, as you’ll see below.
  • Criminal behavior (non-violent) by employees. Under severe enough psychological and financial pressure, previously honest employees get more desperate. If checks and balances aren’t tight enough, crimes will take place.
  • Criminal behavior (violent) by employees. Do you have employees whose temperament is already a bit iffy? It’s going to get worse under current stressors. HR needs to monitor particularly closely during these extremely challenging times.
  • Disasters – natural or man-made. There’s no stopping Mother Nature, of course, but how well your organization survives a natural disaster is entirely contingent on how well your people are able to execute your disaster plans – and under current stressors, their bandwidth could be stretched far more than previously anticipated. Further, the chances of a man-made disaster (e.g., accidental forest fire) also increases with an increase in human “brain fog.”
  • Environmental issues – direct (your products or manufacturing process) or indirect (your industry is criticized). This ties into the increased propensity for activism of all kinds right now. People nationwide are finding their voices.
  • Epidemics/Pandemics. What can I say? We weren’t ready for Covid-19 and we’re not ready for the next virus, either. There have been many crisis management best practices, however, that can help you upgrade your planning and prep in this area.
  • Interruption in product flow (e.g., due to dock strike, supplier problems, loss of warehouse due to fire). Add to the list of “routine” reasons for interruption the sudden loss of business contacts, customers, clients, suppliers from Covid-related financial hardship. Time to quickly ensure you have backups for people and systems!
  • Information security breach (e.g., confidential customer information, proprietary formulas). Hackers globally are already taking full advantage of everyone’s distraction and stress to exploit systems directly and through social engineering. IT is probably feeling pretty darn overwhelmed with intrusion attempts. Do they have the resources they need?
  • Investigations by local, state or national authorities. An increase in activism will translate, for some, to an increase in complaints made to various agencies.
  • Labor & employment issues – discrimination, harassment, etc. It’s already happening, e.g., employees blaming employers for not protecting them sufficiently from Covid-19, from discriminatory behavior, etc.
  • Many of these now-more-likely scenarios can breed lawsuits.
  • Legislation unfriendly to your company’s plans (e.g., restrictions by any government in countries where you do business that evolve from longer-term governmental involvement in trying to prevent future occurrences.) We are living in a time when political leaders are exercising control by executive orders and other quick-action mechanisms, with such hasty decisions having significant downstream impact for all stakeholders.
  • Loss (partial or complete) of key facility (e.g., due to disaster, internal infrastructure failure). Some of types of situations that can lead to such a loss, as described elsewhere on this list, are now more likely to happen.
  • Permit and regulatory violations – Some of types of situations that can lead to violations, as described elsewhere on this list, are now more likely to happen.
  • Product contamination. Distracted/stressed workers at every stage of the food chain are more likely to inadvertently make errors leading to product contamination.
  • Product sabotage (including terrorism). Simply put: we’ve got some real crazies out there right now. Extreme activists willing to engage in kidnapping a governor wouldn’t hesitate to sabotage a product if in their twisted thinking it sent a message.
  • Sudden management changes, voluntary or involuntary. In our current state of economic distress, there seem to be far more businesses folding, merging, acquiring and re-structuring than in any recent period in our history, with attendant management changes that can throw fear and confusion into the workplace if not well handled.

Keeping in mind that these crises – all of which are entirely possible during stable times, are far more likely to occur now, it’s clear this is the time to:

  • Review your existing crisis preparedness-related plans and see if they need to be tweaked or quickly upgraded a bit to address the higher level of overall threat.
  • Conduct some quick refresher training for members of your crisis management team(s).
  • Involve HR perhaps more than you usually would in crisis preparedness due to the higher propensity for an employee-caused crisis.

Winging it is not a crisis management strategy, no matter how appealing it may sound. Know the risks to your industry, and specifically to your own business model, area of operations, and similar details, prepare to react, and create safety, security, and peace of mind for everyone associated with your organization, despite today’s turbulent world.

Questions? Click here to get in touch with a crisis management pro today.

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How to Create a Crisis Management Plan to Respond to a Cyber Breach

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These days, protecting your organization from cybercrime is just as, and possibly even more important than securing your physical facility. Cybersecurity is always evolving and you need to keep up with best practices to help prevent data breaches that could compromise your company’s reputation.

With that said, it’s not possible to prevent every breach attempt. Regardless of your industry or the size of your organization, breaches can happen to every company (and probably will, at some point). Accepting that fact is the first step. Preparing for it is the second.

Having a solid crisis management plan for future cyber breaches can prevent a bad situation from turning into a nightmare. You can protect your assets and your trust with customers by responding appropriately if and when a breach occurs. Here are some tips for creating an effective breach response plan.

Prepare By Analyzing Breaches That Have Occurred in the Past

Obviously, it’s better to avoid data breaches whenever possible. But the ones that have already occurred can at least teach us something. It’s useful to study the aftermath of different data breaches within your own organization and in other companies to determine what works and what doesn’t.

If your organization hasn’t yet been the victim of a data breach, then you’re lucky! You can still learn from the most high-profile data breaches of the last few years, though, and learn what to do—and what not to do.

For instance, many large breaches affecting billions of accounts and records go undisclosed for years, leading to massive financial losses and damage to companies’ reputations. These stories show how important it is to act quickly and to be transparent during the mitigation phase.

Are You Well Prepared to Scale if Needed?

Cybersecurity teams need grow alongside a business. It’s important to include a plan for scaling, whether you’re in a massive growth phase or not. How will you hire more security experts and get them up to speed? What training will you offer employees?

Many organizations fail to update their cybersecurity response plans as they grow. This is a mistake, as it can be challenging to find qualified security experts to help protect and mitigate data loss. Adding strategic plans for growing your security team and enhancing training protocols for scaling is key.

Be Sure to Have a Clear Monitoring System in Place

Many data breaches, even at the largest companies, go undetected for months or even years. Without proper monitoring protocols, it’s impossible to respond immediately to a breach or threat. Anticipating breaches allows you to set up automation solutions that will identify a security issue right away.

In addition to setting up a security system to monitor threats, the security team and upper management should have notification systems in place that will ensure the problem is addressed as quickly as possible. Emergency notifications can be sent by email, text messages, or other mediums to reach the right person or people immediately, ideally using multiple methods.

Craft a Detailed Action and Response Plan

Anticipating breaches is the first step, but being prepared to respond to them requires detailed planning and team buy-in. Your plan of action should be tailored to the needs of your business, but there are a few standard guidelines for breach response plans to follow.

First, it’s important to define what qualifies as a serious breach or threat. Not all security issues are major enough to warrant immediate action. Your plan should define different threat levels with steps and a timeline for management.

You should also define a chain of command and include contact information for everyone who will be involved with managing the breach response. Lay out specific steps that should be taken in response to the cyberattack so that no one is making decisions in the moment when they’re under a lot of stress. You should assign ownership of these tasks to specific people and update them as needed.

Finally, your plan should include how your customers, shareholders, and/or clients should be informed of the breach. Create pre-approved messaging that can be adapted to the individual breach or crisis so that you can inform people in a timely and consistent manner.

After Planning, Time to Train Your Team!

A plan is important, but your team needs to be prepared and ready to use it should a breach occur. Training is absolutely key in any cybersecurity breach response plan. Everyone in the organization should understand their responsibilities, know where to find the tools and resources they need, and who will be providing leadership in the event of a breach.

Creating a plan can be time-consuming and challenging, but it’s a crucial step in today’s world. An investment in time and energy today can make a big difference in the event of a security event—and could mean the difference between weathering the storm or sinking your organization completely.

[This article was contributed by business consultant Ryan Ayers. If you have an article you think might be a fit for our blogs, please write to erik@bernsteincrisismanagement.com.]