This guest post from leadership coach, facilitator, trainer, and author Mike McKenna takes a look at a strategy that will help you save projects before they ever encounter their first hurdle out there in the real world. Mike and his company, TEAM Solutions, are innovators in teaching leaders how to improve their response, especially in crisis situations, and we’re proud to call him a part of the Bernstein Crisis Management team.

Avoiding Project Failure…

Nothing says success like killing your project before even starting it, right?

Let me explain.

Picture this:

You assemble your brain trust around the table to launch your next, big initiative. Saving the rain forest, responding to a disaster, overhauling the tax code, whatever.

You – as the mindful leader – offer your high-level view of the HOW, the WHY, the WHEN, etc. And then you ask for and receive thunderous support.

Sometime later everyone is seated around the same table, head in hands, trying to figure out why the initiative failed so spectacularly.

Then “Jason” pipes up from the back of the room: “well, I coulda told you THAT was gonna happen!”

Grrr.

Here’s a simple way to avoid having to thump “Jason” in the head:

The Project Premortem.

Unlike the postmortem exam we perform on dead people and things to figure out how they died, a premortem is, you guessed it, just the opposite.

Now picture this:

Same meeting, same project, same people (including “Jason”).

You – the mindful leader – after delivering the project overview ask:

“If this project fails, what will be the reason?”

“Now pair up, take 5 minutes and report your findings.”

This provides “Jason’s” moment to shine: “It will fail because nobody is using a VHS player anymore, duh!” (or similar insight, of course)

Voilà.

Now you have more insight and forecasting from a collective brain trust by which you can make a more informed decision and reduce the chance of project failure.

So when you can ask “Can everyone support this plan?” You’ll get informed nods in return.

One piece of interesting backstory is how some of the Stoic philosophers (Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, and Epictetus) also practiced pre-mortems. Except they called them premeditatio malorum, which translates to a “premeditation of evils.”

Similarly, a strategy of inversion or starting at the opposite end was embraced by the German mathematician Carl Jacobi. He used the mindset of man muss immer umkehren or, “invert, always invert” to solve vexing problems.

Aside from the history lesson, how does this help us today?

To read the rest of Mike McKenna’s article, including the answer to that question and examples of how this project-saving method works in real-life scenarios, click here.

Building a solid base for communication in crisis

Crisis communications plans can’t be the same regardless of situation, but there are some common principles that are involved in just about every situation. Make sure you build a solid foundation on top of these proven principles and you’ll find your communications are much more on-target and effective leave yourself significantly more room to think about incident-specific actions or outside-the-box solutions to the issue at hand.

In a reassuringly simple yet educational infographic, India-based reputation firm Astrum did a great job of presenting Crisis Communications 101 in visual form:

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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What do you think? Is this strategy smart, or overly risky?

Whether you want them to or not, someone who has been a public representative of your company for many years carries that association with them even after they retire. That means whatever they decide to do with their personal life…well, it’s going to impact your organization. Now often folks simply head off to play a bit of golf, but if they decide to jump into the political arena that’s a whole ‘nother story. Cue the story of Starbucks and former CEO and chairman Howard Schultz, who announced that he was considering a 2020 presidential run.

Anticipating questions from customers – both legitimate and staged for social media I’d assume – Starbucks circulated some talking points for baristas to use when pinned down on the topic.

As reported by HuffPo:

The coffee chain’s “Barista Need-To-Know” update for the week of Jan. 21-27 included instructions on how to “diffuse [sic] the situation” should anyone “share aggressive political opinions,” as well as what to do if someone asks about Schultz’s “political intentions.”

From the weekly update (emphasis not ours):

“… partners [i.e., employees] may be asked questions by customers or hear media speculation about Howard’s potential political intentions. We encourage you all to take a moment to review the talking points below with your partners.

If a customer asks if we are selling Howard’s book at Starbucks:

No, the books are available at bookstores and online.

If a customer attempts to investigate, or share aggressive political opinions, attempt to diffuse the situation by sharing:

We respect everyone’s opinion. Our goal is simply to create a warm and welcoming space where we can all gather, as a community, over great coffee.

If asked about Howard’s political intentions:

Howard’s future plans are up to him.

So, is this plan smart, or is it overly risky? You can catch Erik Bernstein’s take on it over at the Bernstein Crisis Management blog, but we want to hear from you! Share thoughts in the comments or hit that contact button to let us know directly and you could be featured in a future post!

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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Create a rock-solid foundation for crisis communications

Crisis communications plans cannot be cookie-cutter, but there are certain principles that apply to just about every situation. Get the core bits down pat, and you’ll leave yourself significantly more room to think about incident-specific actions or outside-the-box solutions to the issue at hand.

In a simple yet highly informative infographic, India-based reputation firm Astrum did a great job of presenting Crisis Communications 101 in visual form:

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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When you run into a situation that threatens to disrupt operations, reputation, and your bottom line, a brand-new “To Do Now!” list snaps into existence with alarming speed. Over our decades of experience working with clients in nearly every industry, we’ve found a few steps to be most important in getting off to the right start.

Here are the 3 most important things to do when a crisis hits:

1. Breathe. Yes there’s an urgent need for response, yes you have 300 different things to do, but it won’t help to panic. Trust in your plan, take a brief moment to gather yourself, and head into the fray with confidence. You should probably cancel any dinner reservations though…you’ll be here a while. If you don’t have a plan in place it’s likely the cost of your recovery could double. We’ve seen it happen more than once.
2. Gather your team. Every organization should have a crisis team with the authority to make major decisions on short notice. You’ll want key representatives from groups like management, legal, PR, and any specific area experts called for, to give you a well-rounded view. It’s important that you can gather this team quickly, and while technology continues to make this easier every year you will need to account for the possibility of major events rendering even telephones temporarily unusable.
3. Evaluate. What exactly are we looking at, and what level of response is warranted? While you don’t want to under-react, doing something like sending the CEO to appear live in response to a smaller localized issue can lead audiences to believe there’s a bigger problem than truly exists. Gauging this is easier said than done, though some basic crisis preparedness – things like defining what constitutes different levels of crises for your own organization – helps tremendously.

The most important thing to remember is that this knowledge, along with things like crisis planning, training, and prevention efforts need to be incorporated into daily practice. It’s not fun to think “What could go wrong?”, but it’s a lot better than spending time looking at lost profits and customers flocking to the competition.

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

Don’t create a social media crisis for your own brand!

Before posting anything to social media you need to ask yourself – “What could go wrong here?”. While the specific concerns vary depending on your industry, region, and any number of other factors, they may include items like “Does this mean something different when translated?” or, “Could this be taken the wrong way by those who aren’t insiders?”. The important thing is that you remain aware serious social media trouble is only one tap of the SEND button away. One thing that can help tremendously is knowing what entire categories of posts you should steer clear of, and the web experts at Red did a nice job of sharing “8 Types of Social Media Posts Your Business Should Avoid” in a recent infographic:

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

Exploring the power of online reputation

Trying to push a case with gut feeling is rarely the most effective. Facts make the best proof, and a solid presentation like that found in this TrustYou infographic helps make it clear why more and more organizations are investing in online reputation management:

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

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For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
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When a Crisis Really Isn’t

In Aesop’s famous tale, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, a shepherd boy convinces his neighbors that a ferocious wolf is attacking his flock of sheep. The townsfolk, after a few false alarms, catch-on. Later on, when a wolf actually does appear and the boy cries for help, his neighbors ignore his pleas and the wolf devours his sheep.

In today’s “everything is important, everything is urgent” world, we see this tale played out over and over again in corporate board and Crisis Management Team (CMT) war rooms across the country. At times, it seems as if we have gone from where companies consistently denied that they would ever be confronted with a crisis – let alone have to manage one – to where almost anything and everything is a full-blown crisis that warrants an equally full-on response.

The reality is that what constitutes a true crisis, versus a routine management issue, lies somewhere in between these extremes. At times, a situation really may be a bona fide crisis that requires CMT activation. And others, while perhaps sensitive or delicate, may only require an adept and measured response. The key is to make sure the response is commensurate with the true threat to a company’s reputation or license to operate.

This is not to say that a company should ignore the reality of a crisis and not be prepared to effectively manage situations that could negatively impact the company, its workforce, its community and its customers. On the contrary, it is critical to have everything ready to manage these situations so that they don’t take on a life of their own and, in so doing, become a larger crisis.

Knowing the difference between two different but related communications activities – managing a crisis versus controlling situations that could become a crisis if not managed correctly – is key to having an effective crisis preparedness plan. By understanding this difference, a company will better know how to dedicate its resources to neither over-respond nor under-respond to a situation. Not having to deal with a crisis that really isn’t one frees up corporate resources and reduces interruptions to its daily operations, both of which have a direct and positive impact on the bottom line.

Ready for Crying Wolf Pt. 2 – The Elements of a Crisis? Click here.

Dominating search results for your organization’s name and key industry terms should be a core part of any crisis management strategy. It helps to prevent concessional bad news dominating those search results, as well as ensuring you’re able to get messaging in front of key audiences if and when the need arises. While there are some aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) that are quite technical, if you truly want to remain competitive and protect your reputation it’s important to have at least a basic understanding of the process. To help, here’s an infographic from WebCEO that runs down some of the most important aspects of SEO to keep an eye on for 2019:

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is vice president for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

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

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