Managing Crisis Situations

Managing Crisis Situations

To handle a crisis situation, with media and the target group being more willing to get your side of the story, what you need to do is to adopt a sharp focused and concerted effort comprising:

• Planning
• A Strategy
• An Action plan

Role of Communication:

The ability to manage the communication factor is an essential elements of the crisis management. Uncoordinated and irresponsible communication has bought misery to the management.

Corrective steps, thought unavoidable, do not improve the image and may cause further trouble at a later stage. The communication strategy should pinpoint important stakeholders, the information needs and how the needs can be satisfactorily fulfilled. In fact, the overall image of the organization relates closely to the operation and effectiveness of communication programme during crisis.

During crisis the value of consistency in communication can not be overlooked. Planning corporate communication and steps for meeting the challenge of crisis situations are the essential ingredients of an active communication programme. Even today many company consider such programmes as not that important and very little fund and support is on the decline not merely because of fear or loss of image while in crisis but because companies have come to realize that business objectives and corporate communication objectives do have inseparable goals.