Learning this subject matter in management communication class made me unlearn and relearn many things I thought were right or practical, as the case may be.
What exactly is communication? Communication is any act by which one person gives to or receives from another person information about the person’s needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective state. Communication may be intentional or unintentional. Communication happens when the intended meaning is perceived as the actual meaning. It may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or no-linguistic form, and may occur through spoken or other means. Functions of communication include getting our needs met, making sense of others, making sense of ambiguous situations, gaining advantage, and building relationships, to mention a few.
Crisis, on the other hand, can be defined as a people-stopping, show-stopping, product-stopping, or reputation-defining event that creates victims and explosive visibility. In other words, a crisis is a critical or decisive point at which an organization responds to an issue, accident, or emergency that threatens the reputation and or future standing of the organization. Types of crises include natural disasters, product recalls, workplace violence and organizational misconduct, technological breakdown, utility failure, and so on.
Based on the above, Crisis communication is a communication strategy that enables an organization to protect its reputation when a crisis or business disruption strikes. It could also be referred to as a calculated tactic for communicating with individuals and groups during a disruptive incident. Proactive, prompt, and thorough communication is essential during a crisis; a crisis communication plan, strategy, and tools can guarantee this kind of communication.
One fundamental question every executive should always ask themselves is, “How best do I respond to a crisis in terms of communication.” Every organization is bound to face a crisis at a point in time as long as it continues to exist, and how the crisis is handled will determine how strong the organization will come out to be and how such an organization will be perceived, whether positively or negatively. Based on this crisis, communication is fundamental because every organization is vulnerable to crisis, and the days of playing the ostrich are gone.
Crisis communication is said to have three stages.
- The pre-crisis stage
- Crisis stage and
- The post-crisis stage.
The pre-crisis stage is that point before a crisis happens where likely and unlikely scenarios are considered, relations with external contacts are established, a team is created, and then a plan is developed that must address who the audience is, what particular message needs to be put across and how the message needs to or would be communicated.
The crisis stage is when the crisis is already occurring. It is when PR typically plays a significant part in developing the messages that are distributed to the media. Utilizing every communication channel at your disposal—including print, social media, the internet, and news channels—is beneficial for reaching stakeholders with your content.
Lastly, the post-crisis stage is when a business resumes its regular operations. In order to rebuild the brand’s image, the crisis communication team could start reputation restoration during this stage.
PR typically works to get information to the press during the post-crisis phase if they promised the media any information relating to the incident. During this time, they also provide updates on the recovery process and the steps they plan to take to determine the root of the problem.
In conclusion, in order to handle the issue after a crisis occurs, it’s critical to act swiftly. In order to manage the message that is sent to the media, make an effort to act quickly. It allows one to contextualize the problem before more potentially inaccurate information from the media is spread.
#MMBA5
