Crisis in retrospect- Crisis Comm reflection 6

Today I read an article on NPR.com about the story of the first black man to attend LSU in 1953. Although it was a historical narrative unrelated to crisis communication, it got me thinking about the perspective we gain on crises in retrospect; and even more so about how the contexts of time and place can impact the nature of a crisis.

In modern times, if a school were to refuse admission to a person based on their race, ethnicity, or any other attribute they would receive a great deal of backlash on a national level. The integrity of the school would be in question, their would be protests by students, by organizations, by celebrities, etc. It would cause a reputational degradation of the institution.

However, in the south in the 1950's it was commonplace to see colleges refuse minority students

My guess is that colleges today probably don't have crisis management plans for this kind of incident (and in reality they may not have had them in 1953 either), but on the contrary they have plans ready for school shootings, riots and other on-campus violence, or other types of reputational threats. The culture of higher education has shifted thus shifting what types of crisis could potentially impact them. The same goes for any organization. To have a pulse of the external environment can really make a difference in crafting an effective CMP.

Maryann shared with us in class on Tuesday that Maersk was mostly prepared for pirates to take a ship captive. She said "it was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when." It seems to me that when I watch the news or read articles about companies or organizations undergoing crisis, there is usually a sense that the organization was out of touch with reality until the worst happened. There are always signs when a crisis smolders, so why do so many choose to turn a blind eye?

I'm thinking back on school crises that I have seen in my lifetime- particularly Columbine and Virginia Tech. On both occasions there were signs that the individuals who masterminded the attacks were troubled. Fellow students realized, parents realized, teachers realized- and yet, no preventative measures were taken to avoid what ended in heartbreaking tragedy.

How can an organizations' members be better attuned with the indicators of a crisis? Does it always take retrospective perspectives to help us learn and prepare for the next crisis? How can the context of our larger environment help plan for looming crises?

Corporate Communications State of Crisis- Crisis Comm. Reflection Five

The company that I work for has been in a crisis state almost consistently for the past three years. As a corporate communications teammate, I live in the constant mode of diffusing and responding to industry and company crises. From leadership changes, to stock price plunges, to newly announced debit card fees, we have an ongoing crisis communications plan. It’s almost difficult for me to step back and see it as that because it has just become the nature of my team’s everyday work. Our reputation is almost always at risk. Our responses as a company are generally in the apologia category of responding. Most often, we acknowledge and offer some time of explanation, but rarely engage in a two-way dialogue with our customers and stakeholders. However, there are exceptions.

For the past four years, even prior to working in corporate comm., I have volunteered at the annual shareholders meeting. It’s always an interesting cast of characters- the board of directors, protestors, supporters, the executive team, etc. You never know what to expect. What I have consistently seen is an interactive two way dialogue. Unfortunately, it only happens once a year, but it’s quite impressive nonetheless. For many shareholders, who range from local small business owners who have accounts and loans from BofA, to eccentric wealthy women who are known as “hecklers” at the annual meetings of many Fortune 500 companies, I have seen the CEO and other executives not only respond to the concerns on the spot, but arrange time after the meeting to sit down and discuss their issues. It actually happens. I have seen it with my own eyes. And it’s not just the shareholders with the most stake in the company. I have seen protestors from local charitable foundations receive attention and assistance as well.

Ok, so those are shareholders- of course we are going to coddle them, right? What about the stakeholders?

In March of this year the CEO announced that he was beginning a campaign to shift our culture. In a associate satisfaction survey from 2010 it was learned that the employees were fed up with the way things work here. There is too much rework. It is overly complicated. Navigating the matrix is too hard. The CEO agreed with this feedback. In response, so began the chance for the employees as stakeholders to submit ideas for how to improve our company. There was even a $500 reward given to any employee whose idea is used.

For the past five months the executive team has been vetting the massive pool of submissions. Some changes were enacted immediately, while others will take some time to roll out. In any case, it allowed all of us (employees) as stakeholders to feel valued. In times when what we do faces so much scrutiny, it was refreshing to at least know that our ideas were considered.

Most recently, we have been scrutinized by politicians, including the President for our $5 debit fee. It has been a particularly difficult communications battle for many reasons. We have tried to offer transparency by announcing the change five months prior to its start. We have explained why this charge is necessary- and pointed out that we will not be the only back to use this charge. Our CEO has been particularly vocal towards the politicians who have criticized this move. Still, the reputational stakes are high and the scrutiny continues.

It’s exhausting and sometimes defeating to work in an industry that is always under fire. It doesn’t help that the company I work for seems to be the largest target on the map. I see flaws in our communication plans- or lack thereof in some cases. Our response strategy to our ever faulted reputation isn’t always the best, but I see glimpses of hope in our cultural shift. Perhaps we are learning. Perhaps weathering this economical storm will mean a reinvention of our culture.

The Contagion experience- Crisis Comm reflection 4

I have the worst memory when it comes to movies. Seriously, I should have taken notes during Contagion. What I do know, is that I have washed my hands more since I have seen that movie than any other time my life. Yikes, germs have never been so terrifying.

From a crisis management perspective, this film was beyond interesting... it was overwhelming. The impact of an epidemic like one in the film was unimaginable. And as the plot went on and more people became infected, the crisis snow balled- making any crisis communication professional stutter in disbelief.

However, in the very initial phases, immediately following the death of Gweneth Paltrow’s character it seemed there were overt and thoughtful crisis management meetings. These brought to light complications based on the interests of the multiple agencies involved, but the largest complication was the unknown.

Early on, there was no knowledge of where the epidemic began, how exactly it was bring spread, and what could stop it. Instead, there were a few deaths that were loosely linked and no understanding of what could be the root of the disease. At this point, there was a lot to consider for the players at the table. They had choices to make- and each of these involved some amount of risk and a different group of stakeholders.

If the news were to go live that there was a possible epidemic looming then panic and frenzy could ensue. This could potentially be more dangerous than the germ. The professionals at the CDC devised a plan to try to separate infected persons from the healthy. A few schools were closed, offices, etc. People were encouraged to stay home if they were not feeling well.

Unfortunately, this was not enough. As time went on panic did set in. There were paracrises beginning as food the supply dwindled. Looting and violent crime increased as people’s desperation to survive increased.

What I found most interesting about the film was the downplay of the mass media involvement. Aside from a few seconds of footage, there was very little mention of the affect the mass media would have. There was one rogue blogger whose coverage of the outbreak and the cure became central to the plot, but CNN, CBS, Fox News, etc were all seemingly uninvolved. If this were a real event, I contend that the panic would have set in much sooner.

Seeing the frenzy over the limited supply of vaccines and forsythia brings back memories of recent gas shortages in Charlotte. Lines at the pump went on for blocks. People filled up their vehicles and spare tanks as well. Where did the sense of panic come from? The mass media.

I really enjoyed this film. It petrified me, but gave me a different perspective on handling crisis communication. Weighing overwhelming options and doing the best thing is not always easy. Likewise, it is not easy to prepare for a crisis of this nature. While contagious epidemics in general are worthy of plans, the unexpected characteristics of one type of epidemic can change the crisis management plan completely.

CMT Preparation- Crisis Comm reflection 3

While reading Coombs Ch. 5, I was reminded of my former job on the property management team at the Bank of America Corp Center. As the management company for the world headquarters of the bank, we had to be poised to handle any number of crises.

Yearly we had an external agency come in and offer our team emergency preparedness training for natural and man made disasters that could impact the building- and more importantly, the tenants. We took this very seriously. It was a week's worth of crisis management training, in which we created plans in case any of these scenarios were ever to happen. Luckily, the plans have not been used to date. From bomb scares to tornadoes, we had to create communication and evacuation plans to manage the crisis.

We did a lot of role playing as a way to practice. Through these drills, we learned who relied more on instinct versus some of our team who were much more analytical and felt that following set instructions was best. It was quite interesting to see- even in these types of practice drills who works better under pressure and who seemed overwhelmed. These drills offered us the chance to work as a team to execute our crisis plan-something that isn't always easy to do.

Interestingly, my current role allows me to see the works of crisis preparation in a different light. While working for the property management company gave me the insight into planning for one type of crisis, working in corp. comm has given me an insiders view into handling organizational misdeeds and challenges.

This form of crisis also requires team work. Our media relations reps work together to craft messages that align with the company voice. There have been times when untrained persons have given the media information. This resulted in more chaos and a bigger mess to clean up.

Having a CMP is critical, but you also have to be prepared for those who don't follow it. There can always be a rogue team member- or someone outside of the team who can add impact by not understanding the plan or the nature of the crisis. it's quite scary to think of the limits of what we can really prepare for. We may have the first steps in place, but until the actual crisis unfolds, the team may not know what they are up against.

I have learned in my experience the importance of remaining in contact as a team during the crisis. Having a designated hub where the team can post themselves, or making mandatory time for meetings (virtually if necessary) will be a very critical practice in dealing with crisis. Remaining on the same page as a team isn't necessarily easy, but it is essential to making your CMP work.

To Panic or Not to Panic? - Crisis Comm Reflection 2

There are more crisis than I can wrap my head around. It seems that pretty much every piece of news these days is some type of crisis. But is it? Have we as a society gotten trained to await bad news and be prepared to live in fear that we manifest crisis situations? Or, do we just not respond to any news that isn’t bad news?

Everything is about shock value. What Howard Stern once used as his platform to fame has become every news medium’s standard for getting viewers and readership. News of everyday happenings, like for instance a story of an environmental clean-up of a highway is spun to tell of the story of the “crisis” behind the clean up. Imagine the news report… “The stream next to the highway is so polluted that the ecosystem is at risk. Fish are dying. The water flows into our sewer system and is creating a hazard for our drinking water.”

Even just the report of the weather gets morphed into a potentially high risk event. Floods, blizzards, and droughts are constantly being used as propaganda to switch us as recipients of the news into crisis mode.

How does this affect our society’s ability to perceive a crisis? Are we able to filter genuine risk from inflated hype?

A few weeks ago a local news channel reported a story about the company that I work for. It was a partially true story, however, it was spun to generate fear, anxiety, and a sense of threat within the community. The story could have majorly impacted the public perception of the company. Our communications team needed to take action- in both a public response as well as with the channel that ran this report. It required using a crisis management plan, however, there was no real crisis.

I feel that the modern day media has created a problem for crisis management. While the threat may be quite real in some cases, we need to be able to differentiate between a legitimate crisis and a news manifested crisis. I found this article to offer insight into who the media is serving and why. It's an interesting perspective when thinking about crisis comm. and how the public is bieng informed.

Crisis communication- reflection one

When I think crisis, I think September 11, 2001. It was the largest (man made) crisis I have lived to see thus far; and one that’s impacts are still reverberating through our society. As a country, we will never be the same. It changed our national identity, and for many, it changed their individual identities as well.

In our early readings and class discussions, there has been a heavy emphasis on the nature of crises as being perceptual. I will first say that 9/11 forever changed my perception of what a crisis is and is not. Seeing planes fly into buildings, the desperation in people flinging themselves from 100 stories in the air and massive towers tumbling to ground was totally beyond my comprehension until to that day. The scale of both the loss as well as the evil it would take to construct such a plan is still mind boggling.

I had the fortunate experience of spending last weekend in NYC during the 10th anniversary of 9/11. In walking the streets of NYC, and watching the almost constant coverage that was aired on Sunday, I relived the sense of crisis that started that morning ten years earlier and lasted well into years later.

We have been in a post-crisis country since Sept 12th 2001. In the days and weeks that followed that day, up until now, the 10 year anniversary politicians and subject matter experts have explored the atrocities from many angles. We have heard the stories of the heroes of that day, from those who lived, and accounts of what happened to those who were lost.We have heard theories on conspiracy and charges of a negligent government. We saw leadership from a mayor raise up out of the ashes; and the leader of our nation take a more backseat approach. Did he perceive the crisis the same way we did?

The American people could not expect or prepare for that kind of situation. We can only hope that the governing body we rely on would have some sort of plan. Did they? Not really. On a local level, the cities of New York, D.C., andShanksville all managed to construct an immediate response to the crisis. They did well. From triage units to rebuilding a reputation, Rudy Giuliani succeeded in bringing New York back from a devastation unlike any other.

On a national level Americans saw very little in terms of a crisis management plan. Sure, we got ourselves a homeland security team and tightened security measures at airports. And, we even waged a war on terrorism and have watched soldiers fight that war for nine years. However, was the faith of the stakeholders ever restored? Not so much. Were Americans made to feel any safer? I don't think so. Instead we were barraged with media reports on threats of anthrax and other unimaginable scares. Where was the attempt to communicate a sense of safety?

What we have learned from post 9/11 America is that the government could and should have been prepared, to some extent. There are a variety of theories on how much was known by our president and his cabinet, but regardless of those claims, however erroneous they may seem to some, there needed to be a national crisis communication plan that restored our (the stakeholders) faith in our own country. America had been attacked before. We have seen terrorist threats and plots acted out. There should have been a long-term crisis management plan to assist the country in a time of such confusion and fear.

I would argue that we have been in a state of fear since then. Our ideas of security have been redefined and our faith in leadership has been continually tested. A crisis management plan could have unified the country, for longer than a month. It could have reinvented our country as "the home of the free and the land of the brave", a reputation once earned and respected.

Fail Spectacularly- Reflection Five

Our class visitors (Peter and Tom) last Thursday discussed failure and how failure is viewed in such a negative light, but yet we learn so much and grow so much from the act of failing. In fact, we learn MORE from failing than we do succeeding in most cases. I can’t say that this is the first time I have thought about failing in positive terms, but I will say that I needed a reminder that we are rhetorically trained to believe that not getting the expectations that we set ourselves up for isn’t a win in another way.

As cliché as it sounds, I have always been a big believer in things happening for reasons. My faith guides me to believe that way, as does my general outlook on life. And from what I have experienced, there is merit in that statement. From relationships to professional changes, to where I went to college, I can look back and easily see times when in the moment I felt disappointed by the hand life had dealt me. In hindsight, these setbacks were not setbacks at all. In each situation, I learned and I grew.

I am not a huge country music fan, but having lived in the south for long enough it seems kind of unavoidable. I have learned to appreciate certain artists and certain songs. One song that comes to mind is a song by Garth Brooks (an artist I don’t really care for) called Unanswered Prayers. It has all the classic requirements of a sappy country song…twang, a broken heart, God, maybe even a pickup truck in there somewhere. Anyhow, it supports the more religious take on this idea. Unanswered prayers aren’t really unanswered- God is answering us but really giving us what we need, it just might not be what we expect. I don’t love the song, but I love the message.

Randy Pausch, author of “The Last Lecture” and well-loved professor at Carnegie Mellon University left a legacy of messages to his children and the world when he shared his final lecture, capturing the best lessons he learned in life. Many relate to risk and failure- and the importance of taking chances in order to make your life fuller. One quote that I really like is “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted”. Randy encouraged risk-taking, especially with his students. In fact, he even offered a reward to the team of students within his robotics class that took the biggest risk and failed. It was titled “The First Penguin Award” because the first penguin who jumps in the water risks the water being too cold, predators, etc. He gave stuffed penguins to the team who jumped off and failed first because as Randy says “It is better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre”.

Ironically, a certain failure has been the concentration of much of my life right now. I don’t necessarily view it that way, but my boyfriend does. Currently, we are trying to sell our house and unfortunately, it isn’t selling. It’s not in a good area of town and the mortgage is a major drain on us. The house is in his name, so perhaps our differing ideas of failure are because of the impact is different for both of us. Steve gets infuriated with himself for having made this investment five years ago, when the economy was different. The thought of walking away from it and tanking his credit is an unimaginable failure, that someone who is meticulous about their expenses cannot fathom. For me, it’s a temporary setback, but not a failure. I have tried to help Steve see it as something aside from a personal failure, but he is having a hard time letting go of his lifelong view of being fiscally responsible. I don’t expect that he will ever see a short sale or a foreclosure as a good thing, but I also wish he didn’t view that outcome as a failure either.

I think it takes someone with a really positive outlook on life to face problems and see them as opportunities. Furthermore, our individual experiences (our social construction of reality) speaks to what we as individuals view as major failures. While money management and success have been values that Steve was taught to uphold, I was taught to value the importance of family and personal relationships. Additionally, my faith- or general belief that things have a way or working out reminds me that falling isn’t always failing