Preparing for Crisis - 5 Essentials to Survive Intact

Preparing for Crisis
5 Essentials to Survive Intact
Presented by:
Kathleen Hessert

© 2012 All Rights Reserved

All Types of Crises…
Determine & Resolve

• Event or issue based crisis
• Caused by you/yours or by others
• Short term vs long term
• Management & communication

© 2012 All Rights Reserved 2

The Stages of Crisis
Preparation is Key

Acute Crisis

Chronic Crisis

Pre-Crisis Resolution


Results are Based On…

Exposure Performance

Image


3 Biggest
Leadership Challenges
• Assess & managed actual crisis
when everything is fluid & resources
are limited.

• Identify & communicate vital Management Communication
information in timely manner to
all appropriate groups including
internal constituencies even with
insufficient facts.

• Don’t wait to wait to focus on Business
business resumption. Assign
responsibility from the start to Resumption
speed recovery.

© 2012 All Rights Reserved 5 5

Successful
Crisis Management

• Vigilant thinking
• Fast, decisive action
• People first focus
• Collaboration & cooperation
• Accountability


Essentials to Survive


#1 Issues Management


Issues Management
Process
• Establish “Vigilance” Team
– Identify interdisciplinary membership
– Use Crisis Barometer protocol
– Assign follow-up responsibilities to specific
people

• Schedule regular meetings
– Quarterly
– When landscape, context, issues change

• Identify Crisis Team
– Permanent members
– Flexible members as needed
– Outside expert consultants


Assessment Tool:
Crisis Barometer
High / Low High / High
10
9
Score the following:
8 (1-10 ten is highest)
7

Probability 6 1. Will it escalate in intensity?
(%) 0 10 20 30 40 60 70 80 90 100 2. Draw govt/media scrutiny?
4 3. Damage our brand image?
3 4. Interrupt daily activity?
2 5. Effect the bottom line?
1
0
Low / Low Low / High
Impact


#2 Have a Seat at the
President’s Table


Influencing the
Decision-makers
• Show breadth & scope of
understanding & interest
beyond athletics
• Be there & contribute when
your interests aren’t at stake
• Have strong relationships with legal & PR
• When crisis hits silence
creates doubt. Communicate
proactively
• Be one step ahead of the issues;
anticipate what’s next
• Share the nuances & rhythm
of athletics. They don’t know!

12

#3 Have a Plan &
Test Readiness


Crisis Plan Objectives

• Maintain credibility
• Establish ground rules
• Control official comments
• Neutralize blame
• Enlist influential support
• Internal
• External

12

Crisis Response
Approach
• Safety first
• Document actions
• Adopt a “find it- fix it” mentality
• Communicate quickly
• Be accountable


#4 Scale for Social Media


Social Media
Complications…
• Velocity of information spread
• Volume of posts
• Limited trust
• Need for actionable information
• Required 360 awareness
• Limited social communities in place
• Limited platform expertise
• Influencers & advocates not identified in
advance
• Insufficient monitoring tools
• Lack of personnel & infrastructure
• Limited social savvy by internal leaders

Put Infrastructure
in Place Now
• Develop protocols
– listening vs engaging?
– levels of approval
• Identify & enlist digital street team (ambassadors)
• Coordinate & get agreement from university level social media/PR
• Put monitoring system in place for activation
• Plan/adequately staff a social media command center
• Educate personnel on social media, crisis protocol, accountability


Digital Street Team
Enlist Brand Ambassadors


Monitor Brand for
Actionable Insights
• Monitoring near real time
provides insight from
un-aided focus groups
• Weekly reports to execs
measures effectiveness &
progress
• At-a-glance understanding of
what’s working & not
• Enlightens PR, marketing,
customer service,
development, etc.


#5 Debrief


You’re On the Clock!
There’s no time but…
debriefing is vital:
• Evaluate separately
• Crisis management
• Communications
• Business resumption

• Evaluate handling of the
perceived vs. real crisis

• Rate effectiveness of your
• People
• Policies
• Procedures

*Full Debrief Checklist in Extras

Crisis Communication
Debrief


Next Steps


To Do NOW:
• Institute Issues Management “vigilant thinking”

• Assign responsibility to research & assess
specific issues

• Name members of Crisis Team
• Begin or vigorously review Crisis Plan

• Comprehensively monitor hot industry &
organizational issues
• Integrate social media strategy into crisis planning

• Reinforce inner circle relationship with
President’s office, academics & alumni

Crisis Communication
Extras


Proactive
Communication
• Enhances credibility
• Maintains image as
caring & efficient
• Viewed as primary & best
information source


Message Essentials:

• People focused
• Timely & constant
• Provides facts & insights
• Considers emotions
• Directs public response
• Avoids speculation


Crisis Debriefing Check List
Debriefing after a crisis is a healthy way to make this organization even stronger. The exercise is meant to compile and
analyze the strengths and weaknesses of our people, policies and procedures involved in the most recent crisis.
The results become our “lessons learned.”

However, except in the simplest situation, this process will have to be completed in two stages after: 1. The Acute Crisis Stage
(what most people think of the crisis itself). 2. The Chronic Crisis Stage (aftermath). The Chronic Crisis Stage, which will
include any lawsuits, may go on for a short period or even indefinitely. To adequately resolve any crisis, we need to
thoroughly debrief the situation and those people directly involved.

• Did we clearly and effectively put PEOPLE FIRST in all decision making and actions?

• Did the Athletic Department Issues Management Team and/or others within the department predict the crisis and put
adequate prevention/ reaction tools in place?

• Were Athletic Department personnel and those of associated organizations at all levels proactive when responding to the
crisis? If not, at what level was there a slow or initially no response at all? Why?

• Was the team flexible in our approach as the situation changed or did we exhibit a rigid “bunker mentality”? At what level(s)
did this occur?

• How did our budget inhibit our response at any level? Could we have budgeted for the necessary contingencies to any
degree?

• Did we make it our business to remove any impediments to a faster, better, more people oriented response? Were all
executives and personnel enabled to do the same?

• Where were there inefficiencies and to what degree?

• What policies and/or procedures were nonexistent, unclear or less effective than what we want/need?


Crisis Debriefing Check List (continued)
• Were adequate human and other resources available? (yes / no / maybe)?

• If there was a shortage of resources or suspected one, where was it and why?

• Were internal communications (upward and downward) consistent…(yes/no), informative…(yes/no), frequent enough
(yes/no), calming…(yes/no)?

• How effective were our media relations? (poor / average / good / excellent)?

• Did we consistently get our message across?

• Did our spokesperson (people) represent the Athletic Department and University
as a responsive, honest, caring organization?

• Did we adequately address the perceived as well as the real crises for our external audiences (yes/no)? for our internal
audiences… (yes/no)? for the NCAA (yes/no)?

• How well prepared were we for the aftershocks or ripple effects (poor / average / good / excellent)?

• Based on our crisis response, rate the effectiveness of the organization:
– People (poor / average / good / excellent)
– Policies (poor / average / good / excellent)
– Procedures (poor / average / good / excellent)

• How can we improve the implementation?

• What changes are necessary to strengthen the facilities for the next crisis?

• Who is responsible for the follow-up actions we’ve identified? By when?


For More Information
CONTACT:
Kathleen Hessert
@kathleenhessert
@buzzmgr
1.704.541.5942 or
1.704906.3600
Charlotte, NC, USA
www.buzzmgr.com
www.sportsmediachallenge.com

Preparing for Crisis - 5 Essentials to Survive Intact

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