Every PR practitioner will face a crisis at some point or another in his career, whether that is a small crisis like a banner gone wrong or a huge crisis like product failure. Some crises can be solved in a very short period of time while others can continue for a long time before they are completely cleared.
A badly managed crisis can destroy a company’s reputation as much as it can destroy the PR practitioner’s. On the other hand a well-managed crisis strengthens the company’s reputation as well as the PR practitioner’s.
An optimistic outlook of a crisis is that it is an opportunity for PR to raise its profile, status and role in an organisation. Very often, the value of PR is underestimated. Company CEO's are more concerned with business objectives rather than communication objectives and fail to realise how the two are linked.
A reputation is a company's most important asset and it is PR’s job to protect it. If a PR practitioner manages to emerge strong out of a crisis and maintain the company’s reputation, then he will be able to demonstrate the priceless value of PR.
For this to happen:
For a crisis to be handled well, the PR practitioner needs to plan ahead of it and make sure that he is prepared for any events that might follow. The truth is that most crises are predictable; the PR practitioner’s job is to think of any possible scenarios, the way each of them would be handled and include everything in a crisis manual.
The crisis manual needs to be read and rehearsed by everybody involved in its execution. The manual should include response papers, people’s roles, contact details and any other useful tips. It should be short (otherwise people won’t be bothered to read it) and straight to the point, avoiding technical jargon so everyone can clearly understand it.
A useful guide for crisis management can be found in the book 'Public Relations for the New Europe' by Trevor Morris and Simon Goldsworthy, chapter 18
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