PRDV107: Crisis Communication

Watch this video, which provides an introductory overview of crisis communication. Pay special attention to the field's interdisciplinary nature and to the changes and shifts in perspectives that have happened over time.

This article is an overview and definition of crisis communication and crisis communication management. This article also addresses reasons why crisis communication is important. Many of the points here will be reiterated throughout this course.

This article provides an overview of the symptoms, types, and even potential benefits of crises. Note the list of preparations that every organization should have, and think about how responses should be customized for some of the various types of crises that can occur.

Watch this video for an overview of various aspects of crisis planning, from risk summary to situational and stakeholder assessments, to action recommendations.

Public relations professionals are in charge of various communication activities, including increased brand visibility of the organization and mission and planning a wide array of events. Some serious events require crisis communication to salvage a brand's integrity and reputation. Read this section for a brief introduction to public relations, focusing especially on how it relates to crisis management.

Read this section to learn the steps for crisis planning. Be sure to take notes as you read. Pay special attention to real-world crisis events, including Wendy's handling of a woman's claim of finding a fingertip in her bowl of chili. Another example discussed in this section is BP's oil rig explosion on the Gulf Coast and how CEO Tony Hayward responded. Complete exercise 2 (AACSB) Analysis. This exercise requires you to role play as the CEO of a large company and write the core values you would want your company's employees to demonstrate.

Watch this video, which discusses the steps of disaster risk assessment, particularly for more complex situations.

Watch this video to learn the basics of a crisis communication plan approach for businesses and organizations.

Read this article for an overview of the purpose, role, and suggested composition of a crisis management team, which is an important part of crisis management.

Read this case study, which looked at the impact of work teams and utilizing their expertise as a form of empowerment in crisis management at the Jordanian Electricity Distribution Company. Consider the implications and recommendations listed and how they could be applied to other organizations and situations.

Watch this video, which discusses categories of crisis response. Responding to a crisis can involve using various tactics, depending on the specifics of the organization and situation.

This article walks through considerations in the process of decision-making during a crisis. The self-audit tool at the end could be a useful checklist for organizations.

Read this section to refresh your understanding of the importance of always adequately preparing for news media encounters regardless of the format and whether you communicate during a crisis or a non-crisis situation. After reading about press conferences, complete the exercise at the end of the section. For this exercise, you will select one scenario based on your birth month. Then, you will write a prepared statement that responds to at least five questions related to who, what, when, where, how, and why regarding the scenario.

Read this section to learn how trends in social media affect the availability, use, and appeal of social media as effective communication during a crisis. Note that the social media landscape changes quickly, with various new platforms and apps gaining (or losing) popularity over time.

This article, targeted at nonprofit organizations, contains useful guidelines and considerations when developing a social media policy. Having such a policy in place will be very helpful in using social media to respond to a crisis.

This comprehensive guide covers creating a general social media plan, but skim through it and think about how a guide like this applies in crises. How do you effectively communicate critical messages through different social media channels?

Read this article to learn how to avoid social networking risks that could interrupt and compromise your Internet and social media channel services.

Watch this video to learn emerging best practices for reaching and engaging bloggers, reporters, and other influencers to target your messages.

Read this paper, which details the results of an online survey on preferred types and modes of social media messages during a crisis. Though the study has limitations, consider how the findings could be useful.

The Red Cross identified a need for social media implementation for humanitarian aid. Watch this short video to learn about social media's growing application for disaster response and how mapping and digital volunteers can help navigate a crisis.

There is no question that social media is an important part of disaster response, whether documenting impact or mobilizing aid. However, this also raises many challenges and complexities. Consider your thoughts on the three challenges at the end of the article.

Although this paper focuses on agricultural organizations and crises, the discussion of social media use applies more broadly. Pay special attention to the conclusions, recommendations, and implications.

Watch this video, which illustrates how a government agency in Australia has effectively integrated social media into emergency service procedures.

This paper is a bit technical, but read about the proposed Communication Hub Framework and consider its implications for disseminating information on social media during a disaster.

This video outlines clear steps and ideas for developing a disaster response plan. Though this video is focused on archivists, the principles can be modified for any organization or setting.

Read this section to learn what information to include when developing a CCP. This section includes a checklist for designing an effective crisis communication plan and reviews the characteristics of a crisis communication team. Answer the questions for exercises 2 and 5.

Read this guide, which provides some guidelines and tips for important parts of a crisis communication plan.

See how tabletop exercises are used to test crisis communication plans. This video illustrates moving pieces of testing, reviewing scenarios, and knowing how to create an effective plan.

Read this case study about how negotiations broke down and led UPS employees to strike. This chapter will help you understand the importance of developing message strategies and how to develop them for crisis management.

In crisis communication, the organization wants to create messages that tell their story. The crisis communication team needs to match the delivery of the message to the intended audience. For example, we wouldn't write the same message to our customers as the Board of Trustees. The method of delivery would be different as well. This short lesson will help you identify the goals and characteristics of good storytelling.

This short lesson introduces the why, what, and who for creating messages. Pay close attention to the Key Questions Scenario to see how the audience can affect how a message is told.

This video discusses creating a marketing communication strategy, including why a strategy is needed, how to create one, and how to launch and evaluate your strategy.

This video encourages thinking beyond the corporate-centric perception of the crisis communication field. The main focus should be on people, not profitability, to prevent, mitigate, and recover from a crisis.

Read this article, which will provide guidelines for ensuring management is ready to handle a crisis and outlines specific business ethics that should be followed to ensure truthful disclosures.

While this section on crafting messages is targeted at open educational resources (OER), it will introduce you to seven very clear steps to crafting messages that can easily be used to support crisis communication.

Here's another short lesson on creating messages. Even though it's targeted at public relations messages, it clearly shows how important it is to identify the stakeholders for the messages that need to be communicated.

This short lesson clearly defines "stakeholder" and identifies the most common stakeholders who need to be communicated with. Jot down ideas for the brainstorming activity at the end.

An important part of communication strategy is identifying types of stakeholders and publics (as opposed to the "general public", which as a designation is usually too broad and unhelpful in a public relations context). This chapter will go through definitions of stakeholders and publics and the general categories of each. Knowing this helps develop appropriate approaches to communicate your message more effectively.

Read these three articles to better understand your role with news media, what you can do to achieve an effective working relationship with the media, and tips for using traditional and new media.

Read this brief overview of best practices for social media messaging and engagement.

This is a fascinating progression through a crisis communication scenario. You'll be presented with a case and then walk through creating a message strategy.

Though this guidance is specific to COVID-19 and intended for public health professionals in communications roles, reading it will show you helpful steps to take before, during, and after a crisis. Think about the crisis management and communication lessons we could learn from the pandemic and how we can effectively prepare for the next one.

Read this report, which focuses on France's response to COVID-19. Reflect on the response and progress since then. With hindsight, was there anything that could or should have been done differently?

This optional webinar is quite lengthy, but it provides the perspectives of several international experts on lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of crisis communications.