Crisis Management Essentials - How to Communicate Effectively During a Crisis, Emergency or Disaster

A crisis, emergency or disaster can happen at anytime and anywhere.

Just ask the residents of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory.

Imagine a late afternoon on Christmas Eve thirty years ago, and looking outside to see your street cloaked by heavy low cloud and your windows being rattled by ever stronger rain squalls and wind gusts.

Two-hours after an eerie tropical sunset another check shows the winds are picking up sheets of corrugated iron and hurling them around like autumn leaves in a light breeze.

By midnight, as Santa was meant to bring the children of Darwin their presents, the damage is becoming serious. Over the next six hours Cyclone Tracy substantially destroys Darwin killing 65 people - 49 on land, and 16 at sea.

As dawn breaks on Christmas Day 1974, the early light reveals the devastating damage - 145 serious injuries, more than 500 with minor incidents, 70 per cent of houses are destroyed costing the community over $800 million dollars.

Wind gusts of 217 km/h were recorded before the anemometer was blown off its base and ceased functioning

The point is a disaster can strike when you least expect it.

And the media is far more demanding now than 30 years ago in 1974.

By preparing for such an event and having in place a crisis communications or emergency media plan, much of the added drama of having to deal with the media can be avoided.

The media plays a vital role in informing people what is happening during a crisis.

I remember as a fresh-faced, acting ABC Executive Producer at the tender age of 26-years old having to co-ordinate the emergency broadcasts for Australia's most powerful cyclone.

I'll never forget that day on the 23rd of April 1989 as a category 5 cyclone (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 is the most powerful) crossed the North West Coast of Western Australia.

Known-as 'awesome' Orson, the cyclone caused the strongest wind gusts ever recorded at over 280 km/hour.

I remember that confused feeling of fear and excitement when your leadership is really tested. I had to ask one of the 'old hands' what I should do because I was so concerned, inexperienced, and frankly terrified of doing the wrong thing.

We organised an around the clock roster, breaking into regular programs and broadcasting updated warnings and information every 15 minutes for four days straight.

We may have been in Perth in a safe radio studio with walls covered in 1970s shag-pile brown carpet thousands of miles-away, but the 100 personnel on the production oil and gas platform North Rankin 'A' operated by Woodside Energy Limited, located 130 km off the coast near Dampier, hung on every word.

The barometric pressure bottomed out at 905 hPa as the huge storm passed over the rig in the dead of night with winds blasting up to 250 km/hr and waves more than 20 m high crashing over the massive steel structure.

In my whole 12-years with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this moment in time is etched in my memory as the one where my role as a professional communicator was having the most impact with an audience. One where people's lives depended on your ability to convey a message in a calm, clear and measured way.

Accuracy of information in a situation like this is vital.

And when it is not handled well it can be more than just a PR disaster.

In times like these it is better to work with the media rather than against them.

Relieved and tired when Orson finally turned into a tropical low somewhere over the red spinifex plains of the Pilbara and lost the power of its damaging winds, this experience taught me that there is no room for error in situations like these.

On the opposite end of the scale, the handling of the power crisis in Western Australia in February of this year is a classic case study of what can go wrong when an organisation fails to communicate with the community.

While executives enjoyed the comfort of their corporate offices and trappings of power, Perth residents and businesses were asked to swelter out forty-plus degree heat without their air conditioners and fridges or risk fines of up to $10,000.

All because the power utility couldn't cope with the electricity demands associated with a typical Perth summer. It doesn't take Einstein to work out that Perth gets hot in February and that this puts pressure on the power grid.

Engineers are not renowned for their public relations skills, and this was highlighted with Western Power's inability to communicate with the public and inform people just what was going on.

Western Power has since apologised for its "inadequate and incomplete communication" over what is now known as the "Black Friday" power crisis but it will take a long time to rebuild its reputation, trust and goodwill with the community of Perth.

Even now Western Power is spending over a million dollars on an expensive TV advertising campaign just to win back that trust.

They could have spent about $5,000 on media training and saved themselves $995,000.

How do you stay ahead of potential disaster in circumstances like this?

Simple, have a plan, road test and refine the plan with a hypothetical scenario, and then execute the strategy when the real crisis occurs.

The least Western Power could have done was to pre-warn the public of an impeding situation and put in a process of ongoing, two way communication with the people who matter most, the residents of Perth.

Here are 5 lessons all organisations should be aware of when dealing with the community over a public issue next holiday season:

1. Plan for a crisis in advance.

2. Clarify your communication objectives.

3. Determine your spokesperson and road test their skills prior to a crisis.

4. Stick to the facts. Show empathy with those affected.

5. Develop an open and honest relationship with the media, avoid "No Comment" and be proactive.

My plea is please do all this prior to your regular management team going on holiday's and leaving it to a poorly trained, inexperienced and nervous skeleton crew to deal with.

I should know, 'awesome' Orson taught me that an emergency doesn't wait for the boss to come back.

© 2004 8M Media & Communications Thomas Murrell. All rights reserved worldwide.

* Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting http://www.8mmedia.com/ Thomas can be contacted directly at +6189388 6888 and is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom's blog at http://www.8mmedia.blogspot.com/

---

6 Simple Steps to Dealing with Difficult Managers

The challenge of managing difficult managers can be rather daunting, especially when you inherit them! If they are your own born and bred, then hopefully they would... Read More

When Code Freeze Turns To Code Slush

Time To Market (TTM) is a vital concept that every executive understands. Releasing a product to market before your competition gives you a significant first-mover advantage. As... Read More

Project Managment: Land the Plane Stop Doing and Start Succeeding

We all spend time on planning vacations. If it's not you then it's probably your significant other or travel agent. Think of the time we spend choosing... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Motivation and Management Layers

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

A Checklist for Organized Executives

I could begin this article by providing a checklist of organizing techniques for you to incorporate into your daily work routine. The goal would be to become... Read More

Knowledge Management - Creating a Sustainable Yellow Pages System

How can I "know who knows" None of us can personally know more than around 250 people, yet we want our companies to be smart, learning organisations... Read More

Hiring and Retaining Good Employees

Hiring good employees is not only important to business, it's essential. Employees are the heart and soul of a business; they are the mechanism that makes a... Read More

Squeezing the Blood Out of that Old Turnip

I suspect all of you out there have someone that you rely on for insight and perspective ? that wise old mentor that seems to have an... Read More

The Dark Side of Help Desk SLAs

You just signed a Help Desk Service Level Agreement (SLA) and now think things will get easier. However, you may soon be falling into one of these... Read More

The Leadership Imperative: Making Your Leadership Your Life

Nearly all leaders I've encountered are underachievers. They're getting a fraction of the results they are capable of. And in most cases, it's their fault. Their failures... Read More

DIVERSITY is a BIG word -- With A HUGE Business IMPACT

Second thought! Just in case. YOU or someone you personally know may fit the following picture of success which may carry too much risk for comfort.You can... Read More

Business Innovation ? Tacit Knowledge

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this... Read More

Don?t Forget Where You Came from - Why the Past is Important in Implementing Business Change

Much of the literature and advice on implementing business change focuses on knowing where you are going and making sure that you understand and communicate a consistent... Read More

Employee Motivation: It?s More Than A Paycheck

Managers often ask, usually with exasperation, "How can I keep my employees motivated? I pay them decently. What else is there?"Offering competitive salaries is certainly important. But... Read More

How to Leverage Your Strengths for Peak Performance

Ask almost any business leader how to most effectively develop people and build teamwork and you'll hear, "tap into employees' strengths." Yet when it comes to their... Read More

Difficult Staff - It Pays To Get To Know Them Better

It's very easy for a business owner or manager to fall into the trap of condemning one of their team as a no-hoper or a problem child.It... Read More

Overcoming the Document Tracking Challenge

"Where did it go? It was here yesterday. Wait. Here it is. But it looks a lot like the draft I just sent my team members yesterday.... Read More

Performance Appraisal Checklist: Raise Not Just Appraise Performance

It's that time again! Perhaps the most dreaded management practice is the annual performance review. Whenever the subject comes up, out comes the groans from both managers... Read More

Have You Fixed the Broken Window?

Left alone it doesn't take long for a building with a single broken window to rapidly become a building with many broken windows. Fixing problems when they... Read More

Which ITIL Process Should We Implement First?

The following question is usually debated a lot amongst IT managers. "With which process should we start when implementing ITIL?" Everybody has their own views, but here... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: The Organizational Structure of Our Growing Business

This article relates to the organizational structure competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It shows how structural concerns can affect the typical employee workday, as well... Read More

Check Your Communication Skills

Use this check list to assess your communication skills.Focus* Do you pay complete attention to others when they are speaking? (A wandering focus discourages open communication.)* Do... Read More

Management Team Section of Business Plans

Writing an award winning business plan is a great skill, but rather than winning any awards you need to get funded. In order to be funded the... Read More

Developing Your Mission

"The best Leader is one who knows how to pick good people to do what he or she wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling... Read More

5 Management Decision Making Lessons from a Long Shot. A Heartening Belmont Victory

Like many, I watched the 134th Belmont Stakes hoping to see the first Triple Crown in 24 years. Instead, I saw the 70-1 long shot, Sarava, appear... Read More

Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote... Read More