Listen to part of a lecture in a business management class,

P: Okay, we've talked about the importance of public relations in establishing and maintaining good relationships between an organization and the public. That's why large organizations have public relations departments, right? Okay, today, I want to talk about a specialty within the field of public relations, and that's crisis management.

So first of all, what's a crisis as compared to a problem? Well, the difference between a crisis and a problem is really just a matter of scope. A crisis is defined as a major event that has potentially negative results. The aftermath of a crisis may significantly damage an organization and its reputation. Problems, on the other hand, are fairly predictable, commonplace occurrences, and so companies can address problems rather quickly and without getting negative media attention.

Now, thing is, a problem can escalate into a crisis if it gets to the point where it brings unwanted attention from the media or outside organizations. Let's see. For example, let's say there's a company that makes and packages snacks, so they package popcorn and potato chips, and there's a mixup, and some popcorn winds up in bags labeled potato chips.

Now there's nothing wrong with the product itself. It's the labels, the packaging, that's the problem, and that's where a company's public relations department comes in. They would determine the best way to communicate this packaging problem in a statement, and this information would be presented to employees and board members and to the media and the community.

Understand that they should be the ones who will present the information to the public. You can see how easy it would be for angry consumers to start rumors that the company has other problems and that the food is unhealthy or the factory is unclean, and imagine the results of rumors like that. So the company's public relations professionals need to be out front before that can happen.

Now, in order to prevent something building from being a problem to being a crisis, managers need to identify a potential crisis, and not only managers, any employee who comes across, employees need to be encouraged. They should feel comfortable in bringing a potential crisis to the attention of the leadership and the public relations department.

So okay, besides recognizing a potential crisis and taking action to prevent it. Crisis planning is equally important for an organization. Planning ahead for a crisis situation helps companies know what to do when one occurs. So companies should have a crisis communications plan, but most companies, unfortunately, aren't as prepared as they should be.

Anyway, companies need to assess the potential risks they may face. You see, every organization has different types of risks depending on the nature of the product or service it provides. Then, with the help of the PR professional, they need to map out a course of action, a crisis communications plan that's consistent with the organization's goals and values, and they'll have to determine ahead what would have to be communicated in a crisis situation and to which audience.

Often people from outside the organization, outside consultants are hired to prepare these types of plans. And they can be extremely expensive, of course, if they're successful in preparing for and maybe even preventing crises, well, you can see how they don't seem so expensive after all.

there's something else I want to mention, something you'll see in your textbook, I think it's in next week's reading, crises bring opportunity. One way is that the pace, the rate that a company is willing to change, is accelerated. When things are going along okay, companies may resist change. A crisis may point out the need to stop, to stop doing things the way they've always been done.

Another way crises can bring opportunities is in personnel. Crises can create heroes, the workers who respond well to crises. Well, the management should take note. These are the workers the company wants to keep and promote. They're the future of the company.