Crisis and issues management
I struggle to think of any organisation that does not need to be prepared for something to go wrong. From the more obvious crash of an aircraft, right through product quality issues, to a negative report in a trade magazine - being ready and able to handle a problem is the hallmark of a great organisation.
In fact, handling an issue well cannot only prevent damage to your reputation, but can even enhance it. And if you don’t handle an issue well the damage will be felt on the bottom line and could be fatal.
My work in the area of crisis and issues management includes the following:
Risk assessment - a managed brainstorm to find out what risks a particular project or company faces and how they can be reduced, eliminated or planned for
Crisis audit - if you already have plans in place to deal with issues, then you might like to test how robust they are with an audit. I am able to bring the best practice of many years of crisis management experience to your organisation to ensure that you are as comfortable as possible with your preparation
Crisis plan - a crisis plan needs to be easy to use and informative, I can draft a plan for you from scratch or improve your existing one to helps rather than hinders you with the management of an issue or crisis
Crisis team development - getting the right people in the right positions on your crisis team is essential if you are to handle things well. I use proven assessment techniques to help you create the best possible crisis team
Issues media training - a media training session dedicated to the handling of a particular issue with scenarios designed to test your spokespeople and enhance their ability to deal with the media
Media collateral - in many cases it is possible, and indeed desirable, to prepare holding statements and question and answer documents ready for use in a crisis situation.
Post crisis evaluation - if you’ve recently been through a crisis or issue it’s all too easy to sigh with relief that it’s over and move on to other things, however a thorough assessment of how things were handled and how your processes worked will earmark areas for improvement and will help ensure that next time there’s an even more positive outcome for the organisation.
Crisis/issues handling - if things do go wrong, you might need help in the handling of the crisis or issue. My experience in handling issues and knowledge of the media could help you at a time when you really need some extra resource.