And the bad news keeps coming…Tiger Woods…Toyota. We’ve heard and seen it before. From a President to Hollywood stars, all caught up in a bad PR scenario that in many cases sounds and ends up worse because it is poorly handled right from the start.
I recently read some great advice in a Web article: A Primer for Crisis PR by Greg Sherwin and Emily Avila, giving their tips on how to handle bad news.
The first one sounds simple, but seems to be the hardest for most. Fess up. Get your story out.
As Sherwin and Avila note, it may sound strange, but the best-case scenario is when your company, organization, or you report the bad news first. This is proactive and prevents one from being put in a weakened, defensive position. If the crisis is foreseen -- impending bad financial news, for example -- make sure you have and discuss overall strategy.
This is a strategic move but make sure you know the difference between general, garden-variety bad news and a true corporate crisis.
If the crisis is not foreseen and you're forced into a reactive position, then react quickly. No issue skirting allowed.
In A Primer for Crisis PR, Sherwin and Avila advise to always consider your internal audience first.
If your company or organization is looking at its quarterly financials and they're not looking pretty, you owe it to your employees to hear it from you first. You don't want them visiting online news sites -- and their evil twin, rumor-mill sites -- and learning the company is in trouble.
Tell them first. Tell them how you're going to deal with the bad news, and communicate regularly with your employees and shareholders throughout the crisis. It's a risk that maybe they'll leak it. But maybe they won't.
More on this issue later; Give me your comments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment