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FALL 2013
27
T
odd Von Deak of TVD
Associates and Brendon
Shank of the Society of
Hospital Medicine outline
steps you can take tomorrow to be
better prepared for a crisis and the
media storm that follows.
As association and non-profit leaders,
we are under near-constant pressure
to improve the metrics that end up
in board reports and performance
dashboards. So it’s understandable
that we focus on revenue drivers rather
than a crisis our leadership doesn’t
believe will ever happen.
The truth is, most organizations do
experience a crisis at some point, and
those that are prepared can not only
survive, but will thrive.
Richard Levick, president and CEO
of Levick Strategic Communications,
said it best. “Every second counts.
Stakeholders are demanding new levels
of transparency and accountability.
Every company is or will be in crisis.
Those that answer the call transform
crisis into opportunity. Those that don’t
risk everything.”
DEFINE CRISIS
In the heat of the moment, it’s easy
to rationalize away a crisis. If you
do, odds are the crisis will escalate
before you look up. That’s why the
best professionals get their leadership
to agree on the general definition of a
crisis well before one happens.
For example, a medical society found
itself in the midst of a crisis when it
received a phone call from a national
media outlet about the organization
being named in a governmental
investigative report. Fortunately, they
understood that that crisis wasn’t
the article itself—the article was an
indicator that the organization was in
danger on numerous fronts.
Tomorrow: Initiate a dialog with
colleagues and executive staff to
define what a crisis would look like in
your organization. Look past the “bad
article” to consider things like brand
reputation, revenue and membership
satisfaction as possible indicators of
a crisis.
DON’T NEGLECT THE SIGNS
Once you have established or validated
your definition of a crisis, make sure
you are set up to monitor potential
problem areas on a regular basis.
Tomorrow: Take a look at your “listening
posts” to make sure you are getting the
information you need to spot a crisis
before it blows up. Spend time talking
with colleagues in other departments
to better understand the data they
regularly gather. Could existing reports
be re-purposed as monitoring tools for
the communications group? You’ll get
new intelligence, and your colleagues
will be excited to see their hard work
used in a new way.
BE PREPARED
The actions you take long before a crisis
will significantly impact how you come
out of the crisis and whether you thrive
<< Update
Are You
Ready
for a Crisis?
Really?
