Nuparc Learning

Mastering Crisis Management in the Financial SectorMarch 24th & 25th, 2010

Learn more here
http://nuparc.com/divlearn/executive-training-crisis-management/

Blog found here
http://blogs.bnet.com/pr/?p=342

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5 ESSENTIAL TOOLS ANY CRISIS COMMUNICATION NEEDS

Social Media is becoming more and more important to an organization’s response to a crisis.
Thanks to social media tools, there is no reason a crisis communication pro shouldn’t have these tools in his or her toolbox, ready to respond to an emergency within minutes, rather than hours, or even days.

Wether you’re a government agency dealing with a massive emergency, or a famous athlete caught with his pants down, you need to be able to respond quickly and truthfully. You need to get ahead of the speculators and talking heads whose grinding of the rumor mill can do more harm than the actual truth.

Many organizations, especially government agencies, are still using old-school media to get their news out. The problem is they’re trying to reach a newspaper audience with timely news, but it’s changed in the last 30 minutes. Or they’re trying to reach the TV news by 3:oo pm for a 5:00 broadcast, while most people are still in their cars. And in many cases, broadcast media only spends seconds on your story,  and the newspapers are only devoting a few precious inches to your side of the story.

With social media, you can bypass the media filters, reach the greatest number of people, and in many cases, get the news out before the mainstream media. This is especially useful if you have time-sensitive information, like medication dispensing points, product recalls, hours of operation, etc.

Consider adding social media to your arsenal:

1. Blog
A blog is a great way to publish an entire news story. In many cases, the mainstream media will use your blog as a source. If you’ve done most of the legwork for them, they’re more inclined to use the information you provided.

Strategy: Appoint a blog writer you trust and give him or her carte blanche in reporting the latest news.

2. Twitter
Twitter lets you reach people quickly and easily. Create lists of important people who will need to hear your news: journalists, fans, customers, vendors, etc. Don’t just use Twitter for barfing out news though. You can use Twitter to talk with people and set up relationships. If people like you, they’re likely to want to hear your news, making you a trusted news source.

Strategy: Have conversations, provide information, correct misinformation and answer questions.

3. Facebook fan page:
If you’re a B2C company, nonprofit or government agency, you need a fan page. If you’re B2B, the debate still rages on. People get their news from different sources, and they get their social media from different tools. So you need to match their information-gathering habits. Since Facebook boasts over 350 million world-wide users, a lot of people are getting their news here.

Strategy: Run your blog and Twitter feeds through your fan page. Follow the conversations people are having on the page and participate in them.

4. Analytics:
You need to measure your results and see what works. If nothing else, put Google Analytics on your blog, and set up some Google News Alerts. They only update every 24 hours (Google News can email stories as they appear), but it’s free and ideal if you’re not trying to monitor events in real-time.

Strategy: Adopt at least one analytics package, and use it to monitor the success of your social media strategy. Compare it to your traditional methods, and see which tools are bringing you the best results. Plow more time and energy into the successful ones, and see if it’s possible to roll the less-successful ones into your new strategies.

There are more tools available than you could ever hope to master, most of them supporting one of these basis, but these are the ones you can build an entire communication plan around it. If you can figure these out, you’ll be miles ahead of those organisations and agencies who are still trying to figure out the fastest way to fax a one-page press release to 500 different newspapers in less than 6 hours.

Learn more about Crisis Communication in our Master Class, coming up in Spring 2010.
Watch our website for more updates on this course:
http://nuparc.com/divlearn/executive-learning/

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HOW TO HANDLE A CRISIS – 11 COMMUNICATION TIPS

Tip # 1 – have a crisis plan ready to go. Rather than scurrying about when a crisis hits, it makes a lot more sense to have a game plan in place ahead of time. Start by determining what can happen (make lists of scenarios) and then assume it will. Crises fall into two categories: (1) uncontrolled crises (fire, employee injury, deaths) and (2) controlled crises (layoffs, takeovers, major product changes). Decide what you will need to do; frame the action items. Create a crisis portfolio and think through what events could set them off. Align the action you will take with the crisis level. When the crisis hits, work the plan.

Tip # 2 – build the crisis support infrastructure. Assign authority and responsibility ahead of time. Build the crisis response team; get an adequate number of professionals involved. Prepare content. Identify all your organization’s publics, not just the obvious ones. Figure out how and where you’ll establish information centers. Identify the chain of communication for crisis notification. Predetermine the way you’ll assemble the team. Constantly train the team by simulating various crises; practice the plan once or twice a year and modify as needed; change scenarios each time. Look for things that don’t work; refine the process.

Tip # 3 – speak with one voice. When a crisis hits, you can’t have 10 different people running around speaking on behalf of the company. This is a formula for a damaged reputation. Instead, identify one central spokesperson – at the highest possible level – and make certain this individual has the knowledge, sensitivity, interpersonal skills, authority and public demeanor to speak on your company’s behalf. Make sure this person is very accessible. Strive for consistency in what is said and how it is said. Make sure there’s a clear chain of command.

Tip # 4 – be prepared before you talk. Invest the time – proactively – to anticipate key questions before they get asked. Know the details. Understand what you can, and cannot, say. Deal honestly with all your publics, but only divulge what’s required. Don’t volunteer damaging information. Only use confirmed facts; don’t speculate.

Tip # 5 – remember social media. Twitter is a phenomenal real-time communication channel, and a great way to keep people informed, make alerts and be continually proactive. Facebook is an excellent two-way medium to monitor what people are thinking and post frequent updates from your company.

Tip # 6 – be there. When a crisis strikes, you can’t maneuver your way through it in your office. Get out there. Be at the scene. Be visible and available. Don’t allow information voids; keep communication flowing. Never surprise anyone. Deal with rumors quickly. Minimize speculation.

Tip # 7 – fall on your sword. This is the # 1 mistake companies, organizations and even venerable institutions consistently make… despite decades of “how not to do it” examples. Don’t fall into this trap because it’s the most debilitating of all. Nothing damages a reputation more quickly than stalling, deceit and bamboozling. Acknowledge the problem. Express concern. Take responsibility. Express a sincere desire to cooperate with others to solve the problem. Be human.

Tip # 8 – protect the record. Monitor everything that’s said and written including social media. Have a system in place to correct incorrect facts to avoid recirculation of erroneous information. Make sure your organization gets public credit for positive actions taken to address the crisis.

Tip # 9 – keep reading the situation. If a crisis becomes extended, continually measure changes in public opinion. This real-time monitoring will enable you to modify your crisis plan and communication as needed.

Tip # 10 – don’t go quiet. If nothing new has occurred, don’t fall into a black hole. Keep communicating even if the status quo is unchanged. Be proactive in your communication. Always be concerned about the reputation of your company, organization or institution.

Learn more about Crisis Communication in our Master Class, coming up in Spring 2010.
Watch our website for more updates on this course:
http://nuparc.com/divlearn/executive-learning/

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THE ROLE OF CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS IN PUBLIC RELATIONS

It is important for an organization to have one or more spokespeople who are experienced and can stay calm when communicating during a crisis. Crisis communication is how people know what is going on and it is very important when it comes to public relations. This is why it is important to have an adequate number of spokespeople for your organization because sometimes it isn’t sufficient enough to have just one person doing the talking. It looks better on the public relations side of things if you have more than one who are both on the same page and can effectively speak to the media and people on a face-to-face basis.

There are several things that must be done in crisis communication. It isn’t just a matter of looking at the situation and coming up with a response within five minutes. To give a proper response, it is important to evaluate the situation and follow a certain set of rules to make sure the public gets the adequate information. These steps are:

- Developing and delivering at least three key points about the situation. these messages must be relayed in such a way that everyone can understand what is being said. Sometimes these messages do not have to be anything extensive, depending on the situation. Such an example is when a company is going through a lawsuit. Most companies do not allow commenting on pending litigation, so the spokesperson may simply say, “no comment”.

- Make sure that all employees are up-to-date on what is going on. This creates consistency and allows for adequate response for various situations that may arise during a crisis. Many times this interaction should take place face-to-face instead of in a memo.

- Make sure you identify who can be trusted with information and who cannot be. These can be considered your unofficial spokespersons if they must be asked questions. These are the people who will adhere to what you tell them to say. In crisis communication, it is important to stay sensitive to various pieces of information that could cause an even bigger issue.

- A rumor-control system should be put in place. This means that the system must be up and running, allowing others to ask questions and get immediate answers before they begin communicating their speculations with others. What starts out as a question soon becomes fact when it is passed from person-to-person. This can cause a situation to become much more difficult. Rumors result in new issues that must be given attention. This can take attention away from the issue at hand.

Just make sure that those on the inside know exactly what is going on because they are just as important as those on the outside wanting to know what the crisis is, how it is going to impact them, and how to rectify the situation. It is even fair to develop key messages for employees, but to have key messages that are used for those on the outside as well. It is important to implement a system and a strategy that will not cause any type of mass panic, depending on the situation. Sometimes those situations are limited to a company and other times they can influence an entire population.

Just be sure to not jump the gun. Instead, develop strategies that will relay the message effectively. Both inside and outside communication go hand-in-hand in order for things to run smoothly. This shows that crisis communication in public relations is very important when ensuring the safety of people, their affairs, and of those directly involved with the situation.

Learn more about Crisis Communication in our Master Class, coming up in Spring 2010.
Watch our website for more updates on this course:
http://nuparc.com/divlearn/executive-learning/

Article seen on
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Europe fears winter energy crisis as Russia tightens grip on oil supplies

Russia overtakes Saudi Arabia as top exporter – and uncertainty continues over Ukraine pipelinesRussia’s stranglehold over dwindling global energy resources was dramatically confirmed yesterday when new figures showed that the country has become the world’s biggest exporter of oil.

With production in August hitting record levels, Russia toppled Saudi Arabia from the number one spot. It is already the world’s largest exporter of gas, and supplies around a third of the European Union’s consumption.

The news is likely to heighten unease in EU capitals over the Kremlin’s tightening grip on energy reserves. There are fears of a repeat of January’s debilitating gas war between Russia and Ukraine– which saw winter supplies to EU consumers cut off for weeks. Members of Opec agreed to cut oil production last year in response to the economic crisis. Moscow indicated last December that it would follow suit but instead ramped up production in the second quarter of 2009, as new fields in Siberia came on stream.

Russia produced almost 10 million barrels of oil a day in August, according to International Energy Agency figures – a post-Soviet record. Relations with other oil producing countries are likely to come under increasing strain, since Russia is now profiting from Opec production cuts.

“The fear is that Russia will get a big head,” Andrew Neff, an oil analyst with Global Insight in Washington, told the Observer. “Not only is it the world’s largest gas exporter but now the world’s biggest oil exporter as well. The question is will Russia want to exploit its feeling of superiority and demand a seat not just at the table, but at the head of the table.”

Yesterday, however, the head of the Russian energy giant Gazprom denied claims that gas and oil supplies were used as a political weapon – insisting that the country was a reliable supplier. Alexei Miller said that the EU would remain Russia’s most important client, despite the construction of new pipelines to supply China.

Opec, Miller said, was no longer calling the shots in determining the world price of oil, currently around $70 (£42) a barrel. He also said that Ukraine – through which 80% of the EU’s gas travels – was paying for its own supplies on time. But he warned of a possible crisis in early February, two weeks after Ukrainians go to the polls to elect a new president on 17 January.

“I must say at the moment relations [with Ukraine] could not be better. I think there will be no problems until December. My Ukrainian colleagues say they will use between $20m and $30m in reserves to pay for Russian gas until the end of 2009,” Miller said.

He added, however, that he wasn’t sure Ukraine would be able to settle its debts to Gazprom in 2010: “When I met my colleagues from Naftogaz [Ukraine's state gas company] I asked them whether they will be able to pay next year. They replied to me in words I cannot repeat in polite company. They could be translated as: ‘We don’t know’.”

Analysts say that there is a strong probability of another damaging gas war between Moscow and Kiev, which could halt deliveries to the EU. “The question is whether Ukraine will try to blackmail Gazprom and Europe. We have a very divisive presidential election coming up [in Ukraine]. There is a perfect storm brewing,” Neff predicted.

One leading Russian oil executive said that the international community should not be alarmed about Russian production. “Russia has about 6% of the world’s proven oil reserves,” Segei Bogdanchikov, president of the Russian state oil company Rosneft, told the Observer. “We have 40% of the world’s oil resources.” Making a distinction between resources – that is, oil which has so far not been tapped and may not be extractable – and definite reserves, Bogdanchikov said: “We understand that resources are not oil in the field. On the other hand 6% allows us to look safely into the future. We are sure that resources are going to be reserves. We will act responsibly.”

Over the past decade Russia has recovered its economic and international prestige largely because of the massive increase in energy prices. The main beneficiary has been Vladimir Putin, who has claimed credit for delivering increased prosperity to Russia’s 142 million citizens. The biggest winners, however, have been Russia’s oil-connected elite, who now enjoy lavish lifestyles.

Russia, however, has been badly battered by the global economic crisis, with GDP shrinking by more than 10% in the first half of 2009. The Russian government has been deeply anxious about the spectre of social unrest spreading across the country. The recent rise in oil prices has apparently banished such fears.

Yesterday Putin – currently Russia’s prime minister – struck an optimistic note. He said that Russia was “modestly” edging out of recession, with growth of around 1% a month since June.