Communication Tools

Since long before Enron, crisis management has moved front center on the agendas of companies that have much less to answer for, and many more legitimate interests to protect, than that infamous energy corporation. Crisis management can no longer be a separate item, handled by a sequestered team. Crisis management must be interwoven with accounting, with manufacturing, with marketing.

Crisis management presents two formidable challenges to corporate planners. One is to create seamless teams that draw on all the knowledge of the CFO, the marketing experts, investor relations, and lawyers. Their expertise must be provided to the corporate crisis communicators in publicly digestible and credible formats for public consumption. The public is always the end-user in crisis management.

Second, crisis management presents an almost impossible task for many businesses, which is to respond fast enough to a sudden situation before it spins out of control while simultaneously anticipating future situations. The solution is to maintain constant dialogue among the diverse team members, drawing on their diverse skills and backgrounds. Crisis management moves forward in the same way that technology moves forward, with new tools discovered and applied every day. It doesn’t stop moving simply because there’s no immediate crisis at hand.