Conclusion
DO what we can do creatively. A crisis demands that the government and its people must demonstrate the ability to think on the spot and outside the box in delivering relief, reestablishing peace and order, and rebuilding destroyed lives and properties, among many other challenges.
- Be tolerant. A crisis exacts huge emotional costs and, thus, requires exceptional sensitivity and resiliency in dealing with victims who are looking for food and water, searching for lost family members, and wishing to recover from the trauma inflicted by their encounters with danger and possible death.
- Make it personal. The head of state must put a real-life face on the nation’s comeback. His trusty, can-do style must be put into action, as he rallies the citizenry to muster their strength to stand up and run again.
- Show genuine concern. The President’s enthusiasm in handling the crisis must be made very clear. Top government executives must fly to the calamity zone, console the victims, distribute goods and understand why people are upset. Any backlash from the mismanagement of the crisis can hurt the image of the country and its leadership for years.
- Always be available. Deafening silence is the worst approach a leader can take after a disaster. Never avoid listening to or talking with the families of the victims who are desperate for information, and are hoping against hope that things would improve quickly.
- Have the most suitable spokesman on board. Letting legal minds do the talking is generally a bad idea, since lawyers—no offense meant—tend to be confrontational or speak in gobbledygook.
- The crisis team must come together as a real team. Don’t get dragged into the blame game. There is no room for pointing fingers and useless debates. Bombarding each other with insults can turn the country’s damage-control efforts into a fight.
- Don’t hide under the covers. Face the music and dance with it. By saving itself some in-conveniences and costs in the short run, the country will pay a heavy public-relations (PR) price in the long run.
- Remember the lessons of the past. That is, assuming that you have a sense of the past and the lessons it brings. The lessons learned from case histories offer universal applications. The most basic lesson in crisis-response planning being thrown at a country’s leaders is “to always do the right thing.” It is not only the socially and morally responsible thing to do, but also the best thing to do for long-term success.
- Establish and enforce standard operating procedures. There’s a need to standardize and publicize procedures. People who are given jobs in various aspects of crisis response must be trained, and those who do not follow the procedures must be held accountable.
- Learn to recognize the pattern of mistakes. Teach Filipinos to recognize these patterns before a disaster happens. Damage from a crisis tends to grow exponentially. It can take the form of lost lives, lost properties, lost morale and lost dignity. That’s why taking action to eliminate the threat early on can help avoid full-blown crisis management down the road.
- Interpret audience data well. Never get irritated by criticisms ignited in both traditional and social media. They make things much worse. Learn the lessons from the experience of other countries. Communication and PR fiascos are often part of the sequence of mistakes that increases the damage a crisis makes.
- Create a culture with a purpose. Most governance cultures develop by accident. Yet, those designed to accomplish a specific purpose are more effective, because people understand what they need to focus on and reinforce it repeatedly.
Mistakes will happen, but they can be reduced. The goal is to catch them early and keep them from spiraling out of control. The Philippines had a series of catastrophes—manmade and natural—in recent months. Every Filipino’s prayer for the Philippines, to borrow from Henry Kissinger, is this: “There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.”
Bong R. Osorio is the communications consultant and spokesman of ABS-CBN Corp.
PR Matters is a rotating column of members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association, the association of senior PR professionals around the world.
PR Matters is devoting a special column each month to answer readers’ questions about public relations. Send comments or questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.
Image credits: AP