Page 170 - Crisis Communication Practical PR Strategies

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How Senior Management Can Make the Crisis Worse 151
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Getting to grips
The aim therefore is to identify, grip and control a crisis quickly and
decisively. The prime areas to address are:

strategic assessment tools, including crisis risk assessment;
crisis organization;
managing information in a crisis;
links with key stakeholders.

Managing reputation

Reputation must of course be based on substance. Presentation with
integrity is therefore a vital function. This by no means demands com-
plete openness, warts and all, but adherence to core values and cogni-
sance of some basic human reactions. The question of when to present
key information opens the dilemma between winning hearts and
minds, and waiting for greater accuracy. The importance of keeping
one’s own people informed cannot be over-emphasized.