Most companies aren't prepared to deal with a crisis, particularly in today's media environment. Here's a couple of ways to tell how far from ready your company may be and some practical steps you can take today to improve the odds.

1. Crisis! Management Strategies to Protect Your Organization and Create Opportunities for Growth

2. Crisis! …And Now For the Real Title….

3. “They’re All Drunk in Singapore…” or Don’t Be a Dinosaur In a Mammal’s World or Why Organizations Need a Crisis Plan Before They Have a Crisis

4. Consider the Mighty Dinosaur Massive Powerful Dominant Awe-Inspiring Dead

5. Dinosaur, Inc. – A Flawed Model Slow Cumbersome Bad Communications Inability to Anticipate and Adapt

6. Dinosaur, Inc. – A Flawed Model In other words, by the time its pea-brained consciousness receives, understands and responds to a threat to its existence, it’s dead.

7. Consider the Humble Mammal Fast Adaptive Plans Ahead Aware Slightly Paranoid Evolutionary Box Score: Prairie Dogs – 750,000,000 Dinosaurs – 0

8. Welcome to Jurassic Park… An employee of your company – heavily armed, wearing a sweatshirt and cap with your logo prominently displayed – takes hostages at the elementary school and is demanding access to the media to tell the world about the integrity of your operations and your efforts to silence him. In the next 20 minutes:

9. The Central Nervous System Twitches… CNN starts taking a live feed from a local TV station; 50 Tweets go out to 20,000 followers and re-Tweeted to millions more; Three people are posting pictures from their phones to the Facebook pages, one guy is live streaming video from his iPhone; MSNBC reports receiving an e-mail from a second employee that appears to corroborate these allegations; A union trying to organize lottery employees announces a webcast press conference in which it will claim that this situation is a result of poor working conditions; Fox News interviews an “expert” on workplace violence who says firms like yours “are breeding grounds for violence”; Your web site crashes from the surge in hits; Your call center is inundated with calls from worried customers; CBS cuts into its daytime programming to broadcast live a caller on a cell phone claiming to be inside the school;

10. The Brain Responds…Sort Of Meanwhile back at the office: Your phones are completely jammed and even internal calls can’t get through; Because of vacation, travel and illness, your PR manager, executive director and operations executive are unavailable; Your reception area is mobbed by media, consumers, reality show participants. The very nice lady at the reception desk is looking through her procedure manual for the right checklist. Your general counsel is having lunch somewhere in town but she never turns on her cell phone and her secretary is gone; The CEO has made an ironclad rule that – no matter what the situation – he must personally approve all comments to the media. Unfortunately, he and his family are in Singapore and not back in their hotel room yet.

11. The Result… You’re… DEAD

12. So, the Very First Question to Ask Is… Are we a dinosaur or a mammal?

13. If You’re Feeling a Little Jurassic Right Now… Then the time to start working on a crisis communications plan is now

14. In the Immortal Words of Hank K… “There cannot be a crisis next week; my schedule is already full.” “Does anyone have any questions for my answers?”

15. Avoid Panic… Develop, test, rehearse and follow a crisis response plan that covers not just communications but every aspect of your operations.

16. “What Should Be Included In Your Crisis Management Plan?” Central coordination Clearly defined roles Guided by risk assessment Redundancy Regular test and review

17. Things That Should Keep You Up at Night Media or Government Investigations Behavior Financial Relationships Operational Incidents Integrity of process Network crash Software error Loss of Facilities/Personnel/Organizational Capabilities Impairment of headquarters Death or disability of key personnel Labor dispute Reduction of funding Misbehavior/Malfeasance/Criminality Theft/fraud Assault Substance abuse Inappropriate action/behavior Failure to follow guidelines/procedures Community-Wide Incidents Terrorism Natural disaster

18. Why Are These Elements Important? Speed of activities The global village The urge to speculate The “fog of war” The need to communicate Lack of experience

19. Speed Kills More than ever, the media is 24/7 and its appetite for news is growing. Because of this, you have to be on-call and ready to respond at all times.

20. It Really Is a Global Village What happens in one part of the world is effectively instantly known everywhere. A story about your organization will reach all of your stakeholders. Remember, too, that not all stakeholders view things the same way.

21. Don't Guess… Don’t speculate, theorize or hypothesize. In a crisis communications situation, credibility is built and sustained by sticking to what you know.

22. Gather Facts The best way to counter the dangers of rumor and gossip is to develop an extensive and practiced fact-gathering mechanism: A monitoring room for broadcasts Internet, social media and mainstream media monitoring Outside media monitoring agencies Calls with key personnel on the frontlines

23. Share What You Know Use all the tools at your disposal – regular meetings, e-mails, audio recordings, intranets, etc. – to keep your employees, your board and other key stakeholders informed.

24. Talk to People Who Have Been There An organization should call on experienced counsel in developing and reviewing crisis communications plans and for direct assistance in times of crisis.

25. “What Messages Are Important To Communicate…” For once, all of your stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, partners – are paying attention; what do you want to say to them? Honest emotions – empathy, grief, anger, resolve Facts Sincere Commitmentsto Future Actions Openness

26. “…Who Should Be On Your Crisis Communications Team?” Coordinator Inbound “Call Answerers” Outbound Communicators Writer(s) Researchers Administrator Tech Support

27. “How Do You Handle The Situation And Continue To Manage Your Organization?” “Rule #1: Fly the plane!” Assigned roles Specific duties What to do with your senior executives? The difference between being informed and being a decisionmaker

28. Tell the Truth The media and your other stakeholders know when they’re not getting the full story from a company. Don't lie to them. Ever.

29. You Can Run, But… It's better to tell bad news yourself than let somebody else find it, but if you're going to tell it, tell it all and make sure your facts are solid.

30. Practice, Practice, Practice… You still may not make it to Carnegie Hall, but a well-tested, practiced communications plan is even better than applause.

31. Never Touch the Camera… Never run and never pretend that you'll get the last word (remember you won't be in the editing suite when the piece gets put together).

32. Know Your “Friends” Beware of the ratings periods and politicians (including the ones with titles like “analyst,” “expert” and “consultant”)

33. “What Is The 5-step Process For Tackling A Crisis That I Planning Practice Teamwork Execution Adaptability And a bonus… Analysis 6 Can Start Working on Today?”

34. So, In Conclusion… Act like a mammal Move fast Plan Understand your environment Be adaptable Create a crisis communications plan

35. Homework Assignment Chapter 1 National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.pdf

36. jon@jaustingroup.com612-839-5172

37. Thank You Thank You