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YOUR
CRISIS
IS
CLOSER
THAN YOU
THINK
By Doris
Powers
Toney
 How
would
you
handle a
disruption
to your
business,
church
or
organization
that
seriously
impacted
your
ability
to
conduct
business?
Anything
that can
go wrong
will go
wrong.
Common
crises
are
fire,
theft,
death,
scandal,
medical
emergencies,
malicious
rumors
and the
list
goes on
and on.
Got your
attention?
Preparation
is Key
My goal
is to
stimulate
action;
it is
not to
inject
fear.
Create a
crisis
plan.
Anticipate
what can
happen
and what
you
would do
about
it.
Having a
well-thought
out plan
and
executing
it is
key to
getting
through
the
crisis.
Managing
a Crisis
Start
with
examining
your
organization
with a
magnifying
glass.
Determine
your
vulnerabilities.
What
would
you do
if your
vulnerability
came to
fruition;
how
would
you
react or
respond?
Establish
a
communication
channel
for
immediate
and
strategic
action
to get
critical
information
to your
employees,
members,
customers,
vendors
and
others
who have
an
interest
in your
organization.
Quickly
communicate
key
messages
of care,
concern,
commitment
and
solidarity.
Don�t
forget
to set
up a
monitoring
system
to gauge
media
reports.
Business
as Usual
It�s
business
as
usual.
It is a
typical
day of
running
the
organization.
Here
comes
your
crisis.
Do not
panic.
Look at
the
situation,
decide
on the
appropriate
action
and
urgently
execute
the plan
so the
unexpected
crisis
does not
threaten
your
image or
reputation.
After
you have
returned
your
business
to usual
without
little
disruption,
evaluate
the
actions
you took
and note
lessons
learned
for the
future.
Don�t
forget
to
provide
ongoing
updates
to the
same
people
you
notified
when the
crisis
occurred.
It�s
better
to have
a plan
than to
have no
plan at
all.
Your
crisis
is just
around
the
corner.
Doris
Powers
Toney is
president
of Power
Tone
Communications,
LLC in
Troy.
She
provides
public
relations,
reputation
and
crisis
management
services
to
businesses,
political
campaigns,
churches
and
nonprofits.
Toney
formerly
worked
as a
communications
manager
for
General
Motors
and
prior to
that was
employed
by
United
American
Healthcare
Corporation
and
OmniCare
Health
Plan as
a public
and
community
relations
manager.
Contact
her at
www.powertonecommunications.com
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