Preventing A Crisis Within A Company

Preventing A Crisis Within A Company

Leah Parker

Many companies are not prepared for a crisis if one were to happen within their company. Companies and organizations do not think crisis situations will happen with their company but they are wrong. Anything could happen at any time whether it be their fault or someone else making a fool of them to the public. This is why everycompany should have a crisis prevention plan.

A smart thing for a company to do is have a crisis team or a crisis person for their company. This is a good way to call for fast action. This person or team should be trained before hand and know the prevention plan. One thing to know is not how to behave in a crisis situation but what to do and when to do it. One can not go out without thinking what to say and overlooking everything.

The first step a company should do is go around and interview people within the organization to come up with all crisis possibilities. Questions should be like "What do you think might go wrong here, that would result in a crisis?" Let them know what about worst case scenarios and the impossible situations. Spend a lot of time on this step and gather all research to start a good plan.

The second step is creating a template for the plan. This prepares the company for news conferences and what they will say. It should encompass words that can communicate to all audiences during the first hours that the crisis goes public.

The third step takes a lot of time because it consists of going back to step one and writing possible plans for each worst case scenario. Each scenario should have the right words and key messages. The reason for doing this is to make sure the language is appropriate and everything is set right.

After coordinating each plan, the company then should execute the plans making sure they will positively work, in other words, test the plan. The plans may seem perfect but in a test the flaws can be exposed. These tests should be sought out with real people.

Overall, a crisis prevention plan can take lots of time but in the end it is all worth the trouble to save the company's name and reputation. There are many books and Web sites that can knowledge you with many tips and plans for crisis situations.

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