What is Crisis Management? How Should Crisis Management Be Done?

Crisis; It is a situation that occurs quickly and suddenly, cannot be predicted or even if it is predicted, it is a situation that cannot be predicted exactly when it will happen. An urgent decision must be made in a crisis. Because the crisis directly affects the functioning of the existing structure. It is difficult to predict the time of the crisis, but the current situation can be overcome with the least damage thanks to some protective measures. There are serious risks in every crisis. The general characteristics of the crisis encountered in institutions are as follows:

• Threatening the institution,

• Time is limited and requires urgent intervention,

• Insufficient defense mechanisms of the institution,

• It causes fear and panic and the possibility of panic causing new mistakes,

• Occurring unexpectedly or not being sure when it will occur even if expected are common features of the crisis that emerges in institutions.

We can talk about the existence of a certain incubation period for crisis management. In fact, sometimes he says that a crisis is coming, but we may not be aware of these signals. Pressing the panic button can sometimes take time, even if the signals are obvious. For this, the pre-crisis period is very important. If a preliminary period is sensed, preventive measures should be taken beforehand. Then, ways are sought to overcome the crisis with the least damage. Not every crisis ends in disaster; With the right strategy, right move, planning and proper functioning of the defense mechanism, the crisis can be overcome. In this case, the crisis may hurt but not kill.

What are the Strategies Used in Crisis Management?

Well planned preparation makes it easier for you to cope with the crisis successfully. You can prepare this crisis preparedness plan as follows:

Make a decision about whether you will share the crisis with the public: The first stage of your plan is whether there will be public information about the crisis. Generally speaking, taking action and taking the crisis serious from the first moment is a much better step than hoping that the crisis will end.

Identify your key messages: What is your institution’s “stance” in the face of crisis? How do you manage the crisis by using the principles of “empathy”, “context”, “transparency” and “action”? Address issues by considering questions like. Prepare a brief explanation and a briefing that includes the questions you think will be asked to your institution and the answers to these questions.

Identify spokespersons and inform about spokespersons: Make a decision about who would be appropriate to speak about the topic. Ideally, one or two spokespersons are available and can speak on behalf of the institution as comfortably as possible. These spokespersons will be chosen depending on the basic nature of the crisis; may be president, chairman of the board, director of communications, project manager / senior expert / policy expert. It may also be useful to appoint someone from outside the institution as a spokesperson. In addition, all spokespersons should be given a very short note that explains the general stance of your organization and includes questions and answers.

Train your spokespersons: You should also train your spokespersons to communicate in crisis situations well. You should give your spokesmen as much information as possible, clearly conveying what steps to take in time of crisis, the issues that need to be reported and the procedures to be followed. Thus, a standard communication model is created since all your spokespersons will speak the same language.

Respond quickly: Your quick response in crisis communication can greatly help you prevent the crisis from growing. Especially, it will be reacted by the public; It is important that you intervene in the current issue by responding as quickly as possible in crises related to your brand and products. In order to intervene, it is very useful to follow the conversations and comments made on the internet and social networks about your brand together with monitoring studies. Thus, when negative impressions about your brand occur, you can intervene before the situation grows.

Even if you cannot take immediate steps to solve the problem at the first stage, announcing to the public that you are aware of the problem and that you have started working to solve the problem can seriously affect the growth rate of the crisis. Because staying silent in a crisis can cause you to be accused of insensitivity.

Get the support of your followers: When communicating the crisis, getting the support of your fans and followers will significantly reduce the impact of the crisis. In a crisis, the support of any audience gives you the opportunity to show the trust in your brand. For this, you must first create a community by strengthening your relations with them. It is very difficult to create this community in times of crisis; For this reason, this community must be present before the crisis.

Prioritize the victims: When managing a crisis, first give priority to the people affected by the crisis and your customers who are the victims. You should remember that the crisis is about them and that you have to identify your priorities to solve their problems.

For this reason, you should first reach out to the victims and discuss the problem in more specific areas by obtaining their contact information. Because if you continue this kind of conversation in front of the public, people who are not related to the subject will also be included in this issue. For this reason, you should reach out to people who have problems and try to solve their problems first.

Don’t blame anyone: Blaming the other party or something else in a time of crisis will not benefit your organization. Because putting the blame on someone else seriously damages your company’s brand image. Avoiding taking responsibility in this matter causes consumers to understand the situation in a negative way.

In matters that are publicly reflected, this may lead you to a criminal position, since people who are involved in the event later or who are not related to the issue will not know the depth of this work. Therefore, you should avoid accusations and manage the crisis in a transparent way.

Apologize when necessary and approach the problem with a solution-oriented approach: Apologizing for your mistakes does not decrease the value of your institution, on the contrary, it shows the value you give to the society and your customers. For this reason, you should know how to apologize for things you made mistakes, avoiding accusations. After apologizing, you should solve the problems of the customers quickly by offering many different solution alternatives for them to solve their problems.