Learning From The Best: Examples of Crisis Management

Any organization, at any time, faces the possibility of a crisis. This can range from a natural disaster impacting business operations to negative online reviews damaging your reputation. These situations require careful planning and effective communication. So having relevant examples of crisis management to learn from is important. By looking at both the successes and failures of how other organizations handled their crises, you can develop a framework for navigating a crisis if one arises. This helps minimize potential damage and allows your organization to emerge stronger.

But most leaders don’t have a plan for when a crisis emerges. So where do you start? Examples of crisis management involve two equally important areas – planning and response.

Why Planning for a Crisis is Crucial

Experiencing a crisis can feel like uncharted territory, especially if it’s your organization’s first. Having a plan allows your team to respond efficiently and thoughtfully rather than out of panic. When time is of the essence, a plan keeps things moving. Organizations can minimize the impact on employees, customers, their brand, and their bottom line by implementing some key steps to build a solid crisis management plan.

Establish a Team

Form a dedicated team with representatives from across various departments. Include public relations, legal, operations, and even human resources to address all facets of a potential crisis. Be sure to designate a single point of contact or a spokesperson for consistent messaging.

Clearly defining roles and responsibilities from the outset prevents confusion and ensures a unified response.

Identify and Assess Potential Risks

Thoroughly evaluating your organization’s vulnerabilities allows you to assess threats. This allows your team to understand the likelihood and potential impact of risks and prioritize their efforts.

Is your business in a location prone to natural disasters? Could negative social media reviews impact your revenue? Conduct comprehensive risk assessments tailored to your industry, size, and location to build effective response strategies.

Develop Response Protocols

Don’t wait until a crisis occurs to define how you’re going to respond. Think through what needs to occur for the situations you outlined in your risk assessment.

Clearly documented protocols allow for immediate action, minimizing uncertainty. For example, outline how to manage internal and external communications, handle media inquiries, or activate social media responses.

Practice, Review, and Improve

Consistent practice helps refine response strategies, revealing gaps in the process. This ultimately enhances the team’s overall preparedness. Just like a fire drill, your organization should regularly rehearse simulations.

Focus on real-life scenarios like data breaches or natural disasters. Review and refine those strategies based on their effectiveness during rehearsals.

Why Responding Quickly and Thoughtfully Counts

An in-depth case study on The Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi surfaced several valuable lessons. The organization used these lessons, due to navigating COVID-19, to adapt. These include the value of proactive stakeholder engagement and pivoting quickly.

Another lesson learned was the importance of having prepared for a worst-case scenario. But having a plan is just the first step. Equally important is responding to an incident effectively.

Act Fast and Take Responsibility

In 2018, a major supplier’s issues created a chicken shortage for KFC, forcing over half of its restaurants to close. While many businesses might point fingers, a speedy and transparent response prevents long-term brand damage.

Although no one could have predicted the shortage, KFC took quick action. Acknowledging mistakes quickly (especially when out of your control), taking responsibility for those mistakes, and outlining corrective actions shows your organization is serious about resolving the problem.

Communicate Effectively

Clear and concise messaging, especially in times of uncertainty, is crucial for stakeholders. It keeps them informed, builds trust, and minimizes speculation and rumors. Think about what communication channels make the most sense, like emails, social media, or a dedicated web page for crisis updates.

Consider what tone and voice feel appropriate. Authenticity and sincerity go a long way, particularly when dealing with difficult issues. Effective crisis communication goes beyond facts and figures. Empathize with individuals impacted by the situation. This fosters trust and goodwill during tense situations.

Monitor the Situation

In today’s always-on world, staying on top of the conversation can give your business an edge in control. Continuously monitoring media channels for trending news and opinions (both negative and positive) is crucial. Utilizing various social listening tools will be invaluable for insight.

Monitoring allows you to adjust strategies and communications as needed. The only thing you can count on in a crisis is that things will continue to evolve. Being adaptable to evolving information and events builds credibility. Responding flexibly demonstrates an agile response strategy.

Case Studies and Examples of Crisis Management in Action

Organizations often find real-world examples impactful. Here are examples of crisis management demonstrating these strategies in practice – both effectively and not.

Johnson & Johnson

In 1982, Johnson & Johnson demonstrated an exceptional understanding of public safety. This followed consumer deaths from tampered-with Tylenol. They pulled their products, embraced transparency, prioritized consumer safety, and came back stronger because they put people before profit.

This remains a standard in effective crisis communication and response. You can read more about the events on the Johnson & Johnson site.

Pepsi

Pepsi’s quick action in pulling a tone-deaf ad following the Black Lives Matter protests is a lesson in corporate response speed and importance. By acknowledging their misstep, apologizing for the oversight, and immediately pulling the ad, they controlled the situation before escalation.

The public largely dismissed the incident because the response felt sincere. To understand why this is positive crisis management, take a look at this analysis published on AOL.

Volkswagen

On the flip side, Volkswagen attempted to cover up its emissions law violation. This was compounded by misleading statements to the EPA and customers. This led to public outrage and damaged their reputation. While initially evading accountability, they laid off 300,000 workers.

Volkswagen faced legal issues, consumer distrust, and brand damage that cost them dearly. Although they have made efforts to recover, the incident continues to color public opinion. These examples provide insight for other organizations, demonstrating the importance of authenticity, responsibility, and timely communication.

Conclusion

Having relevant examples of crisis management gives your organization an advantage. However, there are more than just the ones outlined here. They highlight the importance of quick and decisive actions, accepting accountability for errors, transparent communications, and demonstrating care.

Keep in mind that every organization is susceptible to risk. Approaching crisis management proactively and strategically helps safeguard a company’s brand reputation and builds resilience. This allows you to handle whatever situations emerge.

Want to work with us and learn more about crisis management?

• Our proprietary Resiliency Diagnosis process is the perfect way to advance your crisis management, business continuity, and crisis communications program. Our thorough standards-based review culminates in a full report, maturity model scoring, and a clear set of recommendations for improvement.
• Our Exercise in a Box product contains 15 simple tabletop exercise scenarios that your business leaders can utilize for crisis microsimulations with minimal involvement from your team.
• With our Exercise in a Day™️  product, you’ll get a comprehensive, ready-to-execute crisis tabletop exercise developed by our team of experts in just one day. Optionally, we’ll even facilitate the exercise and write an after-action report.
• Our Crisis Management services help you rapidly implement and mature your program to ensure your organization is prepared for what lies ahead.
• Our Ultimate Guide to Crisis Management contains everything you need to know about Crisis Management.
• Our Free Crisis Management 101 Introductory Course may help you with an introduction to the world of crisis management – and help prepare your organization for the next major crisis.
• Our Crisis Management Academy®️ is the only program of its kind that provides the knowledge you need to build a strong & effective crisis management program for your organization and leaves you with the confidence that you’re putting the right program, framework, and plans in place to enable your business to manage through a critical moment.
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