Readings: Week 6

How important this weeks' readings are to me!!!!

They all deal with crisis and issues management - the very things our group plan is based on.

Key messages from the readings centered around the preparation for a crisis: knowing and anticipating what will happen before something happens and having a communications plan in place to deal with it when it happens.

I think the main emphasis in all of the readings was preparation - establishing a crisis team made up of key organisational figures and PR experts, and having a plan in place to better ensure the organisation can deal with media attention, stakeholder questions and public scrutiny in a crisis situation.

The major aspects I found informative were to do with a crisis communication plan as a whole. Splitting it into three section - before, during, after - allowed me to see the many different aspects and tactics that should be considered in an issues management plan. I found the reading on using the www quite interesting, as it was something I had previously not even thought about, but now I see just how effectively it could be used. As far as using the www for Smartypantz Kidz goes, I think elements could be utilised, but as it is not a terribly large organisation, things like a live web cast would be a potential waste of time and money.

The Johnston and Zawawi reading also emphasised how important different communication is - particularly internal and external relations is. This links back to week 5's reading, where we looked at the importance of community and internal relations. As we found out last week, internal relations is imperative to the success of an organisation. Relating that to this week, I see the focus on this becomes larger, as it would be a foolish decision to keep employees in the dark about a crisis situation. I found out how essential it is that internal communication be fully fledged and always happening, so everyone knows what is happening and it eliminates a panic inside the business - one less fire that needs to be put out.

It comes as natural that every organisation will at some point face a crisis - be it major or minor. The thing that I have learned, and will be implementing through our group plan, is that there are many individual aspects which need to considered to make an issues/crisis management plan. I will be using checklists provided in these readings to make sure we have covered all bases, and best formulate a plan for Smartypantz Kidz.

There's a lot to consider, especially when thinking about things in a hypothetical sense, but I guess this is what real PR practiti0oners have to face everyday. So I'm enjoying the challenge.

Allyson.