Advanced Management Communication
Advanced Diploma
Communication and crisis Communication
1. Introduction
Crisis management is a critical organizational function. Failure to attend to it can result in
serious harm to stakeholders, losses for an organization, or end its very existence. Crisis
communication can be defined broadly as the collection, processing, and dissemination
of information required to address a crisis situation. Crisis communication is an
emerging field in applied communication studies and involves dealing with mediated messages
and various types of audiences at moments of heightened pressure. Ethical questions are
important considerations when a crisis occurs.
What is a crisis?. Crisis communication refers to the dissemination of information by
an organization to address a crisis that impacts customers and/or the
organization's reputation.
Crisis communication includes the collection and processing of information for
crisis team decision making along with the creation and dissemination of crisis
messages. Post-crisis communication involves assessing the crisis management effort and
providing follow-up crisis messages as needed. The organization needs to release updates on
the recovery process, corrective actions, and/or investigations of the crisis.
In essence, a business crisis is any event that has the potential to threaten the success and
health of a company by tarnishing its reputation, damaging its business
operations, negatively impacting its finances, or harming its employees. Put simply,
a business crisis is any event that threatens your organization’s success and safety.
2. Role of communication in a crisis
Communication can make or break your organization’s ability to overcome a crisis. As future
managers, as I always say in our classes, you will have a legal and ethical duty to communicate
with your employees during a crisis should it impact their safety or well-being. And if you do
not communicate, guess what will happen, rumours and all guessing will start..moreover,
employees expect to know what is happening in real-time. And if you don’t communicate what
is happening to your employees, they will likely turn to social media or speak with their
colleagues to figure out what is going on—meaning your organization lost control of the
narrative.
3. Crisis communication plan
A crisis communication plan is a set of guidelines used to prepare a business for an
emergency or unexpected event. These plans include steps to take when a crisis first
emerges, how to communicate with the public, and how to prevent the issue from occurring
again. Crisis communication plans focus on the company's response and how it will
communicate a crisis with its stakeholders. These steps ensure information reaches
1
Advanced Diploma
Communication and crisis Communication
1. Introduction
Crisis management is a critical organizational function. Failure to attend to it can result in
serious harm to stakeholders, losses for an organization, or end its very existence. Crisis
communication can be defined broadly as the collection, processing, and dissemination
of information required to address a crisis situation. Crisis communication is an
emerging field in applied communication studies and involves dealing with mediated messages
and various types of audiences at moments of heightened pressure. Ethical questions are
important considerations when a crisis occurs.
What is a crisis?. Crisis communication refers to the dissemination of information by
an organization to address a crisis that impacts customers and/or the
organization's reputation.
Crisis communication includes the collection and processing of information for
crisis team decision making along with the creation and dissemination of crisis
messages. Post-crisis communication involves assessing the crisis management effort and
providing follow-up crisis messages as needed. The organization needs to release updates on
the recovery process, corrective actions, and/or investigations of the crisis.
In essence, a business crisis is any event that has the potential to threaten the success and
health of a company by tarnishing its reputation, damaging its business
operations, negatively impacting its finances, or harming its employees. Put simply,
a business crisis is any event that threatens your organization’s success and safety.
2. Role of communication in a crisis
Communication can make or break your organization’s ability to overcome a crisis. As future
managers, as I always say in our classes, you will have a legal and ethical duty to communicate
with your employees during a crisis should it impact their safety or well-being. And if you do
not communicate, guess what will happen, rumours and all guessing will start..moreover,
employees expect to know what is happening in real-time. And if you don’t communicate what
is happening to your employees, they will likely turn to social media or speak with their
colleagues to figure out what is going on—meaning your organization lost control of the
narrative.
3. Crisis communication plan
A crisis communication plan is a set of guidelines used to prepare a business for an
emergency or unexpected event. These plans include steps to take when a crisis first
emerges, how to communicate with the public, and how to prevent the issue from occurring
again. Crisis communication plans focus on the company's response and how it will
communicate a crisis with its stakeholders. These steps ensure information reaches
1
