The Danger of Being Unprepared
What happens if you’re not prepared when a crisis strikes? What will happen if you simply haven’t got around to crafting a crisis communication strategy, plan or process? What could go wrong? First of all, remember that 99% of the time, no preparation is enough preparation. This is not an excuse to defer the important work […]
Policy Without Perspective Can Ruin Your Reputation
Here’s an example of how policy without perspective can ruin your reputation, courtesy of the Vermilion Parish School Board, in Louisiana. Take your pick of the following headlines: Watch and read KATC’s full coverage of the Vermilion teacher incident “He did exactly what he was hired to do. He followed the procedures completely.” Teacher handcuff […]
Don’t Fight the Last War
Don’t look in the wrong direction! Responders easily look in the wrong direction for planning. They tend to focus on past responses and ask past-tense questions: What happened last time? What could we have done better? As a result, Command strategy is built on best practices, policy and process – but all from past experiences. […]
Relationships from fast-food to Facebook
Managing relationships more effectively No management degree should be offered without requiring a stint of managing a fast-food restaurant. These workplaces present unique management challenges as they combine low wages, high turnover, part time loyalty and portability. Fast food employees are starting their work career, hoping to move on and up to better work at […]
A brave new world – lessons for communications
Today’s lesson for tomorrow’s communicators The world is changing ever faster. I’m old enough to remember waiting for checks to come in the mail. I remember faxing. I remember my first email, and wondering if I’d need a desktop computer for my first job. Yet more change has occurred in the past 5 years than […]