These posts are written to encourage thoughtful consideration of the entire range of communication strategy, plans and effectiveness. They’re based on my experiences in actual responses, as well as drills, exercises, tabletops and crisis communication plan reviews.

Feel free to share,  comment or contact me directly.  I value your input!

Hope

| March 19, 2020
Photo of a sunrise expresses hope

There is hope!

The barrage of COVID-19 news pours down on us and we struggle to rise above it. Additional quarantine and the isolation it brings. Missed dinner dates. Birthdays celebrated alone. Business closures, more market drops, more layoffs and more loss.

For most of us, we’re not even into the actual suffering. That will come when our paychecks stop, our savings run out, our bills pile up. It will come when we start to get sick, or when a close friend or loved one tests positive and we watch their illness from a distance. It will impact us the most when we lose a friend or loved one.

It’s so easy to despair, to feel the clouds gathering, the storm coming and the loss growing nearer. As the old joke goes, it there light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, or is it a train’s headlight?

This post is more personal than most of mine; it has to be. Our emotions and outlooks are always based on our personal experiences. I have experienced searing pain and challenge in my life. I’ve lost a job, lost loved ones, lost reputation and security. I’ve been sick, poor, helpless and hopeless. And I’m not alone; many of us have been impressed into our own cavalcade of crisis.

I’ve learned much about grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. My future has been returned to me through improbable grace. I’ve come to realize that I’m not in control of my life and that the One who is has far more mercy and power than I do.

What does this have to do with communications? Everything. At the core, why communicate if you don’t have hope? Why try to rebuild a reputation, regain trust or effect positive changes in someone’s outlook or actions? Response communication runs on hope. The entire response does; responders don’t stop, don’t give up; they believe things will get better.

It’s time for us to have, keep and share hope. No matter how bad things get, there is an end to this season just as there is an end to winter. Ice melts, ground thaws, flowers grow and blossom. Infection rates drop, hospital admissions fall as people heal and society stirs into action.

Here’s a list of some of what I believe will come, a list of hope.

Effective communications will be more appreciated

The evolution of COVID-19 pandemic communication has proven many of the precepts of PIOs: Accurate, effective and prevalent communication is critical to public acceptance of response actions and directives. Countless corporations have shared clearly with their customers and employees. Government institutions have communicated tenaciously. And gradually, society has begun to accept the diagnosis and apply the medicine. As communicators, we’ve always averred that shelter-in-place, self-quarantine or self-isolation will only work with effective communication. As our society accepts and adheres to drastic directives, the mob is proving our point.

Communication will finally be seen as a virtual activity

In actuality it always has been predominantly virtual, but only recently has technology supported it. Consider the Joint Information Center (JIC): The only people in the JIC that must be in the presence of other people are the information gatherers – and their job could be virtual as well, via access to command software. Stakeholders who never see a PIO or a reporter are already receiving all the information they need, or access to it.

The proof of this concept will be when we see fully virtual news briefings. We’ll know it has been embraced when we don’t see groups of reporters, or groups of advisors gathered in the same room. Think of the latest President’s press conference on COVID-19: How many people in the room? Divide that by 327 million people. No matter what you start with, the sum rounds to zero: Virtual.

Preparation will be taken seriously

How many crisis communication plans already had a section for pandemic response? How many response plans already had robust connections with communicators for notification, information sharing, decision making?

In the run up to the H1N1 epidemic of 2009, many areas of the country DID prepare for a pandemic. During the planning process, communicators in my community began to discuss where news conferences should be held, only to be stopped by the editor of the local newspaper (we still had local editors then), who asked incredulously; ‘What makes you think that we would walk into a room with all of you?’. End of discussion, and virtual press conferences were built into preparation plans. And yet today, physical press conferences continue. Where’s the preparation when common-sense solutions haven’t been implemented 11 years later? This will change.

Beyond Communication

Communicators have great opportunity in this crisis, and there is reason to hope right along with the bad news. As with Y2K, we will discover that civilization will not end. Economic growth will resume. There will be a tomorrow.

Great crises bring great opportunities. Here I get crazy speculative, beyond communicators’ dreams. This is only my list of what big changes might occur. Feel free to add to it, so we all can feel better!

Politics will gain perspective

We will make it through this pandemic by working together. Warring political parties will learn to make better decisions for others. If nothing else, a crisis unites us. Maybe we will remember, and keep our perspectives straight. Maybe we can work ‘across the aisle’ more. Maybe we will find shared priorities. Winston Churchill may disagree, but one can hope.

People will care for one another

This is already happening. The stories are inspiring. The sacrificial service of many is humbling. Maybe a trust-starved population will realize that we all look the same to a virus, and that we truly are called to be our brother’s keeper.

We will learn to steward our resources

The chorus for financial relief is rising for a reason. Many people are not prepared for a loss of regular income. The US savings rate has dropped for decades, settling in at 7.6% in 2019. We’ve bowed to the consumerism drumbeat to the point where many people live day-to-day. 80% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Maybe this crisis will teach most of us the lessons the Greatest Generation learned: live within our means, save some money.

We will learn to trust

As the COVID-19 messaging coalesces from many sources, we will learn that much of the time, we can trust those in authority over us. We may disagree with their politics, their morals or their hair color, but we will discover that they are keeping to their initial charge: to faithfully execute their oath of office, to lead well.

Leading well involves transparency, honesty, cooperation and compromise. We will discover that even elected officials are not the pernicious ‘them’ we love to vilify; we will learn that they are ‘us’ looking for great wisdom to match their great responsibilities.

We will learn to forgive

Nobody is perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. The challenge isn’t to attain perfection, it’s to accept imperfection. We will better as a society when we learn to forgive. When we recognize our common frailty and our common responsibility to care for one another, maybe we will be able to accept one another and build a future together.

And you?

How many of you have learned to hope? What do you hope in? How have you got there?

Add your comments below !

Fear

| March 10, 2020

What we don’t know is always worse than what we do know.

Not knowing leads to doubt and fear. Doubt and fear lead to hyperbole and hysteria. And we end up making decisions based on misinformation or overreaction.

We’re seeing this dynamic playing out in front of us right now, even in our own lives as we each face personal decisions about Covid-19. What should we do to protect ourselves and our loved ones?

Where are the facts? Not available yet. We just don’t know what is real. So much is uncertain, and uncertainty leads to fear. We all face the selection process; what steps do we take to protect ourselves?

  • Social distancing?
  • Panic buying?
  • Cancel Culture?
  • Restrictions of travel and meetings?
  • Quarantine – voluntary or enforced?

All these decisions are made from the same information – or lack of it.

So freeways clear, airplanes fly empty, meetings are cancelled, purchases are accelerated (paper towels) or deferred (airline tickets, gasoline), stock prices gyrate, churches, schools and stadiums empty out. All for what? We don’t know.

Where is the voice of reason?

Not here! With Covid-19, there is only one constant in all of this: We don’t have enough information. Our only recourse is to wait until more data is available. But people don’t want to wait! Not knowing leads to fear and fear leads to actions based on emotion, not reason.

What can communicators do?

We can all contribute to rational thought. We can share what we do know. Our organizations have plans in place to deal with possible pandemics. Plans start with individual actions:

  • Wash your hands
  • Sanitize frequently touched surfaces
  • Cover your mouth when you cough
  • Use a Kleenex when you sneeze
  • Stay home if you’re sick
  • Call 911 if you’re really sick

These all apply whether we have a cold, the flu or any other contagious disease.

We institute organizational plans as well:

  • Minimize meetings on the schedule, especially large group meetings
  • Minimize travel, use webinars, calls and emails instead of personal contact and travel
  • Work from home if you can
  • Increase cleaning and disinfectant schedule frequency
  • Reassure vendors and customers of our availability to deliver goods or services

We may even change external business practices:

  • Encourage on-line ordering instead of personal shopping
  • Use disposable dishes, straws and cutlery (gasp!)
  • No sales calls, use phone calls instead
  • Cancel specific routes, deliveries, events to minimize personal contact
  • Reassure vendors or customers of our capacity to meet their needs

In all, let’s be sure to remind our stakeholders of the constants in our response:

  • We base infectious disease plans on experience with past outbreaks – we have plans in place and we are implementing them
  • We are taking all reasonable precautions to minimize exposure and infection
  • We are constantly monitoring the safety and health of our workplace
  • We encourage people to self-isolate to prevent unneeded exposure
  • We are committed to meeting our stakeholders’ information needs
  • We are committed to responding to their concerns
  • We will share any new information in regular updates

When does fear subside?

Not when more information is available, but when more information is trusted:

  • When the unknown becomes more known
  • When we see effective results
  • When we see the threat subside

What should we share?

  • Share specific distinctives about your organization’s response
  • Share what you know
  • Share what you’re doing
  • Share why you’re doing what you’re doing
  • Encourage questions and sharing of concerns
  • Respond to questions and concerns
  • Provide frequent updates.

Our responsibility

We each have the responsibility to do this when we’ve experienced ANY specific incident or issue. We ALL have a responsibility to do this when the issue is broader than ourselves. In this case, sharing your organization’s plans and actions to address and minimize Covid-19, alongside everyone else doing the same, may just deliver enough assurance so we all settle into secure awareness and abandon fear.

Remember

The same rules apply for any incident. We may know what is happening, but do our stakeholders? Are we sharing everything we can? Are we even ‘over-communicating’ (that has to be a term invented by a man).

Or do we shrivel our communication plans when the incident/issue has arisen from our own organization’s operations or actions?

Ironically, while we want more information to make our own decisions, we easily minimize others’ need for more information. As communicators, let’s remember how it feels to ‘not know enough’ so we can share as much as we can when we have the opportunity.

Every crisis eventually proves that clear communication of truth brings trust. Trust brings good decisions. Good decisions bring calm and calm brings acceptance. Isn’t that what we’re after?

If you want to talk about this more, contact me, or add your comments below!

How Do You Burst the Outrage Balloon?

| March 2, 2020
Photo of burst balloon

Accidents are inevitable, so we prepare for them.

Good communication planning includes preemptive actions to build stakeholder trust and acceptance. We work hard to make sure our neighbors and communities understand that we are trying to be good neighbors. We bank on their goodwill and make sure we’re ready to respond to the inevitable accident. We plan and prepare.

Our messaging is designed to support our response efforts, to remind stakeholders of our commitment to our community. We prepare key messages to use when needed; messages to assure affected people that we are responding as well as we can. We plan and prepare for community acceptance of our activities.

And as the joke says; “Sixty percent of the time it works all of the time.”

Inevitably and despite our plans and preparation, in a response a common foe may raise its head. Individuals don’t accept our response actions, or they don’t accept our role, or they decide to be offended, or they overreact and out-shout our message. They get afraid and frustrated that they’re not being cared for. And outrage rises – pent up frustration, anger, fear self-righteousness, enmity; the list reads like a list of ‘thou shalt nots’. But it is real, and often based on reality.

The ‘outrage balloon’ begins to fill with pent up FODU – Fear, Outrage, Doubt, Uncertainty. It grows, and grows, looming over the response and our reputation. One thing is certain – a bloated outrage balloon usually bursts with uncontrollable force, damaging everything in its path; response efforts, reputation, community trust, even the well-meaning, honest and skilled responders desperately trying to resolve the situation.

How do we prevent the damage? We’ve got to burst the balloon early. How do we identify a filling outrage balloon and how do we burst it?

Identifying outrage

Consider your own anger. How does your behavior change when you become increasingly frustrated or angry? We get loud, or we go silent. We stop listening. We raise our voices. We start talking over other people. We attack the messenger. We argue. We accuse. We demand. We walk out. We hang up.

Organizations and groups of people act like…. people. So if you’re hearing anger and seeing it, you’ve likely got outrage swelling. Don’t delay identification of outrage. Better to diagnose it too early, than too late.

Addressing Outrage

Deal Quickly: We don’t have a lot of time to deal with outrage – it forms quickly, and will multiply faster than we can keep up.

Deal Clearly: Identify the specific outrage you want to address, and address it. As with relationships, there’s no such thing as a general apology: Exactly what did you do wrong? How did you offend?

Deal honestly: Own what you own. Admit when you’re wrong. Take responsibility. No weaseling. Don’t blast past the apology part. Let it set in that you are seriously sorry for what happened. A long moment of silence is good at this point. Don’t rush your stakeholders to accept your apology. Don’t jump past it to how good you’re going to be. Listen for a minute.

A word about ‘I’m sorry’: An apology is not always an expression of guilt. We are all sorry for a lot of things we didn’t cause. You can be sorry for the impact of an incident even if you’re not sure you caused it. One certain outrage-accelerator is your refusal to acknowledge it: “We are truly sorry for the inconvenience this has caused” sounds, and is, far more caring than “We can’t comment on the cause (read: blame for) of this event at this time”.

Promise better: They may not believe you, but you need to express intent for the future. Keep it simple and short, and leave it with your listeners. Don’t cover up good intentions with blather. Keep it simple and direct. There will be plenty of time to talk about it more.

Stop and listen: Give time for understanding. Let your listeners react. Accept further upset. Thank them for sharing. Promise additional information when you have it. Remind them of resources available.

Rocket science?

I know, this isn’t rocket science. We all know to do this. But stress, attack and fatigue can strip us of our sense. It’s easy to do, but it’s also easy to forget. It’s helpful to plan for, so add ‘Apology’ to your crisis communication strategy and plan – and make sure the approval dragon is dealt with.

A Good Example

Boeing has had their share of challenges that have culminated in a challenging (to say the least) stakeholder communication environment. Safe to say that the outrage balloon is always out of the package, ready to be inflated! Even in this environment, can the outrage balloon be burst in time?

Consider their recent run-in with noise restrictions: A delayed series of engine test runs resulted in widespread community concern. You can see the outrage coming in the first paragraphs of the Seattle Times article:

“Residents near Boeing Field, from Georgetown to the west and as far as Mercer Island to the east, were blitzed with long and extraordinarily loud jet engine noise late Tuesday night.

The culprit was Boeing, which broke a community noise curfew by running protracted engine runs on its new 777-9X at the north end of the airfield until after midnight.”

Think of where this could have gone for Boeing. But it didn’t and it hasn’t. Why not? Look at what Boeing said: “There is no excuse,” said Boeing spokesman Bernard Choi. “We’re apologizing to nearby residents.”

A rapid, direct and simple addressing of the issue. Accepting responsibility, acknowledging fault and expressing an apology. And later, another statement from Boeing: “This was not a normal occurrence and we are making adjustments to prevent it from happening in the future”.

Simple, direct and honest. And the outrage balloon is burst. Good work, Boeing!

Questions? Did you hear ideas in this post that you’ve never heard of before? Contact me!

Comments?  Leave them below.

The Uncounted Cost of Poor Response Communication

| February 25, 2020
Aircraft Wiring image

How much does bad response communication cost? Is there a penalty for poor performance?

In “Getting a handle on a scandal” the Economist Magazine looked at eight different corporate crises since 2010, to determine if they actually damage shareholder value. The consensus from a review of large crises is that a crisis actually does:

“After their crises struck all these firms suffered an absolute drop in their share prices. At the lowest point the median share price was down by 33%, although it took anywhere from two weeks to two years for different firms to reach this nadir. In most cases the companies have clawed back the absolute losses they suffered. However, what matters is their relative performance compared with a basket of industry peers over the same time period. On this basis the median firm is worth 30% less today than it would have been had the scandals not happened. For the eight the total forfeited value is a chunky $300bn.”

The Economist also offered possible sources of this value loss: “Fines and legal costs explain only a small part of this. A big scandal distracts management, leads to other kinds of painful regulatory scrutiny and, if a firm has a stretched balance-sheet, forces it to shrink.”

One clear trend is that mishaps and mistakes cause loss. Some of the studied companies practiced effective stakeholder communication, some didn’t. In either case a cost was incurred.

So what’s the moral to the story? As one major firm once put it: “Don’t do anything wrong for the next decade.” But what if you do? What if less-than-stellar response communication is part of your mistake?

What if people just don’t trust you anymore?

Communicators talk about ‘license to operate’ and use it as a veiled threat to encourage more investment in effective communication. What does ‘license to operate’ entail? Ultimately, it entails grace, usually conditional grace. Conditional grace is accepting an individual or organization on the basis that you trust that they will do well, at least better than they have in the past. We all receive conditional grace in our manifold imperfect relationships.

What if we lose grace? What if we neglect to build trust? How does mistrust impact future operations? First, let’s accept that none of us is perfect. We all have made mistakes and have had to restore relationships. Since we have failed in the past, we will fail in the future.

If you don’t rebuild your relationship with stakeholders, what happens when you fail again?

Here’s an example: “FAA faces dilemma over 737 MAX wiring flaw that Boeing missed”, published by the Seattle Times on February 14, 2020.

Note that the subject of the article is the Federal Aviation Administration as much as it is Boeing. The issue seems simple; For the new 737 MAX aircraft, Boeing was required to modify previous 737 wiring placement for ‘safe wiring separation’ to prevent possible short circuits that could cause loss of control of the aircraft. Instead all 737 MAX aircraft were wired in keeping with all previous 737s.

What is the risk? “There are 205 million flight hours in the 737 fleet with this wiring type,” a Boeing official said. “There have been 16 failures in service, none of which were applicable to this scenario. We’ve had no hot shorts.”

Zero (0) ‘hot shorts’ in 205,000,000 flight hours (0/205,000,000 probability of failure). That’s pretty safe, demonstrably safe. So safe, that revising the wiring on the already produced aircraft may result in a greater risk than leaving it untouched.

Based on probabilities, it may be best to leave the wiring as-is. But that likely won’t be good enough. Because of a lack of grace caused by a loss of trust, it is extremely unlikely that the FAA can give Boeing a ‘pass’ on this one. Regardless of risk, regardless of safety, the FAA most likely will enforce the wiring change, as they will enforce any additional corrections in the future (remember, since we have failed in the past, we will fail in the future).

Loss of trust leads to loss of grace. Loss of grace leads to additional costs and complications in a myriad of ways. The Economist measured shareholder value, management and revenue impacts to determine the cost of a crisis. But the cost of loss of grace is higher, extending into the future for affected companies as an ever-growing, unnoticed cost.

Communicating poorly removes grace, and opportunity to recover can leave with it. If a 0/25,000,000 probability of failure isn’t enough to buy trust, what is? Effective communication may be our ONLY chance to recover.

If you want to talk about this more, contact me.

I can help you evaluate your current Communication Plan readiness, conduct a formal Plan review or offer strategy suggestions to awaken your leadership to the danger they’re in. Who knows, it might even save money, even a reputation or two!

Communicators and responders have a lot to learn from each other.

| January 13, 2020

Communicators and responders have a lot to learn from each other. Notice Jennifer Pearsall’s – from NYC Emergency Management – key points from her post here:

  1. People are the mission
  2. Asking ‘why’ will get you further
  3. Recovery starts with rebuilding a sense of control

Jennifer’s ‘responder truths’ are also ‘communicator truths’:

  1. We’ll all get further if we remember we’re dealing with real people who have been impacted by our problem.
  2. We speak to them better when we listen to them better.
  3. We’ll help people recover when we rebuild their trust.

Stakeholders ‘turn loose’ of a response when they trust the responders. That requires BOTH good decisions AND good communication. Let your responders help you with good communication, while you help them with a good response. Thank you for sharing, Jennifer!

Check out Jennifer Pearsall’s post: here: https://lnkd.in/gFJNpjq