Pre-Crisis

The statement "Security Crisis" is so evident to each of us,especially here in Kenya.But what's a crisis ? As per Wikipedia definition,Crisis is an event that is,or expected to lead to,an unstable or dangerous situation affecting an individual,group,community, or the whole society.In my view crisis communication is very crucial when a crisis happens,as much as crisis brings damage how it's communicated can either cause more hurt or to some extend some relief.

Here in Kenya especially in government there has been a disjoint on how a crisis is communicated to the public.This has resulted to many Kenyans advocating for resignation of the Interior CS Ole Lenku.For Ole Lenku and the general public these are steps for pre-crisis strategy;

1. Form crisis communications team
A team comprising of senior executives should be formed with the in-house PR executive and legal counsel as the advisers.

2. Foresee crises
Organize crisis communications team and brainstorm any potential crises that may affect your organizations or country.The most foreseeable benefits for this exercise are
You realize that some of the crises can be controlled by modifying some of the existing operational methods.
provides much time to ponder on the best /worst case scenarios much better than when you are under pressure.

3. Identify and train spokesperson
A good crisis communicator must possess;

• The right skills
• The right position
• The right training

The right skills
There are senior management executives who can address 1000 person conference audience but they can freak out when a video camera is pointed their way for one-on-one interview,matching spokesperson skills with their tasks in the crisis communication team is very critical.

4. Spokesperson Training
The spokesperson should undergo training in order to respond in a way that optimizes the response of all stakeholders.

5. Establish notification & monitoring systems
How will you notify all stakeholders? Having a channel that reaches a great number of all stakeholders is key in multiple modalities.The notification systems shouldn't only be dependent on only one channel of notification but on multiple channels.

monitoring systems touches on having intelligence gathering,knowing what people are saying about you enables you catch the negative trend ,that if unchecked can become a crisis.

6. Identify and know your stakeholders
Who are the people who matter to you? are they your employees of your firm or the citizens of your country.Every stakeholders stands as PR representative or the crisis manager of your firm or country by default hence these stakeholders will be taking to other persons outside your firm or country so its up to you to make sure that they get information that you would like them to repeat elsewhere.

7. Establish holding statements
Holding messages are designed for use immediately after a crisis breaks,they should be designed in advance to be used in scenarios that pose potential crises as identified in step 2 of this process.These statemensts should be reviewed periodically.




Thank me later keep it here for the second part "post-crisis"....