The Focus of Good Crisis Management Is Always Long-Term
By Melissa Agnes, Crisis and Issues Management
Everything about good crisis management is long-term. From the focus of planning and strategy development straight through to the results. It always needs to be about preserving your organization’s reputation and bottom line for the long-term.
Unfortunately, too often organizations faced with a crisis think in the short-term. This mistake is so easily made when you find yourself under-prepared and in the heat of the moment. It’s too easy to get caught up, let emotion sink in and put crisis management strategies in-place that only provide or focus on short-term results. A bandaid of sorts, rather than a real, long-term fix.
So how do you prevent yourself and your team from making this unrecoverable mistake?
The answer is one that I’m sure you already know:
- By being prepared in advance with a crisis management plan and adequate training; and
- By partnering with a third-party crisis management firm that has experience and is able to stay objective – with your organization’s long-term success as their only focus.
As we see time and time again, being prepared has so many advantages – and your organization’s long-term success is the most important of them. You wouldn’t want to find your organization in an unsalvageable situation resembling that of… let’s see… MMA Railway, Mayor Rob Ford, Carnival Cruise, Susan G. Komen and the list goes on and on. These were once powerful organizations that are now struggling to keep their head and once-good name above water. Why? Because they failed to think, plan and manage their crises with long-term success as their goal. Don’t let your organization fall victim to short-sightedness or under-preparedness. You’re better than that.
