[Editor’s note: This guest post from crisis pro Janie Jordan highlights the importance of avoiding negative language in your crisis communications. While it’s more natural for many people to use words like don’t, not, won’t, or can’t when describing situations, substituting more positive or at least neutral ways to …
Do you need a professional opinion? While it’s an established best practice to make crisis management a part of day-to-day business, we know the reality is that not everyone has room on their plate to truly make it a priority every single day. That said, it’s important to remember there’s …
[Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Bernstein Crisis Management team member Jon Harmon’s Strategic Comms blog, and he was kind enough to allow us to reprint this important open letter to senior leaders in every sector that addresses why the COVID-19 coronavirus concerns mean you should be …
Preventing issues where you can Unprecedented volumes of email are slowing servers and crashing some systems. Customer service lines for many businesses are completely overwhelmed no matter how well staffed they thought they were. Websites are crashing, running erratically, and otherwise not performing as usual as a result of extremely …
Aw CRAP… where do we go from here? [Editor’s note: Our colleague and seasoned crisis expert Jeff Chatterton was kind enough to allow us to reprint this timely piece, the title of which echoes what’s being said in boardrooms and living rooms the world over. With COVID-19 making major impact …
Looking to improve your crisis management consulting skills? Take these 4 tips to heart. We find that people who gravitate towards crisis management – as we so often say, “whether it’s in your job description or not” – have a thirst for learning, regardless of whether they’re looking to break …
Freaking out is not a crisis management plan Headless chickens running amok appear to be in charge of many organizations – including media outlets – in response to the spread of COVID-19 globally and its imminent status as a pandemic. Freakout Crisis Management is not an effective means of responding …
Planning is important, but plans require practice to be used properly in a crisis Imagine you came upon a firefighting team just arrived at the scene of a fire, all milling around with leaders shouting conflicting orders, firefighters not recalling how to properly set up and use their equipment, and …
How Some Well-Intentioned Meetings Increase the Risk of Crises Committees can be very useful for hearing different points of view, working out details of plans, and building consensus. Committees can also be the inadvertent cause of completely preventable crises and/or exacerbate the damage from unpreventable crises. I remember around the …
Know What Wikipedia Says About Your Brand Before a Crisis Hits Wikipedia has established itself as one of the internet’s most influential arbiters of reputation. Whatever the site says about your company, clients, or brand will influence what the world thinks about them, whether you like it or not. And …
Learn the traits you need to succeed in the world of crisis management consulting Erik Bernstein and I do a lot of remote guest lecturing to college audiences, and invariably are asked, “What does it take to be a crisis management consultant? What skills do I need?” Here’s what we …
Advice from an expert with decades of crisis management consulting experience In my 35+ years of crisis management consulting, I’ve made a some mistakes. And learned some important tips for being a better crisis management consultant. Here are my top five: Don’t assume you’re being told the whole story initially, …
Join us for quick pro tips from real crisis management consultants We’re bringing back a popular Bernstein Crisis Management series of short, informative blog posts, “Crisis Manager On The Spot”! These will typically feature questions for a crisis management consultant or other crisis-related expert, submitted by curious readers and our …
One of the toughest challenges for any crisis management consultant is telling the CEO of a client organization that they are part of the problem. When does that happen? When the CEO: fails to insist that crisis management best practices – crisis prevention and response – become an integral …
“Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.” — Johnny Carson While Johnny Carson was certainly having some fun at our mail carriers’ expense, there’s no denying that the holiday season brings plentiful opportunities for organizations of all shapes and sizes to …
