Think the Unthinkable

Under Pressure Newsletter 26 November 2021

Thinking the unthinkable

There have been a number of occasions recently when I found myself explaining to organisations and businesses that they needed to prepare for the worst. PR and communication spends its time promoting the positives and seeing the good things that are happening. It can be a challenge to then try to seek out what could go wrong.

In crisis planning or looking at issues management it is critical to try to think the unthinkable. Challenge yourself to think differently, ask others for their thoughts, and look at what happens to other businesses and organisations. You can develop an ability to see the risks and issues that could exist. At that point push your thinking further. One of my early learning points when I started working in police communication was to assume nothing and question everything.

This has been a really challenging couple of years and there is a weariness about looking at risks, issues and crises. But moving in to 2022 is the time to refresh your plans, look at how they may need to develop, consider if they are as detailed as needed. If you can getting an external view of the plans can help and may be a way to kick start a different kind of thinking about crisis management.

Moving into Christmas no-one wants to be thinking the worst, dealing with a crisis, or trying to manage an issue. Crises and issues don’t respect the time of year in the same way they don’t respect office hours. Problems are as likely to happen over Christmas as they are at any other time. Don’t neglect your crisis response through the festive period. I have dealt with many issues over the years on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day. Remember again to think the unthinkable.

If you would like to talk about thinking the unthinkable or preparing for a crisis over the festive period just get in touch at amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

Stay safe

Amanda

Breaking News: The Covid-19 variant that has been discovered in Africa is said by experts to be extremely concerning. It reminds us all of the importance of business continuity and crisis planning. Even when an organisation is in recovery they can still find they go back into a crisis. This variant may mean revising our plans and approach to communication. I advise communicators to watch developments carefully.

Heroes and Villains

Amanda is running a special webinar for So Crowd looking at how to rebuild your reputation after a crisis and the five steps to recovery on Tuesday 7 December at 10.30am GMT. The free session will provide practical steps of how to develop communication activity to build reputation once the crisis is over. Find out more and register here.

What next for Yorkshire County Cricket Club?

Following the appearance of former cricketer Azeem Rafiq at a Select Committee, Amanda gave thoughts on what should happen next. She was interviewed by ITV Calendar which was shown on 17 November 2021. You can see the package here.

In Brief:

• Distinguished American linguist and professor Noam Chomsky has said improved science communication is needed to address climate change and Covid-19. He stressed it's vital for the public to be informed so they can support solutions to avert and deal with global issues. Read more here.

• The importance of securing the communication channels to be resilient when a crisis hits was discussed in an interesting feature on the Security Infowatch.com website. Read more here.

• The World Health Organisation has a wide range of courses available to help people dealing with aspects of the Covid-19 response. They include one course looking at the COVID-19 infodemic management: risk communication and community engagement challenges. Find out more here.

• Croatia is developing a single national system to alert the public to a crisis. This includes being able to send messages to specific sections of the community and linking this to proximity to the crisis. Find out more about the project here.

• Forbes ran an article from Edward Segal considering the approach taken by Tesla when a sexual harassment lawsuit was filed. The company remained silent despite media requests for some form of comment. Find out more here.

Diary Dates:

• The opening panel of the Global Communication Summit will include Amanda talking about reconnecting post Covid-19. She will focus on how to build risk and crisis communication into every communicators daily business. The event is on 7 December find out more here.

• Amanda is running a new course for the PRCA on 11 January 2022. The half day workshop will focus on making better decisions under pressure. It will look at practical tips and techniques for making sure you can keep calm and manage the situations you face. Find out more here.