Week 6- Issues and Crisis Management

I believe the key messages from this weeks reading were the importance of effective crisis management and the early detection of issues, that PR practitioners should be aware of potential problems and have systems in place to deal with these problems, the structure and approach that should be taken to prepare for a crisis, the important role of the CEO, the importance of planning and a team structure and the ways the web can be utilised in a crisis.

The key points in the readings could be applied to my group work in that they will help me increase my awareness of issues that surround our organisation. I see now how even global issues can filter down to have a detrimental effect on small Australia organisations. This will help us when it comes to generating ideas about potential problems our organisation might face.

The readings made me think more about public relations theory/practice in that they communicated many examples of what approaches have and haven't worked in past practice. They also demonstrated the amount of preparation and planning that must be undertaken to effectively implement a crisis plan, they made me more aware of the team structure and useful hints about crisis kits and command centres. The readings also helped me realise how contacts can again be highly useful in alerting you to potential problems. Avoiding the crisis or not presenting the right information is also not a good way to go, the idea of having one spokesperson and giving them time to respond rather then placing them on the spot was a useful idea.

The readings related to the other readings I've done in previous weeks in that I can see how various tactics can be blended to help in a crisis. Crisis management is another part of the organisations strategy, there must be an effective system in place. The importance of a SWOT analysis to identify potential problems also resurfaced (this also related back to the reading where management stated they value employees that can prevent rather than just solve problems). These problems also had to be solved in line with the organisations structures, practices and beliefs, so I can see what an important role that plays in every decision. The importance of liaising with stakeholders again comes into play with this issue.