HOW TO BEST PLAN FOR THE WORST
Private and public sector organisations are increasingly readying themselves to respond quickly and effectively during potential future terror attacks.
There’s been an upsurge in planning and practice for dealing with worst-case scenarios over the past month following the murderous attacks in Paris in November.
These preparations have been further stepped up as a result of the subsequent counterstrikes by the United States, Russia, France, Britain and their allies against perceived terrorism bases in the Middle East.
The overnight decision by the British Parliament to join other already active nations in air raids against specific terrorist bases in Syria has further heightened security concerns in western cities and beyond that there could, as a result, be more Paris-style terrorism attacks in London, Washington, Moscow, Brussels or back in the French capital.
Speaking in the House of Commons, British Prime Minister David Cameron insisted yesterday that Paris-style attacks in the UK could already be planned – regardless of whether or not the Royal Air Force takes part in bombing raids targeting terrorist bases in Syria and elsewhere.
GETTING YOUR MESSAGE ACROSS THROUGH THE NEWS MEDIA IN A CRISIS
Many companies and other organisations in the UK have been working with police to plan what they need to do in the event of any future attacks – whether it’s through marauding gunmen, hidden bombs, suicide bombers or whatever the terrorists come up with next.
A significant part of their efforts is focusing on how to respond through the news media during and after any attack.
Smart organisations realise that this is not just a matter of helping the media with the challenges of covering terrorism stories as they unfold, and that there are other benefits to being media-ready for terrorist assaults.
If an attack is occurring on or near your premises then communicating through the mainstream media can ensure that important messages get through to your own people.
Doing effective media interviews also helps convey information about your response to the crisis to your clients.
This is especially so if normal means of communication such as mobile phone networks are taken out as they sometimes are for security reasons during a terrorism crisis owing to fears that mobile networks can be used to trigger bombs.
BOOSTING READINESS ON WORST CASE TERROR SCENARIOS
Over the past month I’ve been working with clients to maximise their readiness to deal with the media side of a terrorism crisis.
What your spokespeople say to the cameras and microphones plays a crucial part in how effective you are at coping with a terrorism attack – both in that dramatically tense time while it’s happening and in the aftermath as you seek to return your organisation to normality.
Media crisis training sessions don’t just prepare you to do better interviews, They focus everyone’s minds on the other things they need to do before, during and after a terrorist attack.
Private and public sector management teams also come to realise that what they say on social media – such as how they respond on Twitter and Facebook to any criticism of their actions during a terrorism crisis – plays an important part of the way they’re seen by customers, their own people and the public at large.
In the spirit of “learning by doing” there is much that companies can and are doing to make sure their people plan, prepare and practice for the kind of attacks all enlightened humans hope will never happen.
I’ve been doing mock interviews with clients to help get them into the best possible shape to deal with their nightmare terrorism scenarios.
As a result they not only sharpen their media interview performance, they get a better idea of what they need to do – and to do better – when it comes to actually dealing with terrorism before, during and after it strikes.
Pressure testing helps people realise what they need to do more of in the way of precautions and what they need to do better to protect themselves, their colleagues and their company’s reputation while any attack is underway.
GETTING PREPARED FOR A MEDIA CRISIS
Doing media training programmes focused on a terrorism crisis – or any other crisis you need to be ready for – takes a couple of forms and can be done over two or more stages.
For the first stage we equip you with the best formulae for answering questions in a crisis.
We find out what crises you and your team need to be ready for and do a series of practice interviews based on your nightmare scenarios for television, radio, newspapers, magazines and news websites.
These interviews are critiqued as we work towards getting your interview responses to the highest possible standard so that you get evermore adept at applying the formulae.
In the second stage we prepare in advance a series of custom-made mock TV news bulletins which portray a crisis affecting your organisation specifically that your colleagues need to react to as the running story unfolds.
The people in your organisation who suggest the content and shape of the mock TV bulletins typically don’t do interviews on the emergency training days because they know what’s going to happen next.
This means the rest of the team have to deal with the surprise twists and turns as the crisis unfolds – which adds to their overall preparedness.
There’s more on media training programmes at: https://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/media-master-classes/
THE THREE PHASES OF A MEDIA CRISIS
When dealing with a media crisis it’s important to understand the three typical phases of the situation that you need to be ready for – all starting with M – Mayhem, Mastermind and Manhunt.
The “Mayhem” phase happens when a terrorism incident first takes place. There is typically much confusion and the media seeks to grab whatever facts they can. Where possible it’s good to do media interviews at this early stage as it helps you shape the media and public perception of the story as it unfolds. But early interviews can be tricky as you won’t necessarily know all that much about what’s happening at this point.
The “Mastermind” phase is when – having accumulated all the initial information they can get – the media typically run into a period when new material is scarce. This is where the authorities such as the police, fire chiefs or military dealing with the crisis get very tied up in it and may start investigating causes which they can be reluctant to talk about publicly. This creates an information vacuum for the media who typically bring in one or more experts – or masterminds – on the type of crisis concerned and start speculating about what will happen and what might have happened. At this point the media is very hungry for interviewees who are genuinely involved in the crisis, so if you have some good information it’s an ideal time to step into the media spotlight.
The third phase is “Manhunt” which is where the media seek to expose who is to blame for whatever has gone wrong (even if it ends up being a womanhunt!). In this phase you need to be careful for obvious legal reasons if your organisation is perceived as being at fault. However there are ways of phrasing things carefully, which we can practice in the training sessions, to minimise your problems.
There’s a lot more on dealing with the media in a crisis – and in facing tough questions in a whole range of professional situations – in my new book out next year.
WATCH HERE FOR DETAILS OF THE NEW DODD BOOK
The book is called “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work”.
Here’s a sneak preview of the cover from the publisher’s design team at Capstone.
It will be available in selected book chains and on line at some stage in 2016.
And there may even be a special pre-ordering offer for readers of this ezine. Watch this space!
You can check out the enlightening thoughts of some of my inspiring colleagues at the Professional Speaking Association on these uplifting blogposts:
Focusing On Your Success – Nicci Roscoe, Fabulous Impact Speaker |
http://www.nicciroscoe.com/focusing-on-your-success/ |
Disaster Management – Eilidh Milnes, Captain Positive |
http://www.captain-positive.com/confidence-blog/disaster-management |
Be Known As The Expert – Sylvia Baldock, Unlocking Your Hidden Potential |
http://www.sylviabaldock.com/2015/11/how-to-be-known-as-the-expert-in-your-field/ |