CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS MODULE OUTLINE DURATION: 22 nd July to 9 th August 2013: Six sessions of two hours MODULE LEADER: David Kirkham, TD, BA, MSc, PhD E: david.kirkham@calistroconsultants.com T: +44 (0) 7860 524189 Personal Information David Kirkham obtained his PhD in risk and crisis management at the Management School of the University of Liverpool. He has studied at Cambridge and London Universities and has completed an MSc in Development Management with the Open University. He has taught on under- and post-graduate management programmes at Liverpool and has lectured at Sheffield and Ulster Universities. He has led modules at the Laureate Summer School for the last five years. Dr. David is acknowledged as an authority on managing under uncertainty. He has worked with corporate teams for twenty years in 40 countries in most industrial and commercial sectors and advises governments on risk and crisis. His portfolio includes managing adverse events (crisis management and business continuity), communication strategies, strategic decision making, scenario planning as well as team building. He has considerable experience working with those from different cultures and those whose first language is not English Module Overview Increasingly crises have a public relations dimension, a trend accelerated by the exponential rise in the reach, diversity and use of the social media. Even if an organisation manages its risks well, no organisation anywhere in the world is immune from a crisis, and then it must communicate effectively with all its stakeholders. An organisation s reputation is a valuable asset that must be protected during a crisis. The programme will challenge your communication skills in a non-threatening environment and will help your future career in the private or public sectors, and not just as communications specialists. The most effective learning tools are simulation and roleplay which construct experiences of events and transform them into knowledge, skills, attitudes and values - it's powerful, revealing and transformative, but it s still fun.
Module Aims Using past public relations crises as learning tools, the module aims to equip students with some basic knowledge and skills in managing communications during a crisis. Using academic theories (the useful ones) students will learn and practice some proven communications tools that are essential for managing under conditions of uncertainty. The aim is to develop practical knowledge and skills in: The nature of the media and developments in form and content of new media Dealing with journalists Developing key messages Stakeholder engagement and issue management Internal communications Social media communications Module Learning Objectives At the end of the module, students will be able to: Appreciate the origins of crisis Identify different phases of a crisis Appreciate the principles of crisis communications Practice the main crisis communications team processes Handle the traditional media Use the social media to communicate in a crisis Practice stakeholder analysis and engagement Practice the management of information Create a crisis communications team Experience the challenges of a crisis in a real-time and challenging simulation Identify where they need to improve their communication skills Teaching The module uses academic theories but turns them into useable tools, techniques and methods for the real-world. Teaching will be predominantly by inter-active presentations and practical exercises, supported by case studies. A practical Crisis Communications Handbook will be provided for each student to take away and use in their future careers.
Progressively the module will build students capacities for managing a crisis, through cases, practical exercises, handbooks and debate. Then these capacities are confirmed in the simulated crisis exercise, designed to demonstrate the learnings. Thus the end-ofmodule assessment is the evaluation of how students performed in this simulated public relations crisis. Module Structure Session 1 what is a public relations crisis? Ø What is a crisis? Ø What causes crisis? Ø How does it unfold and escalate? Ø How is crisis managed? Ø What are the roles of a Crisis Communications Team? Ø What can we learn from past crises? Working in groups, students will analyse a range of public relations crisis to identify what went well and what went wrong. Session 2 useful crisis communications models Ø Who are stakeholders and how can they be analysed? Ø How can we assess which stakeholders are influential? Ø How do we engage with pressure groups? Ø How can we make use of image repair theory? Ø How helpful is crisis attribution theory in developing key messages? Ø What is an issue and how can we handle it? Ø Are there processes for effective information management? Student groups will analyse stakeholders, using practical tools and develop a stakeholder engagement plan based around three real scenarios.
Session 3 the social media in a crisis Ø Case studies of effective and ineffective social media use Ø The different roles of Twitter and Blogs Ø Using the blog-mediated communication theory Ø Team process for handling the social media Ø Recognising influential sites Ø Writing key messages Ø Using the visual media Ø Scripting a YouTube video Students will practice the use of Twitter in a crisis against a scenario using two live Twitter sites. They will respond to a range of relevant and irrelevant tweets using key messages that will be developed as the story unfolds. Session 4 building a crisis communications team Ø The roles of a Crisis Communications Team (CCT) Ø Different cells within the CCT Ø Traditional media relations processes Ø Social media engagement Ø Giving interviews and running news conferences Ø Writing statements and developing Question & Answers Ø The stakeholder engagement cell Ø Media monitoring cell Ø Presentation of the Crisis Communications Handbook Using a desktop exercise scenario, the CCT will practice the various procedures and processes in slow time and develop individual skills in writing, analysis, responding to the media and managing information. Session 5 handling a public relations crisis A two-hour real-time public relations crisis simulation, which involves communicating with traditional and social media, using the new Internet-based social media simulator, which allows participants to experience and respond to blogs, tweets, Facebook postings
and YouTube videos under pressure, on behalf of their own organization, which is a fictitious multi-national company with four different operating divisions in different sectors. It will involve YouTube production, live Tweets and a streamed news conference. Some participants will form a company Crisis Communications Team whilst others will play the roles of twitterers, bloggers, journalists and stakeholders. Expect to be challenged! (Student should bring their own ipads or laptops to gain the most benefit from this simulation) Session 6 crisis simulation debrief and focus group Ø What did it feel like? Ø What were the main challenges? Ø How did you perform as a team? Ø What were your key messages? Ø What impressions did the stakeholders have of the Company? Ø How helpful was the Crisis Communications Handbook? Ø What lessons can you take away to help you in your future careers? Ø How does this fit in with your studies of business and communications? Two group presentations - by the Crisis Communications Team and by the role-player group.