1.1. Assess Possible Risks and Potential Impact
Conduct an issues audit (an inventory of your entity's vulnerabilities and the critical issues you are likely to be confronted with) Create an Issue Manual for your members Develop a framework where the critical issues are identified and prioritized in order of magnitude and likelihood of occurrence.
1.2. Always be Prepared! Develop an HR Plan Establish clear responsible persons for each area of decision making along with the ranking of authority. The top decision makers put together form the crisis team. You can must also have one key person in charge of communications (ex. VP PR, VP Comm) and an ultimate decision maker (usually the PAI, MCP or LCP ). Secure Financial Back-up Crisis response often requires action and follow-up that requires unplanned expenditure. Ensure you have financial reserves in case of these emergencies. Prepare a detailed crisis Communications plan that includes: Names and contact information of the crisis team/ spokespeople.
Crisis levels- Establish criteria to decide when a minor incident has the potential to become a national or international crisis. Alert/ notification procedures- Who needs to get information, and in
THE
1- BEFORE A CRISIS
AIESEC
CRISIS
COMMS MANUAL
No matter how careful and safety-conscious an organisation is, some crisis or another will occur sometime in the life of this organisation. Most crises are newsworthy events, reporters from the region, state, nation, and, perhaps, world, will expect statements and explanations about the cause and effects of the crisis from the very earliest moments of the event An AIESEC entity, no matter the scale of operations, should always be prepared to deal with such a situation.
2 -WHEN A CRISIS STRIKES Assess the Situation:
You first have to determine if you are in a crisis or not and to what scale the situation currently is and can grow to become.
First response- What information has top priority? How will you initially respond to media?
A crisis can take on many forms, including natural or man-made disasters, work disruptions or criminal acts concerning individual connected to AIESEC, a compromise of EP or member safety, to name a few.
Situation room- Assess the physical space that will be the nerve centre for managing the crisis, including the required hardware and software, staffing, location and layout.
If you were able to develop an Issues Manual, use this as a guide to assess the situation. You may also use the criteria below:
what order of priority? By phone, e-mail or social media channels?
Establish Key Channels for Communications- How do you plan to communicate with members, EP's, the AIESEC network, partners, alumni, government and the media? What channels of communication can you use? Which channels are private channels or open to the public? Contact lists- Include the “inputs (which media outlets and Internet message boards should be monitored) and “outputs” (which media outlets need to hear your story)? Template responses- Standardized format, language and protocol for all communications
Insure Insurable Risks (ex. EP indemnity forms, conference delegate indemnity forms, EP travel insurance)
www.aiesec.org
3 - THE FIRST 48 HOURS The first rule of crisis management is to communicate. The first 48 hours are critical and they set the tone for the duration of the crisis. If you are not ahead of the crisis by that timeframe, it’s likely it will run you over.
3.1. Activate Key Players Closely involve the team responsible for communications. Share/ Re-share communication plan with task force and gain agreement on the plan. Choose a spokeperson relevant to the issue. Provide additional training if needed Check and confirm all the facts. Document all the information you collect from your sources. Based on the facts you’ve confirmed, Provide key messages and talking points to necessary spokesperson. Contact AIESEC International and other LC's and MC's for Support Proactively reach out to AIESEC International to alert them; and relevant MC’s or LC’s who may experience a similar issue or be contacted by stakeholders. Remember that you are part of the largest youth organisation in the world and you are not alone. Most of our operations deal with and can affect the international network.
3.2. Activate Resources and Supporters With your Crisis Team, try to address issue as quickly and swiftly as possible; allocate budget and resources.
Show compassion and understanding to those affected. Assign someone to be the key contact person to connect with them.
Crisis Assessment Criteria:
Contact legal counsel.
Is this a crisis, or is it simply a continuing business problem coming to the surface?
Get outside help.
Is it confined to a local area, or does it have the potential to become a situation of national or international importance? Has someone verified the incident or crisis? What are the legal implications? What level of resources will be required to manage it?
We are not experts in Crisis Communications. Get the support of an alumni/ PR professional that can provide support throughout the crisis.This individual’s role is not to call all the shots. His or her role is to provide counsel to a team leader – and offer an external perspective that few inside the organisation can offer.
Inform key AIESECers/ members who also need information and can help communicate to others. Remember that the AIESECers of your entity are your front-line “ambassadors” in a crisis. Be sure they are aware of what the organisation is doing to deal with the situation. Also define which questions they have the authority to respond to, and which questions/ topics they have to refer to more official spokespersons.