Why a Game Plan is Important
Well Catherine did a great job summarizing chapter 7 on Determine Purpose and Objectives. This is a reaction to how a plan would help my every day job. About a year and a half ago the marketing office was divided into 3 separate entities. What used to be organized and had some what of a plan now doesn’t. Not only that, the 3 entities do not communicate with each other so even if there was a plan no one would know about it.
If we knew the why and the how and we formalized a plan in writing the trick would be to communicate it back up through the bureaucratic layers of administration. The next step of getting everyone on common ground upon which to build could take years, probably right up to having a crisis in front of us as a prod. Once common ground was agreed upon the upper management would have changed so we would be back to square one. We would not have to worry about measuring success at that point.
This chapter made me realize that educating all levels of management on this issue is very important. The plan will not succeed without their input and buy-in. It is also imperative to know the legal issues that different departments in IFAS face and how they affect the overall plan for the organization. I’m sure we could find evidence to support the “formal” and “traditional ways to handle risk communication from some past effort. IFAS also has the possibility of having to communicate in the following three areas of care, consensus and crisis. Given these opportunities exist we should be better prepared to handle the situation when they were to occur.
For example during the citrus canker outbreak, it should have stated in a plan at each of the research centers and other departments that do citrus research who would make statement to the media. Not having that plan in place, many researchers were interviewed. Many times the ones interviewed had no training in conducting an interview with the media let alone about a highly emotional topic. Some researcher should never be allowed to face the media. In fact having to go back to apologize to a whole industry is worse than delaying the interview. The researcher basically blamed the citrus industry for having canker problems because they weren’t funding the research needed when the problem first came on the horizon. A plan would have helped greatly.
The area that IFAS seems to understand is the diversity of the audience. The audience is the most important element of having a successful risk communications plan. The area of expertise within IFAS is also diverse and that helps them be prepared for the cultural and social differences that exist within a community.
I found the check list for determining purpose and objectives very helpful not only from a planning perception but also as an education tool. It would be a simple and clear way to start teaching upper management about a crisis communications plan and all that it entails.
Thanks, Liz Felter
If we knew the why and the how and we formalized a plan in writing the trick would be to communicate it back up through the bureaucratic layers of administration. The next step of getting everyone on common ground upon which to build could take years, probably right up to having a crisis in front of us as a prod. Once common ground was agreed upon the upper management would have changed so we would be back to square one. We would not have to worry about measuring success at that point.
This chapter made me realize that educating all levels of management on this issue is very important. The plan will not succeed without their input and buy-in. It is also imperative to know the legal issues that different departments in IFAS face and how they affect the overall plan for the organization. I’m sure we could find evidence to support the “formal” and “traditional ways to handle risk communication from some past effort. IFAS also has the possibility of having to communicate in the following three areas of care, consensus and crisis. Given these opportunities exist we should be better prepared to handle the situation when they were to occur.
For example during the citrus canker outbreak, it should have stated in a plan at each of the research centers and other departments that do citrus research who would make statement to the media. Not having that plan in place, many researchers were interviewed. Many times the ones interviewed had no training in conducting an interview with the media let alone about a highly emotional topic. Some researcher should never be allowed to face the media. In fact having to go back to apologize to a whole industry is worse than delaying the interview. The researcher basically blamed the citrus industry for having canker problems because they weren’t funding the research needed when the problem first came on the horizon. A plan would have helped greatly.
The area that IFAS seems to understand is the diversity of the audience. The audience is the most important element of having a successful risk communications plan. The area of expertise within IFAS is also diverse and that helps them be prepared for the cultural and social differences that exist within a community.
I found the check list for determining purpose and objectives very helpful not only from a planning perception but also as an education tool. It would be a simple and clear way to start teaching upper management about a crisis communications plan and all that it entails.
Thanks, Liz Felter
posted by Liz Felter at
1/28/2007 04:18:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home