Public Relations Summary

Public Relations Summary

A company needs to be sure to make a plan to be proactive in anything they do. Public relations is no different. Being proactive means that a company does not wait for things to happen and react, the company is prepared upfront and has a plan in place to prevent or be ready for things that come along. For example in the simulation managing a crisis using PR, Greenergy put together a crisis management and communication plan at the beginning of the company PR push to be prepared in the event something may happen. The Greenergy example is a perfect example of where the need for proactive crisis management should start. At the beginning of getting things together is when the proactive plan needs put in place. But the planning does not stop there. At every step another proactive plan needs to be addressed; such as in the simulation when the first accident happened. A plan was in place to deal with the fall out, but a new plan needed discussed in case other things happened. Having the second proactive plan could have allowed the company to deal with the fallout of the next situation when employees were found to be to blame. A good proactive plan never stops being worked on and looks at numerous possibilities.

Of course everything cannot be seen up front. While there may be an attempt to see everything, at times a reactive plan needs to be utilized. Reactive crisis management is utilized when an unforeseen issue arises. During a reactive crisis, PR has to be involved at ever step to help determine what might come out of the actions that are taken. While there is not as much time to deal with a reactive situation versus a proactive one, the proactive steps can be used as a guide to help better solve and deal with a reactive situation. PR personnel need to be in close contact with senior management and other decision makers so that the external public can be informed correctly.

To deal with the horrible situation that Greenergy has ran into, this author feels that use of honest upfront feedback is best. With the internal public it is best if a senior manager would hold a meeting to keep employees informed of what is going on. The same type of face-to-face reaction should be taken with investors and other internal publics. A hotline directly to people with information should be set up as well to answer employee questions and take questions as well that could help management better answer the questions of all. Show proof to