P.A.S.S. - Putting Out Communication Fires

     A little over a year ago my family moved from a long-term military assignment in Europe back to the continental United States.  We were reassigned to the northern part of California during the latter part of the summer. There were many adjustments going on, both internal and external, for our family during this move.  One of the most vivid, and not so enjoyable memories for me, is the recollection of the horrific and devastating wildfires that were raging all through the scenic NorCal region at that time.  Then more recently, as a daughter of the state of Tennessee, I was deeply saddened to hear and see news of the devastation that wildfires had on my beloved Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Both of this events remind me of the extreme conditions communicators face when addressing their own type of fire – crisis management and response to events, videos, comments, stories, etc. that often can threaten the very foundation of an organization.

     Anyone trained in fire safety and response can attest to the use of the fire extinguisher P.A.S.S. technique.  This technique, and corresponding acronym, is used to let folks know an easy way to remember and properly use this important equipment.  P.A.S.S. stands for and translates to: Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Because of the similarities with regards to this week’s blog about crisis communication strategy we will be looking at the same acronym from a different perspective and translation.  We are still extinguishing a fire, of a different nature, a crisis communication flame.  We’ll consider P.A.S.S. now as Prepare, Assess, Share, Support.  Let’s take a closer look at how the crisis communication strategy P.A.S.S. would work.

PREPARE – The initial phase of the 4-step crisis communication plan should have occurred well before an actual crisis erupts.  Benoit explained, “Before a crisis occurs, judicious planning may reduce response time and possibly prevent missteps in an organization's initial response to a crisis (1997).  The preparation phase would consist of various scenarios and the corresponding responses.  From personal experience, the military branches, specifically the U.S. Air Force, are quite effective at accomplishing the preparation aspect of this technique.  These crisis and emergency type of exercises occur regularly and the scenarios are played out on various levels throughout the base.  Sometimes it is a leadership-centered event and other times it might involve an entire Air Force base population.  In either type of scenario, a prepared strategist has at the ready a set of templates, checklists, and responses to execute at a moment’s notice.  This allows for minor adjustments as necessary and faster dissemination and response time.  Harvard Business School professor Michael Watkins called these “response modules to scenarios” and listed possibilities like, “facility lockdown, police or fire response, evacuation, isolation (preventing people from entering facilities), medical containment (response to significant epidemic), grief management, as well as external communication to media and other external constituencies” (2002).

ASSESS- In the assessment phase the communicators should make use of monitoring services which can also provide updated notifications.  This real-time oversight allows a crisis communication team to learn about the threat/occurrence of events that could lead to a crisis, which in turn allows time to be better spent assessing the information about the crisis itself.  Having accomplished the preparation phase, a well-prepared crisis team can spend a little bit more time fully assessing the situation.  As mentioned by Jonathan Bernstein in his article, “The 10 Steps of Crisis Communications”, “reacting without adequate information is a classic ‘shoot first and ask questions afterwards’ situation in which you could be the primary victim. Assessing the crisis situation is, therefore, the first crisis communications step you can’t take in advance.”  Benoit went on to point out that, “When a crisis occurs, it is important to clearly understand both the nature of crisis and the relevant audience(s)” (1997).   

SHARE – The sharing phase of a crisis communication plan would be where the key messages and responses are shared with the different audiences.  Benoit claims that during a crisis the communication team must know: “First, what are the accusations or suspicions? Second, it is important to know the perceived severity of the alleged offense. The response should be tailored to the offense” (1997).  Bernstein also adds, “What should those stakeholders know about this crisis? Keep it simple. Have no more than three main messages that go to all stakeholders and, as necessary, some audience-specific messages for individual groups of stakeholders. You’ll need to adapt your messaging to different forms of media as well. For example, crisis messaging on Twitter often relies on sharing links to an outside page where a longer message is displayed, a must because of the platform’s 140 character limit.”  Additionally, in the sharing phase the communication emphasis is placed on timeliness, appropriateness, transparency and empathy.  A consideration for the sharing phase is that although the responses might be shared directly with one particular audience in a targeted manner, these crisis response key messages may, and probably will be shared indirectly as well.  In an effectively executed sharing phase the dissemination of messaging and responses will allow for the ability to cut through misinformation by clarifying and deconflicting.  In a University of Delaware information piece (author unknown) the following was mentioned about crisis communication: “Good communication is the heart of any crisis management plan.  Communication should reduce tension, demonstrate a corporate commitment to correct the problem and take control of the information flow.

SUPPORT – In the final phase of the crisis P.A.S.S. technique support is established.  This is a two-way support system, the communicators understand the needs of the audience for clarity in the crisis – and the audiences can trust in the credible support of the communication team.  Questions are answered, and concern, empathy, and understanding ensure a supportive environment.  The best case scenario is for a return to normal, closure to the crisis, and as little damage as possible to the relationship between organization and audience(s).  An effective and well-executed crisis response plan can not only support the organization’s strategy, but can also support the concerns of the audiences and stakeholders. 

Work Cited:

Author Unknown. “Five Steps to Crisis Management Planning.” Retrieved on 2 December 2016 from http://www.adea.org/publications/library/adea.../fivestepstocrisismanagementplanning.

Benoit, W.L. (1997).  “Image Repair Discourse and Crisis Communication.” Public Relations Review.  Retrieved on 29 November 2016 from http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/98A1/Benoit.htm.

Bernstein, J. (2016).  “The 10 Steps of Crisis Communications.”  “Retrieved on 2 December 2016 from http://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/the-10-steps-of-crisis-communications/.

Watkins, M.  (2002). “Your Crisis Response Plan: The Ten Effective Elements.”  Retrieved on 2 December 2016 from http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/your-crisis-response-plan-the-ten-effective-elements.