Team,
One of the ideas that came up last week at a mock platform meeting in a communications college in Bangalore was mooting a government-private-public partnered workshop on crisis communications....many people of course believe that if the media, police, security forces, governments authorities, hospital/ sos services??, co-related agencies et al,...if all coordinated and communicated better, the aftermath of planned disaster by terrorists could have been minimised to a great extent...crisis management was at its best exercise - but nothing came in...pls do remember 911 was a far more larger impactful disaster...this one shook us too badly already...post the event, I believe an australian crisis management company was called in by the Taj hotel management to assess the various aspects of damage caused including image management...and communications required thereof...
I am unable to confirm the above details...however just a thought...how can public, media, private, government work closer and in greater trust in a beautiful but yet so diverse/ complex society such as ours... particularly during such critical hours to a nation/ wither crisis management...PROs caught napping...?? Should communications professionals take the lead in preparing the hearts and minds of leaders to make sure they get ready for the next one and what do then.. don't we have the primary responsibility in triggering the communications...at the least because we are in the profession...
Of course peace marches, candle lighting, etc. are symbolic but we need more action in terms of lessons learned, how do we draw up a crisis plan for each business organisations, can we mandate this from security and safety perspective of public and private staff and assets, how can we mass train our citizens through agencies for emergency response, who, what and how to communicate??....and more or do we wish to go back to another slumber??/
From: devina gupta <devinagupta@gmail.com>
To: prpoint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, December 8, 2008 1:47:51 PM
Subject: [prpoint] Requesting information to combat Mumbai Aftermath
One of the ideas that came up last week at a mock platform meeting in a communications college in Bangalore was mooting a government-private-
I am unable to confirm the above details...however just a thought...how can public, media, private, government work closer and in greater trust in a beautiful but yet so diverse/ complex society such as ours... particularly during such critical hours to a nation/ wither crisis management..
Of course peace marches, candle lighting, etc. are symbolic but we need more action in terms of lessons learned, how do we draw up a crisis plan for each business organisations, can we mandate this from security and safety perspective of public and private staff and assets, how can we mass train our citizens through agencies for emergency response, who, what and how to communicate?
Thanks and regards,
Krishna B. Mariyanka
Phone: +91-9900235054
Director Consultant
Aikya Global... Public. Media. Communications
Chairman, Bangalore Chapter
Public Relations Council of India (PRCI)
From: devina gupta <devinagupta@
To: prpoint@yahoogroups
Sent: Monday, December 8, 2008 1:47:51 PM
Subject: [prpoint] Requesting information to combat Mumbai Aftermath
Dear All
The recent Mumbai attack has left many students enraged and in desparate need to do something constructive after all the peace marches. I am a student from Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication and with my other batchmates would like to participate in any action taking place in the various parts of the country directly as a result of last week's seige.
I request all the group members to kindly contact me for any programme/camps/ sessions that you might be planning to organize in Mumbai, Kolkata,Chennai and Delhi. We look forward to contribute by participating and spreading the message.
Waiting in anticipation for your replies
with regards
devina
--
Devina Gupta
Senior Media Trainee
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication
09821712114
--
Devina Gupta
Senior Media Trainee
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication
09821712114
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1 comment:
Hi Krishna,
Good post!
First, my condolences and thoughts to everyone in Mumbai and throughout India and the world who were touched directly and indirectly (as we all were) by the horrific attacks in Mumbai.
I sympathize with the students who feel a sense of powerlessness and desire to act. As future communication practitioners, they will be part of a fascinating vocation that develops and wields great powers and influence in all walks of life.
The challenge for all communicators, however, is to keep focused on the "why" of the business. Let me explain.
Leadership relies on effective communication -- i.e. without effective communication, there can be no effective leadership. At no time is leadership more needed than during crisis, therefore, communication becomes a critical enabler of succesful crisis leadership and effective crisis resolution.
During normal days, many senior business and government managers rely on "professional communicators" to manage their communications -- often, frankly, because they are not very good at it themselves. Communication departments, in many ways like human resources departments, can become "crutches" for mediocre managers.
There is potential therefore for "professional" communicators to accumulate significant power within organizations - they facilitate effective leadership. However, there is also a great risk amongst practitioners, particularly those who have only ever been communicators, to misunderstand this power.
Communication, misunderstood, becomes the means and the end. It should rightly be the means only -- never the end.
Although communication is a critical element of leadership, it is not the purpose of leadership. It is only the means.
Good communicators keep this in mind during day-to-day counsel and great communicators keep this foremost in their minds during crisis.
Communication plays an enabling role in crisis -- it is the means by which information is passed, people are influenced, behaviour is shaped and things get done.
But, communication is not the end. Getting the right things done right is the end.
How can communicators help?
DURING a crisis, Communicators should be proactive in looking for ways to enable leaders.
BEFORE the next crisis strikes, communicators should be proactive in looking for ways to help leaders improve -- by identifying strong communicators, enhancing communication skills among managers and building communication capacities within organizations so that leaders can function in a crisis with less friction and greater impact.
Communicators, in my view, are not the people who should lead in crisis management, nor in crisis preparations. While communication is a lynchpin of effective leadership, it is not the entirety of crisis leadership.
Good communicators, however, are people of great influence -- and they can play a role in helping organizational leaders prepare. Some communicators, in fact, may themselves become great leaders -- but in so doing, they transcend their role as mere communicator and become leaders responsible for the vision, the mission, the people and the entirety of "results."
That's much more than just the communication.
Cheers,
Mark Towhey
www.towhey.com
www.coffeewithmarktowhey.com
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