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Module 7 – Stakeholder/Partner
Communication
Deborah Grigsby Smith
State of Colorado
Director of External Communications
Homeland Security
Bird flu hits Florida…
Stakeholders and partners
• Stakeholders have a special connection to
you and your involvement in the emergency
(Can be internal, external)
– Interested in how the incident will impact them
• Partners have a working relationship with
you and collaborate in an official capacity
– Are interested in fulfilling their role in the
incident and staying informed
About stakeholders
• Not all stakeholders are created equal…
– Some love you
• Effort to reinforce that “love”
– Some hate you
• Identify and prepare to respond appropriately
– Some ride the fence
• Chance to increase support/criticism
– Some may even “swap sides” mid-course
• Can stem from existing stakeholder controversies
Stakeholders
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Employees
Families
Retirees
Board members
Clients/customers
Community leaders
Elected officials
Unions
Labor organizations
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Legal advocates
Competitors
Media
General public
Other businesses
Nat’l/local/tribal
counterparts
• Students
• Volunteers
• Donors
Trust and mistrust
• Stakeholders judge the response to an
issue based on trust
• Trust is based on consistent behavior; is
the natural consequence of promises
fulfilled
• Mistrust is an outgrowth of the perception
promised broken, values violated
• How does your organization fulfill trust?
Consequences of mistrust
• Recommendations are ignored; lives and
property at risk
• Resources wasted
• Policies circumvented; loss of control
• Opportunists prey on the “trust gap”
• Hard to accomplish your mission
Why jump though hoops?
• Ensure you get information from the
people you need
– They represent a variety of points of view
• Also gives you a chance to share your point of
view as well (prevent misunderstandings)
• Improve your organizational performance
• Also can serve as a force multiplier for your
mission, cause, or program
The five big “boo-boos”
• Inadequate accessibility
– Not returning phone calls, missing appts.
• Lack of understandability
– Jargon, acronyms, ambiguous, too technical
• Lack of energy in response
– No sense of urgency
• Timeliness (too little, too late)
• Perceptions of arrogance
– Stakeholders not valued
When stakeholders are upset
• Four elements are crucial
– Speed of your response
– Avoid creating more problems during crisis
resolution
– Accept responsibility
– Acknowledge the emotional context
When harm has occurred
• Stop doing whatever is causing the harm
• Apologize—if appropriate and when it can
do the most good
• Seek feedback, make it better
• Try not to do it again
• Nothing happens until you communicate
that it is happening
Conspicuously bad mistakes
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Deny the problem exists
Shoot the messenger
Silence
Respond with evasions and half truths
Selectively tell the story
Over-tell the story
“I” perspective
Point fingers
So how do I deal with all this?
• Start with a crisis communication plan
• Do as much in advance as possible
– Fact sheets, stock photos, press release
templates, stakeholder surveys, key
messages, draft statements, media training
– Develop PIO partners within your stakeholder
communities…and share information
– Participate in major exercises, plan your own
Be forthcoming with info
• Try to be two steps ahead
– Anticipate their concerns and questions
– Be ready with well-crafted answers
• Coordinate your messages with others
– Consistent messages across the board
• Your stakeholder may be someone else’s as well
• Never let them see you sweat
– Keep confusion and power struggles out of
the limelight
Assess stakeholder reaction
• Define:
– Your advocates
– Your adversaries
– Your ambivalents
• Estimate/prognosticate:
– Who is likely to be involved & what they want
– Estimate necessary level of management
involvement and plan for it
– Focus on key stakeholders’ reactions
Methods to communicate
• Designated Web page for partners and
stakeholders
• Calls from management/leadership
• Periodic updates
• Reciprocity with newsletters
Develop partnerships
• Do this BEFORE the crisis
– Create a partner contact list
– Draft a plan for partner communication during
a crisis (e-mail alerts, twice daily faxes, etc.)
• Collaboration on press releases if appropriate
– Be cautious, this can foster an increase in the risk of
leaks.
• Negotiate the same for your organization
– Clearly know each partner organization’s
leader/authority/approval process.
Continued…
• Build stakeholder/media contact lists well
in advance
– Local, national, regional
– Newspaper, television, radio, magazines
• Consider subscribing to a news “push” service
– www.prnewswire.com
– Update them monthly
• Good job for interns, volunteers
• Break it up into sections per week
Community relations
• Community leader/institutions valuable
partners during a crisis
– Help gain support, distribute information,
counter rumors
– They are familiar, trusted, and often influential
– Reach out to them BEFORE a crisis
• Develop fast and reliable channels of
communication
• Understand their role, and make sure they
understand yours
Building consensus in a crisis
• Don’t try to do it all yourself
• Don’t let the media do it for you
• Consider engaging a neutral third-party to
speak on behalf of all involved (mediator,
counselor)
– Focus on commonalities
– Acknowledge different views
– Assure stakeholders effort to find consensus
Convening a citizens’ forum
• Can help expedite resolution to issues
• Can also fan the flames
• Professional facilitator/arbitrator may be
needed
– Must include all elements of community, not
just those that make the biggest noise
– Empower the group to act independently
– Make sure you can clearly articulate your
decision and why it was selected over others
Engage in quality listening
• Asking questions will help show you care
– Listen actively
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Take notes (two people take notes)
Listen for intent (feeling)
Listen for content (facts)
Who is speaking?
– Qualified to give expert opinion?
– Any underlying motives or connections?
– Prejudices that will compromise objectivity?
Dealing with an angry public
• Crisis situations often yield imperfect
decisions that have to be made in minutes
– Complicated by instantaneous ubiquity of
press/cell phones/leaks
• Understand anger is a defensive response
– When people have been hurt, when they feel
threatened by risks, when they believe
fundamental beliefs/rights are being eroded
More on angry public
• Anger can intensify when people feel
powerless
– Important to engage them, treat them with
respect no matter what their views are
• But be careful as anger can also be a tool to
manipulate
– Don’t lecture, make it easy for the audience to
discover the answer themselves
• If they figure it out, you don’t have to “sell” them
• Ask the right questions, leave the “breadcrumbs”
Let them sell themselves
• Questions to help stakeholder persuade
themselves
– Open ended questions
– Then ask questions to uncover their explicit
needs and desires
– One they “purge” it’s easier to demonstrate
your ideas
De-escalating conflict
• Always seek common principles upon
which to base common dialogue
• Remain open to reason
• Strive for fairness, especially where either
real or perceived inequality has occurred
• Work to get input from all stakeholders
• Open up as much information as possible
(sans criminal or other protected info)
De-escalating conflict
• Try to get as many “yeses” as you can.
Get them early in the meeting.
• Reframe accusations
– “Your proposal is totally unrealistic…”
• (Are you saying you don’t understand how my
proposal can respect citizens rights and stop the
spread of disease?)
Wrap-up
• Stakeholders are crucial part of your
organization (before, during and after)
• Timely, tailored and consistently accurate
information builds trust
• Identify all stakeholders, their anticipated
reactions to likely crisis events
• Pre-plan communications
• Network and develop new partners
BEFORE crisis events
Wrap-up
• Don’t try to handle everything on your
own.
• Listen to your stakeholders, don’t pass
judgment (immediately)
• Know when to bring in a professional
facilitator/mediator/neutral third party
• Don’t lecture; let stakeholders discover the
answer themselves
Wrap-up
• Seek common principles
• Be open to other ideas (but don’t waffle)
• Rack up the “yeses” as early and as often
as possible
• Take care of yourself and your staff during
times of crisis (sleep, food, mental breaks)