SHA712 - Crisis Communication Planning

Course Description

A crisis can have a tremendous impact on the people involved and on an organization’s performance and reputation, so it’s important to communicate effectively in order to minimize negative consequences. Preparing for a crisis through the creation and ongoing analysis of a crisis communication plan can help minimize negative reactions and fallout. In this course, you will define crisis, paracrisis, and the goals of crisis communication. You will share your own experiences and practice identifying potential crises, creating a crisis communication plan, choosing a crisis communication team, and evaluating the plan.

A key component of preparing for a crisis is crafting messages for internal and external stakeholders. Messages must be quick, consistent, and open, and preparing initial statements ahead of time will help leaders and spokespersons communicate effectively during a crisis. You will examine the content of effective initial statements with the opportunity to review real-life examples, evaluating them for quality and success. You will practice addressing difficult questions and criticisms, exploring acceptable and graceful responses.

Once the crisis is over, it’s important to review what worked well, what didn’t, and to update the crisis communication plan for next time. Reflecting on a real life example, you will evaluate the response to the crisis and the crisis communication plan itself.

Faculty Author

Benefits to the Learner

• Analyze a crisis communication plan to ensure that the organization is prepared for potential crises 
• Respond to a paracrisis to prevent full crisis development
• Prepare internal and external messages to respond to stakeholders during a crisis
• Address questions and criticisms from internal and external stakeholders
• Evaluate crisis responses to identify plan improvement opportunities

Target Audience

• Public Relations Professionals
• Communications Professionals
• Marketers
• Executives
• Mid-Level Managers
• HR Leaders

Accrediting Associations

• HR Certification Institute (HRCI) General Approval Number 10.0 Hours
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Approval Number 10.0 Credits

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Adaptive Healthcare Strategy : Leadership
• Communications 360 : Corporate Communication Core
• Corporate Communication : Core Courses
• PR Strategy : Core Courses