At the request of the students, I brought forward a topic: Crisis Communication. Understandable, since we have all been operating in a crisis for a year.

Today we dealt with the basic questions: How to determine a situation, what to do in the situation? What have others done well or not well, and what do we base that on?

Crisis communication is extremely simple and at the same time infinitely complicated. Simple because we "only" need to communicate quickly, empathically, honestly and factually. Simple also because we know the motives and emotions of people in crises and feel them in ourselves: In a crisis, we are all afraid of uncertainty and loss of stability, there is a lack of clarity and control.

It becomes complicated because we have to make decisions with potentially far-reaching consequences at very high speed, often without having certainty ourselves, and these decisions can depend on an incredible number of factors.

As a first assessment, the principle of "Bell, Book, Candle" with the three questions helps:

- If I have to evaluate this event, will an alarm bell go off in my mind? (Bell)
- Does the event or action violate any laws or norms that I know of? (Book)
- How does the situation look in light of a critical public? (Candle)

Anyone can make this assessment. To get from the assessment to the right action then requires a good team, a lot of preparation, and ideally experience. Because organizations don't have time for preparation in the acute situation, they need to address this beforehand. An external crisis consultant can provide the experience.

Even if preparation costs time and money, and even if external crisis professionals are not available for free: Both will never be free. Because the question is not whether a crisis will come. But only which one and when.

Contact me if you need to talk about crisis prevention. Either I can do something for you myself or I can recommend a partner from my network.

#prevention #crisis #communication #making sense

Heute war ich zum Austausch zum Thema #Krisenkommunikation in Hannover.

Gefühlt 100 Jahren erfolgreiches Krisenmanagement saßen im Raum und die eine Erkenntnis bestätigt sich mir immer wieder: Wer gut vorbereitet ist, kann in der Krise einen guten Job machen. Geschwindigkeit war schon immer entscheidend, aber dank sozialer Medien ist sie das heute um so mehr.

Wer das ignoriert, der hat den Brandbeschleuniger in der eigenen Tasche.

Also mein Rat: Krisenszenarien erarbeiten, Organisation klären, Infrastruktur und Instrumente vorbereiten, ein Frühwarnsystem installieren und trainieren, trainieren, trainieren.

#stealingthethunder #krisenkommunikation #guteberatung

Wenn Sie mehr wissen wollen, melden Sie sich bei mir!

"To explain the world is to change the world" says Lion Feuchtwanger.

But what if I have no clear explanations? What if uncertainty and fear persist, perhaps even grow?

We all have to learn (to endure) that there is no answer to many things (yet).

Those who bear responsibility can invest in explanation. I think an explanation task force, as Cornelia Betsch calls for in this interview, is a good idea (in German language only).

#aha #crisis #communication #responsibility

What we can all do, however, is keep our attention high and, despite the habituation effect, still take the virus seriously.

Heute auf dem Lehrplan: Corona-Krisenkommunikation im Praxis-Check. Leider bieten sich täglich neue Beispiele für schlechte Krisenkommunikation. Was fehlt, sind hauptsächlich Basics:

1. Konsistenz der Botschaften, und zwar von allen Beteiligten - alles andere lässt die Verunsicherung nur noch mehr wachsen.

2. Die Emotionen der Menschen berücksichtigen und adäquat damit umgehen – wenn die Menschen in Deutschland mehrheitlich denken*, dass Impfen sei zu langsam angelaufen, dann muss ich sie genau da abholen. Das schaffe ich aber nicht mit der Aussage, es sei „im Großen und Ganzen nichts schiefgelaufen.“*

3. Das einseitige Hinschauen auf einen einzigen Aspekt – die Inzidenzzahl 50 – überzeugte darüber hinaus in meiner Vorlesung niemanden mehr vollständig. Differenziertere Betrachtungen und Begründungen und mehr Transparenz über die Hintergründe, das wäre hier wichtig.

Wie war das in Ihrem Unternehmen? War alles gut bis hierher? Was könnte man anders und besser machen? Wenn Sie dazu eine externe Sicht als Sparringspartner heranziehen möchten, dann melden Sie sich gerne bei mir.

*lt. Infratest Dimap Deutschlandtrend Februar 21 denken dies 68 Prozent der Bevölkerung

*Angela Merkel bei einem Interview in der ARD

Frank Roselieb and his team from Krisennavigator published a survey of 63 crisis professionals from D-A-CH last Friday. One result: Only every fifth crisis manager has more budget and staff during the pandemic. Technical accidents top the list of crisis cases. Two out of three organizations have now appointed crisis managers.

II think this one is not good: compared to 2019, the use of external consultants in crisis teams has almost halved. Only 33 percent - but that's still one in three crisis teams - call on the content expertise of people like me.

If the organizations are now able to do the work themselves - because they are well prepared and have trained - then that is understandable. On the other hand, it is my experience that, especially in a crisis, an external view beyond one's own involvement is always a helpful mirror and thus catalyst for decisions. We don't even want to talk about the additional workload that comes along ad hoc.

How do you see it?

#crisis prevention #doing it yourself #making sense

What scares you more? A) Those in power, even after half a year of relative calm in the pandemic, don't have a coordinated, structured plan in their pocket for what to do if things get worse. Or B): communication continues to be amateurish?

Draft resolutions that have been pushed through, disputes fought out publicly or behind the scenes and still visible, "what kind of crisis communication is this, please?" asks Zeit Online in a commentary today, quite rightly in my opinion.

We all need security and orientation in order to build trust and go along with it. That's why, in my opinion, both are unfortunately really bad.

What do you think? Write me or call me.
Here`s to the comment.

#crisiscommunication #covid19 #nosense

"Fear is even more contagious than the virus itself" writes my colleague Lars Niggemann about crisis communication on the topic of coronavirus.

I can only confirm this - never before in more than 20 years of crisis communication have I seen such an amount of irrationality among people, but unfortunately also among the media.

Is it really necessary for every media outlet to run a live ticker on the net reporting on hoarding purchases? I don't think so.

What I think is important: Keep calm as a person and prepare well as an organization.

Click here to read the article.

"Get out of the Corona continuous loop", for example at the weekend - one of Insa Klasing's tips for increasing your own motivation and promoting optimism. Absolutely crucial, especially as a leader, because how we handle things rubs off - it sets the framework for action in our teams.

You can reach more tips to read via my post on LinkedIn (only available in German language).

#motivation #change #crisis #sense of power

February 6 marks the anniversary of my professional involvement with Covid19. A phone call on the way home said there was an immediate need for action. I was already in my first Covid19 crisis communication mandate.

Looking back, I feel as I'm sure we all do: For the life of me, I couldn't imagine all that happened next. I will never forget the images of the empty places of this world: no one in Times Square. No one at the Trevi Fountain. The hoarding toilet paper buyers or the president recommending disinfectant are indelible in my memory.

Covid19 has taught me to no longer think anything is impossible. For better or for worse.

It doesn't just change the big picture. The pandemic affects every hour of everyday life. How we work, how our children are taught or study, how and with whom we meet and under what conditions, when we are allowed to go or travel where. I can cope with many restrictions, but I also find many of them to be a massive hindrance. I am a very freedom-loving person with a high sense of justice. That's why I can only endure the ongoing restriction of my freedom - a non-negotiable value for me and, thank God, for this country - because there is something I see as equal: The integrity of the people and the protection of the weak.

I am ready to continue to contribute. But I expect those in responsibility to deal with all aspects of what is happening here right now. That opinions and counter-opinions are heard, as is the democratic custom. That we are informed quickly, transparently, honestly and comprehensively. That decision-makers also take into account and appreciate the emotional and financial damage they are inflicting on us and the generations that follow us. I see a real need to catch up, especially in terms of communication.

What do you think: Are we on the whole on the right course? Or should we radically rethink? From what I see, I can only say: Unfortunately, our governments and administrations now too often lack the courage and the will to have a Helmut Schmidt moment - just do it. Not administering, but shaping.

For my job and for the companies I advise, I think: Those who design now will be better prepared when the pandemic is over. Covid19 has sort of "forced" us to make a lot of changes - what do we want to change or keep? How do we work on what in the future? What lessons do we learn from the crisis, where do we perhaps need to prepare differently or better? If you want to think about this in a structured way I am happy to help.

I have also published this post on LinkedIn. Follow the link and you will see what reactions I have received: