By Gerard Braud
Schools and universities can learn a lot from another crisis management and crisis communication lesson playing out in the NFL. The Associated Press now reports the NFL had a copy of the videotape showing Ray Rice punching his wife in the face.
In schools and universities, a common problem we see is a failure to gather vital facts quickly and a failure seek help from an outside crisis expert. We see unethical decisions made to protect the short-term reputation and revenue of an institution.
A crisis management and crisis communication weakness found in many educational institutions involves leaders intentionally covering up a crisis or not fully sharing information. When this happens, it is not possible for everyone on the crisis management team to connect the dots in a way that results in the best resolution of the crisis and full, honest communications about that resolution.
Here are three questions your school or university can ask today to have better crisis management and a better crisis communications plan.
1) When a crisis unfolds, do you have a central hub within the crisis management team so all information is collected and disseminated to the key decision makers? If there is or was such a system within the NFL, a videotape of the elevator punch would have been shared with the crisis management team. If there is and was a system, then we have a case of unethical behavior, personified by a cover up and possible lies in media interviews by Roger Goodell.
2) Does your school or university’s crisis communications plan have a predetermined list of questions that you will ask in every crisis so that everyone is always on the same page? This is one of the most powerful tools you can have and a vital part of all of the crisis communications plans I write.
3) Is there conflict among your administration because ethical decisions about a crisis often take a back seat to legal arguments by lawyers or financial arguments from the CFO? Those arguments often result in everyone taking a vow of silence so the organization doesn’t get sued, resulting in a loss of reputation and revenue. This is the job of the communication experts in the room: Connect the dots for everyone else and focus on the long-term reputation and financial health of the organization. Help them do the right thing for the long-term and not the most convenient thing in the short-term.
Smoldering crises like the NFL Ray Rice case often causes various leaders to connect the dots only in a way that is immediately best for their interest, rather than in a way that is best for the long-term health of the organization, its leaders, and in many cases, the victims of the crisis.
For example, in the case of Penn State, we saw the university fail to expose the crime of sexual abuse out of fear of reputational damage and a loss of revenue. This short-term failure resulted in more boys being victims of sexual abuse, greater reputational harm, a larger financial loss, and top leaders being fired.
In the case of the NFL, many experts believe the only reason the NFL has taken a tough stand on concussions is because of a lawsuit that would damage their reputation and lead to a huge financial loss if it went to trial. It was not done years ago when it could have been.
When powerful people hide the facts from the world to avoid a bad reputation and revenue loss in a crisis, you are witnessing unethical behavior in a crisis. In most cases the secret becomes public, executives get fired, the institution’s reputation is damaged, and revenue is lost. Stay tuned to see what happens with the NFL.