ISRI 2006 CONVENTION & EXHIBITION: Communicating During a Crisis

A session at the 2006 ISRI (Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.) Convention & Exposition focused on successfully communicating with employees, the press and the public in times of crisis.

Thomas Mira of Mira Communications, a Southern California-based executive communication training and crisis management firm, and author of the book Speak Smart, addressed attendees of the session titled “Quality Safety Communications in Good Times and Bad.” However, Mira focused his speech on communicating clearly in times of crisis. He said this is best accomplished by establishing a procedure for crisis communications in advance.

In determining a company’s crisis communication plan, Mira suggested thinking of things that could reasonably happen and determining how to handle them. Once the communication plan has been developed, he said it was important to communicate it to the company’s employees. Mira said this open and frequent communication helps to keep employees focused on their jobs, which can improve the safety of a recycling operation. Instead of wondering how they will be affected by a proposed bankruptcy, for example, frequent and honest communication helps employees to focus on the immediate task at hand.

In the case of a crisis, Mira suggested that a company avoid sending out its CEO to address the press. Instead, he said that a person with operational responsibilities should address the press to prevent the CEO from looking “stupid.” The CEO should address the press only after he has been briefed on the details of the situation, Mira said.

Mira also gave attendees advice on fielding questions from the press. “If you don’t understand a question, ask for it to be repeated so you don’t give the wrong or a bad answer,” he said. He also suggested giving the short form of an answer whenever possible, saying, “The more you talk, the more rope you lay out.”

Along similar lines, Mira suggested that recyclers avoid guessing when they are fielding questions during a crisis. “If you don’t know, don’t guess,” he said. By guessing, a recycler can set an inaccurate precedent that may be difficult to correct.

Mira also gave attendees advice for dealing with the “ball of worms” question, which he said is a number of questions asked at once that is “designed to shred you.” In this case, Mira suggested selecting the question a recycler feels most comfortable answering or throwing the question back at the interviewer by acknowledging that he or she asked a number of questions, but what the interviewer was really getting at was something else. Finally, Mira advised attendees to look for leading questions.

The 2006 ISRI Convention & Exposition was April 2-6 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.