My new article with advice for preparing coronavirus crisis communication plans for the employees of companies and organizations is now online at HR.com. As I note in the story, “If you don’t have a plan for communicating with employees about the rapidly unfolding coronavirus crisis, you need one. Now. It is just a matter of time until people start asking you how COVID-19 will affect them and their company — if they haven’t asked already. Creating a plan is essential for…

We’ve had to deal with several health crisis situations over the past 100+ years, such as the Spanish flu in 1918, polio, AIDs, etc. In general terms, the response by federal governments to these and other public health emergencies has often followed a similar and disappointing pattern: ignore it, deny it, hope it goes away, finally acknowledge the severity of the crisis, then play catch-up to deal with it. We are now in the “play catch-up to deal with it” phase of the coronavirus…

I give President Donald Trump failing grades for his handling of the coronavirus crisis. The President of the United States is going against important and proven best practices for responding to and managing a crisis, disaster, or other emergency. From blaming others to making matters worse, Trump is doing and saying things that he should not be doing or saying. His report card for managing the COVID-19 crisis is full of Fs. His management of this rapidly developing and steadily worsening…

Here’s crisis management expert and author Edward Segal’s latest advice, insights, and perspectives about how companies, organizations, and individuals in the news are responding to and managing their crisis situations. Resignations Can Often Follow Scandals One result of a crisis can be the resignations or firings of top officials of the company or organization where the crisis occurred. They may not always be the right or prudent thing to do in every instance, but the firings and…

WASHINGTON — One of the most important things you can do when you learn about a crisis that affects your company or organization is to move quickly to address it. Depending on the nature of the crisis, moving quickly can: 1. Show you know about problem 2. Demonstrate you are trying to take as much control of the situation as possible 3. Help protect the best interests of stakeholders and target audiences 4. Mitigate the impact of the crisis on your organization 5. Provide confidence to…