Talking Point: Crisis Management
pharmafile | June 9, 2010 | Feature | Medical Communications | Red Door, Talking Point
It is surprising to me how many companies and people in business are under-prepared and under-rehearsed for a crisis.
On the whole, people who work in the pharmaceutical and related industries know their own areas of remit and responsibility and are highly experienced practitioners. However, it is essential that these internal ‘centres of excellence’ work together as a cohesive team if a crisis occurs.
If this doesn’t happen and there is a power struggle to determine control and responsibility, it either falls to the most senior (but often not most appropriate) person to make decisions or worse, for the team to do nothing until a senior person arrives on site.
Given that, from personal experience, most crises seem to occur at 4pm on a Friday, often no real action is taken until the following week and valuable time is lost.
Issues or crisis preparedness and management is one of those ‘Cinderella’ roles – it isn’t appreciated, is often overlooked, sometimes consists of hand-me-down protocols which are expected to work miracles and is often in need of rescue.
It’s a role that sits between marketing, communications, medical and legal and can lack clarity, clear definition and responsibility. This can slow down response rates and cloud decision making.
This year I have undertaken crisis preparedness reviews with several clients – a process which includes preparing and then reviewing protocols and procedures, creating bespoke manuals, determining roles and responsibilities and lines of communication, rehearsing key messages and often conducting a full role-play rehearsal.
At one of these meetings we were having a wide-ranging discussion on customer service and we started citing examples of the types of issues that may arise. During the discussion we suddenly unearthed an issue which had been bubbling under the surface for some time but for which no one had taken responsibility.
The customer complaint was caught in the system of customer service without anyone realising the extent of potential damage if it wasn’t handled sensitively and carefully. Worse still, the situation had been delayed due to holidays and vacancies in the team which meant there was no one taking ownership of the problem.
When the documentation was called to the boardroom, it was apparent that the managing and marketing director had no knowledge whatsoever of the issue and the look of horror and disbelief on their faces will remain with me for some time.
This was purely down to a lack of internal communications protocols and because no one has specific responsibility for collecting the information and then determining the best route to deal with it.
This is surprisingly common and a key challenge always faced by companies is internal reporting in the time leading up to and during a crisis. As you can imagine, what transpired was a complete overhaul of their systems and protocol and moved from ‘when I get time to do it’, to becoming a priority.
We managed to sort out the impending crisis quickly and effectively rather than deal with an imminent Daily Mail ‘it happened to me’ feature scenario.
A key trigger that can set off a wave of panic is the element of surprise. When an issue arises, what should happen is a well-oiled machine kicks in and processes and protocols then applied so that dealing with the issue is as routine as possible. Starting from scratch when each issue arises is a recipe for disaster.
This can be prevented in a number of ways. Horizon scanning is critical for crisis preparedness. Involving the medical department on a regular basis to help anticipate any regulatory issues or negative trial results is incredibly useful.
I have witnessed many conversations between medical and marketing or comms teams when medical has been aware of a situation brewing, and has been ‘monitoring’, yet hasn’t brought it to the attention of the marketing team.
It usually starts rising to the surface via the field force, or worse, through a journalist enquiry.
Having regular crisis team meetings means reviewing protocols and getting the team together to run through roles and responsibilities – this is a critical step which is too often missed.
The issues teams need regular upkeep, much like a car needs servicing and an annual MOT. Scenario rehearsals can also be a great team building exercise. It’s a non-threatening setting and whilst it can be horrifying to find out where the gaps are, at least we can use humour and plan to fill them in the event of a real issue arising.
Over the years we have established a key stage checklist that ensures all the appropriate bases are covered for the majority of situations.
Whilst this is commercially sensitive, it’s fair to say my own rules of thumb are:
1. Do a deep dive into the situation, get the full facts and only then make decisions.
2. Over deliver in terms of attention, but do not be weak, deferential or open to being influenced. Keep a consistent message with everyone. Work very closely with the best PR you can, be available and on message. Prepare your statement early, follow crisis management processes.
3. Keep an open, honest, informed position internally.
4. Remember – what would the medical community feel was the appropriate action? What would they say to a worried patient?
So what’s the moral of the story? If there isn’t anyone in the organisation for whom the crisis slipper fits, ask your communications agency to do it for you.
Catherine Warne is Chief Executive of Red Door Communications and can be contacted at cwarne@rdcomms.com.
Related Content
Creston Health rebrands as Health Unlimited
Marketing communications group Creston has announced that its Creston Health arm will now be rebranded …
Red Door launches Grapevine ‘localisation’ service
Red Door Communications has launched Grapevine – a new healthcare ‘localisation’ initiative and appointed Alasdair …
Service Insight: Clinical trials – managing route to market
SERVICE INSIGHT Clinical trials are notoriously difficult to manage and often fraught with problems, as …
