What are the elements of a good crisis communications plan? ...

[LaDunn]

What are the elements of a good crisis communications plan?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

How did NASA's responses to the Challenger and Columbia accidents differ?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[shoemake]

Answer to Question 1

A good plan should develop a precise definition of what constitutes a crisis within the organization.
Everyone should be using the same terminology, and that terminology should have the same
meaning for everyone. It should identify a crisis management team, the people whose job it will be
to respond. It should identify the stakeholders. It should list the names and telephone numbers of
individuals who will need to be regularly informed. It should also identify where the response will
be coordinated and where reporters can go to get information. Finally, it needs to address employeetraining
issues. Crisis communications training should occur as a normal part of employee training.

Answer to Question 2

NASA learned a lot from its mistakes during the Challenger disaster. Its failure to immediately
communicate with key stakeholders brought it criticism in 1986. That mistake was not repeated at
the time of the Columbia accident in 2003. By doing a better job of handling public communications
immediately after the accident, NASA officials were allowed to conduct their own investigation of
the Columbia accident. That's a lot different from 17 years earlier, when a loss of credibility created
by poor communication caused the White House to turn the Challenger investigation over to an
independent board.

[LaDunn]

Thanks

[shoemake]

Welcome