While organizations cant prepare for every possible crisis $($and most organizations had no plans for how to deal with a crisis like the COVID$-19$ pandemic$),$ they can and should prepare for the crises most likely to affect them. When they are prepared to handle particular crises, they will also be better prepared to handle unforeseen crises. Let me give you a hypothetical example.A university, like WOU, has crisis communication plans ready for a number of potential scenarios. For example, it has plans for how to respond to a destructive earthquake, an active shooter situation, or other emergency that would result in the need to quickly and temporarily shut down the campus. Even though WOU $($like almost every other university$)$ did not have plans for a pandemic, when COVID$-19$ hit, the university was able to use and adapt their pre$-$existing plans to help make the COVID$-19$ response as smooth as possible.Remember, when the time to act arrives, the time for preparation has passed. In other words, preparation is key to having the best possible response to a crisis.During Week $3,$ we will spend a good deal of time discussing and defining crisis communication management. This first week, I will give you a quick overview.By definition, a crisis is an occurrence with a potentially negative outcome affecting your organization, company, or industry, as well as its publics, products, services, and reputation. Not every problem rises to the level of a crisis.For example, if you run an amusement park, there is a big difference between your new ride opening a week late and your new ride malfunctioning and killing a park guest. The delay is a problem that customers will quickly forgive and forget, but the malfunction and resultant death is a crisis that could threaten your amusement parks existence. Your communications how quickly and appropriately you respond to the crisis, and how well you are able to restore the trust of your customers will determine if your business recovers. As another example, this past weekend, an Alaska Airlines plane flying from Portland to Ontario, California, had an explosive depressurization on one of its Boeing $737$ Max planes when a chunk of the plane broke off shortly after takeoff $($pictured above$).$ Thankfully, no one died and the plane landed safely. In recent years, Boeing has experienced significant issues with it's $737$ Max planes $($including two international instances in $2018$ & $2019$ where the planes crashed, killing all on board$).$ Boeing has worked hard to restore confidence in its $737$ Max planes, but this new instance has reignited the crisis for Boeing. How Boeing chooses to respond will have a significant impact on the company's future.$$But more than just communicating to your customers, you also have a responsibility to communicate with your employees, your investors, and others who have an interest in your organization $($such as parts suppliers, the media, and more$).$ We saw this during the pandemic; not only were customers in need of information, but so were employees who worried if they'd still have a job.Imagine if you were on the communications team at a hospital that was treating a high number of COVID$-19$ patients; who would be looking to you for information? The general public, patients, family members of patients, doctors & nurses, the cleaning staff, medical suppliers, the media, government leaders, and others. From a communications perspective, handling a crisis well means anticipating $($as best you can$)$ the needs of the many people & organizations that will rely on you for information.$$Please read this article that was published in the Harvard Business Review at the start of the pandemicLinks to an external site.. Written by a business scholar, this article outlines a quick list of recommendations for what organizations should do to best navigate their way through the start of a pandemic.$$After reading the article, ask yourself: What stuck out to you? What advice made you think, of course you would want to do that? What advice surprised you? $($Take a few minutes to think about your responses to these questions, as I will be asking a similar question in Quiz $1.)$As we go through this term, you will learn that the communication advice given on how to handle the COVID$-19$ crisis was the same advice that has been given for decades on how to handle all types of crises: be transparent; communicate early, regularly & often; be honest; and the list goes on$.$ Only when you do these things will your organization have the best chance to recover and thrive. After all, when a crisis hits your organization, people need and want information. Do you want them to get that information from you or from someone else $($who may not have your organizations best interests at heart$)?$Next week, we will focus on the two classic case studies in crisis communication management: the Tylenol murders $($which were mentioned in the article you just read$)$ and the Exxon Valdez oil spil

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