The Importance of Public Relations and Crisis Management Planning To Your Business

Are public relations and crisis management planning important to your business? The answer is simple and direct. Public relations and crisis management planning are not only important to your business, they are both CRUCIAL to your business, regardless of your type of business. In today's fast-paced and ever-changing world, business is news. Plant closings, mergers and acquisitions, unemployment, strikes, labor negotiations, company expansions, building projects, construction-related accidents and catastrophes are often the lead story on the front page or the six o'clock news. Yet many organizations are totally unprepared or at least ill-prepared to handle the public relations and crisis management aspects of these events. This unpreparedness can lead to many negative and undesirable results for you, your employees, your clients and customers, your company and your business and industry sector.

Many businesses always have been and always will be in a highly visible position to the general public and the media. For example, the building and construction industry is important to the economy, as well as the overall health, safety & welfare of the public. The media are very interested in the building and construction industry because of the potential "high interest" stories it can generate, both positive and negative. To succeed in today's business world, all businesses must learn to manage rapid change and crises and work diligently to develop strong public relations and crisis management plans.

A general public relations program is important to your business to: complement advertising; provide research capabilities for marketing efforts; provide capabilities for special events to increase company & industry visibility; monitor governmental organizations; to communicate the state-of-the-industry to the public, including views on legislation, regulations, economic conditions, and other factors and events impacting your business; and to communicate with past and existing clients. A crisis management plan, including public relations aspects, is absolutely essential to maintain a company's credibility and positive image in the face of adversity. The company's customers, employees, management, financial supporters, industry associates, the general public and the media need to feel that you are well organized and have the ability to handle a crisis in a very professional manner. Crises do not afford the luxury of time to pause and think thoroughly through the specific problem. Therefore, there is a need to be prepared for every type of emergency most likely to happen.I believe that many crises in business, just as in our daily lives, are often foreseeable. These crises can be managed and can provide unprecedented opportunities for positive public relations. A majority of businesses are reluctant to prepare for adversity because they do not want to admit that their business organization could ever be guilty of poor performance or mistakes.

The Importance of Public Relations and Crisis Management Planning To Your Business

A company which does not prepare for the possibility that some plan may not work or that conditions of business may change quickly - including changes beyond their control - will soon find itself unable to deal with a crisis and therefore will suffer severe negative effects on the business and its image to the public and its clients.

The most critical time for your business, when it comes to public relations, is when a catastrophe, scandal, or some other negative event occurs which involves your business or industry sector at large. Things can and do go wrong in the best managed companies and organizations. Therefore, by accepting this fact and anticipating certain crises, the potential damage from the crises may be minimized. Contingency planning for crises is not only a good management practice in any organization but, in my view, it is a mandatory practice for any business.

Many businesses today have high risk, high visibility, high impact on the public and our everyday lives, and high exposure to potential crises. Because of these characteristics, the potential damage from a crisis can be greatly multiplied. An unprepared, misinformed, or ill-at-ease company spokesperson; a disgruntled employee; and a victim of a tragedy at a building site have the potential of doing inestimable damage to your business or industry by their remarks to the media. Yet there are countless times when a company representative is thrust into the spotlight as an official "spokesperson" with little or no training in dealing with the media, especially in a crisis situation. In fact, when it comes to dealing with the media, most people would rather "be excused" from the task, because they are ill-prepared psychologically and professionally to deal with the media. In today's world, you must become prepared psychologically and professionally.

Conducting public relations activities without a plan would be the same as someone trying to build a quality building project without plans and specifications or a business trying to manage the growth of their business without any plans. Conducting crisis communications and public relations during emergencies without a plan and training could be about the same as committing suicide or at least "shooting yourself in the foot," because of the potential damage that could result to your company's image, business, employees, management, etc. and to the image and impact on your industry.

If you don't believe the potential damage that can result from what I have written above, think about the effect of poor public relations efforts during the TMI accident, NASA's Challenger tragedy, the EXXON Valdez oil spill event, or during the last major building site accident and the impact of the negative image on the companies and their industries. Or think about the effect of good public relations efforts during the Tylenol incident; during the odometer rollback incident at Chrysler; or during the last successful rescue at a construction site accident and the impact of the positive image on these companies and their industries.

It is time to truly recognize the importance of public relations and crisis management and their potential impact on your business. It is also time to do something about it! There is no better place to start than within your own organization and industry and professional associations by developing public relations plans, that include crisis management plans, and by training key employees on how to deal with the media. With the risks as high as they are in your business, don't leave public relations and crisis management to chance or to a "seat of the pants" approach. Make a commitment and start planning for your future public relations and crisis management efforts today. The futures of your company and to your industry are at risk. With a strong commitment to good public relations and crisis management planning, the results can be tremendous. Without a strong commitment, the results can be disastrous.

The Importance of Public Relations and Crisis Management Planning To Your Business
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Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 225 articles on business.

If you would like to find out more about effectively working with the media and delivering effective interviews on TV and radio, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at [http://www.prdoctor4u.com] or by email at jgeprman@aol.com

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Business Process Management and Six Sigma: Why Neither Can Stand Alone

What is Business Process Management (BPM)?

BPM is a comprehensive methodology that helps design and maintains all aspects of an organization with the sole purpose of meeting and/or exceeding their customer's wants and needs both effectively and efficiently. BPM attempts to continuously improve the business processes either in incremental steps or with radical changes. One way or the other, such ambitious endeavors requires equipping BPM practitioners with powerful computerized tools and an overarching infrastructure to enable a wide range of problem solving solutions. BPM tools can be classified in four groups:

(a) Strategy - utilizing tools like environmental influence and goal models, problem and opportunities models;
(b) Analysis - using tools like business interaction models, organization and communication models, and process simulation;
(c) Design - workflow and process models, use case and event models; (d) Implementation / Execution - creating sequence and operation models, business classes and system models.

Business Process Management and Six Sigma: Why Neither Can Stand Alone

BPM is a combination of these tools (and some more) helping the business to document, understand, measure and improve their business processes. BPM help to create well documented and streamlined processes, which are essential to ensure consistency, traceability and focus towards shared strategy and performance goals.

What is Lean Six Sigma (SS)?

Six Sigma (or its newer offspring Lean Six Sigma, LSS) is also a comprehensive and highly disciplined methodology that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services, by analyzing the underlying business processes and preventing and / or removing defects before reaching the customer. LSS also is a wide range tool set that is used under organized the following "problem- solving" cuasi sequential steps:

(a) Define -some of the deliverables in this step are project charters, CTQs, house of quality, Kano models;
(b) Measure - statistical descriptive and graphical tools, process and value stream mapping, capability analysis, data gathering tools;
(c) Analyze -statistical analysis tools, brainstorming, Pugh matrices, House of Quality (QFD),FMEA, Muda;
(d) Improve - Pugh matrices, mistake proofing, 5S, design of experiments; (e) Control - Process Control plans and Statistical Process Control (SPC).

Given the different origins, skill sets and backgrounds of a "typical" BPM and "typical" Lean Six Sigma practitioner, there are some deployment facts working against both methodologies:

1. Lack of knowledge of each other: Most BPM teams and BPM Software Companies know very little about Lean Six Sigma and vice versa. BPM traditionally has been used and deployed as an information technology effort. LSS has been viewed as an operational tool for manufacturing and / or back office processes, not software development.

2. BPM is almost all the time accompanied by an enterprise-wide software tool, and requires a software vendor on a periodical basis for training, new releases, technical support, etc.

3. BPM is usually deployed as a technology management direction or from higher up management levels. 4. Six Sigma and Lean have been for the most part manufacturing efforts; and most recently operations management directives. As a foot note, some of the most successful Six Sigma deployments were executive management mandates (Motorola, Allied, Bank of America, to mention a few).

5. Six Sigma tools do not have a large technology foot print, with software requirements mostly at some of the organization's desktops. Its deployment is typically driven at the beginning by consulting organizations and then passes to internal resources (a Program Office is a typical modus operandi).

6. Neither BPM nor Lean Six Sigma specialist is traditional a Change and Integration Management expert or trained specialist. This knowledge vacuum causes hiccups in the deployment and acceptance of either methodology by the stakeholders.

7. Neither BPM nor Six Sigma have an integrated data collection tool, creating always a delay in data gathering which hampers a quick deployment and execution. Both rely on a third party layer to perform data gathering and data readying for analysis.

What does BPM lack?

BPM tools are very effective in creating business interactions and communications models, mapping processes and workflows, as well as capturing key metrics and resources relevant to those processes. However, many BPM teams struggle to understand which processes are the top priority for the business and which defects are the most critical to solve for any given process. BPM lacks of quantitative ranking methods and statistical tools to prove significance. Teams sometimes use a series of "hunches" and past experiences to decide how prioritize design and implementation strategies for new or improved processes. LSS has much to offer BPM teams in this area - through tools like Failure Mode Effect Analysis (FMEA), risk prioritization index and Value Stream Mapping (VSM). So, conceptually, BPM and LSS should be a great fit.

BPM is also a thin methodology to monitor the sustainability of any process change after implementation of such changes. Once process changes have been deployed, a project is closed and the consultant systems analyst goes home, or starts a new project. Tools like statistical process control and non-existent in the BPM tool set, leaving the operational leadership with (maybe) a wealth of reports, at best real-time. LSS offers via SPC, a wealth of proven and robust tools specifically tailored to particular quantitative variables; designed to monitor stability, trending and within control operational status.

BPM tools allows for storage of key data and key metrics for the different artifacts that are created and used in a project. However, does not allow for a strong statistical analysis of the data. As a matter of fact, most of the BPM data stores are for simple figures (like an average), curtailing itself for a more accurate data analysis, like hypothesis testing or a regression model to forecast future process performance. And the few software tools equipped with discrete or Monte Carlo simulators are rarely deployed.

What does Six Sigma lack?

By definition and key to its success, LSS tackles specific defects in a specific set of operations within a specific business process. This approach is very effective in eliminating defects. However, in general LSS lacks of a wealth of enterprise-wide view of the organization strategy, objective and goals, its actors and the organization surroundings. This is an area where BPM has a very strong showing. So, conceptually, BPM and LSS should be a great fit.

Lean Six Sigma also falls short when tries to incorporate tools for computer automation and information technology designs (both vital is most of our business processes with high integration and automation). BPM lends a helpful hand with use cases, event modeling, business class models, subtype and package models. Conceptually, again BPM and LSS should be a great fit.

It becomes very apparent that Six Sigma Lean and Business Process Management (BPM) neither can stand alone. Organizations that master the integration of both will have a higher rate of financial success when designing and implementing process to take any organization for a closer level of customer satisfaction and global competition.

What both methodologies lack?

BPM or LSS do not consider Change nor Integration Management or any of its derivatives when communicating changes to their stakeholders and much less to their customers. These important aspects of buying into the changes and managing smooth transitions and changes are not considered at all in any project plan, or are left to the assumed knowledge of the project manager.

The last section of this paper will present actionable tips to both BPM and Six Sigma practitioners to counter any natural resistance to change that will typically emerge from any organization when facing changes.

Core Reasons why companies don't want to implement BPM

In our experience these are the top reasons as of why there is no need for a formal BPM approach to process problem solving:

1. We have so much low hanging fruit that we know already what to do and where to start, we don't need a Business Process Architecture
2. Mapping out Processes slow things down, and is really over engineering our processes
3. We need savings now and don't have time to map out all of our processes
4. Why don't we just work on Process Control?
5. We don't know how to do Process Owners but we know how to improve processes, we've improved them before, and we can do it again.

If you are a Six Sigma Lean Resource and want a rapid tip to overcome BPM Resistance

- One can help frame Six Sigma DMAIC project or initiatives in the larger organization strategy context by quickly leveraging BPM's communication models, opportunity models, business interaction models, etc. as part of the analysis phase of DMAIC.

- BPM tools with the appropriate team of analysts and subject matter experts can create process maps and workflows in working sessions on average under one day of duration.

- Business Interaction Models show more strategic views than the conventional process model utilized in LSS.

- Opportunity models are a powerful tool to quickly establish and detect any missing component or gaps in the deployment of multiple DMAIV projects.

- At Metaspire, we develop current and future Business Interaction Models (BIMs) to scope the work for the current organization leading to the future BIM indicating how the various elements of the organization would interact in the future. Without these BIMs, we have seen duplication of efforts and the change one department was hoping for, quickly becomes undone by another department or conflicting priorities or initiatives.

Core Reasons why companies don't want to implement Lean SS

During our consulting activities some of the reasons as of why there is no need for a LSS implementation:

1. Didn't Six Sigma bring down Motorola and became non-competitive - too cumbersome
2. Six Sigma has little to offer and the tools and methods can be found elsewhere
3. Six Sigma stifles creativity and innovation
4. It's too expensive and too slow to implement
5. Too much specialized training and high maintenance of the six sigma group
6. Sounds to me like it would introduce too much bureaucracy
7. I don't understand why I need it in the first place

If you are a Process Improvement Resource and want a rapid tip to overcome Lean SS Resistance

- Motorola's Six Sigma methodology has now reached what internally is called Second Generation Motorola Six Sigma, with a process for governance, moving the tool from counting defects in manufacturing processes to an overall business improvement methodology, and in 2006 started Motorola Lean transformation and Software Design for Six Sigma. Thereby integrating Six Sigma tools with Business Process Management mindset.

- It is true that Six Sigma have incorporated tools that have been useful in previous quality initiatives (nothing wrong with that). However, the older methods do not magnify the impact of defects using millions of opportunities as a measure of quality, nor move from the traditional three-sigma to our six-sigma as a goal of perfection. Under Six Sigma, defect and defectives counts provide tangible, measurable results that we can use. Rather than being too costly, Six Sigma detractors are very unaware or ignorant of the cost of poor quality (COPQ) in their organizations. They have no baseline, and therefore any number is a high figure. A well-documented fact is that average companies perform at a 3 to 3.5 sigma level, with a COPQ ranging between 24% - 40% of their sales. Companies performing at a 5 sigma level lower their COPQ between 5% - 10% of their sales.

- Six Sigma consultants can bring the expertise for a quick proof of concept of LSS effectiveness within the organization. They will help to determine and prioritize any apparent low hanging fruits.

- Six Sigma is a business process improvement methodology, and unless deployed within a BPM architecture, has a hard time supporting strategic decision making. We can have a near perfection, defect free process producing Chocolate Cupcakes, and still the company will go down as the horse Chocolate Cupcakes market vanishes (God Forbid!).

- Best approaches to LSS deployment happens when the operations staff -project managers, supervisors, managers, directors are the six sigma practitioners. They continue to perform their traditional job related functions, but now they have a quantitative and statistical thinking and they decisions are supported with data facts.

- Often times, companies have a multitude of disparate measures and metrics. The Lean SS tool "House of Quality", helps companies focus on identifying customer requirements, where improvement is needed to meet or leapfrog competition, and strategies for making those improvements. As a result of this exercise core customer process measures and metrics are identified and can be re-weighted with a higher significance or introduced to the company.

- Why use Six Sigma at all? Most companies gather data and perform statistical analysis and forecasting of some sort, why not use statistically significant tools from Six Sigma to outperform your competitors? Six Sigma tools answer questions like: How do I know that I am measuring the right thing? How do I know that we are satisfying Customers and Shareholders? How can I measure and report the right processes? How do I stop defects before they occur? Six Sigma offers 10-12 tools where you can pick the right tools for the right question.

To summarize, BPM assists with organizational strategy whereas LSS assists with tactical improvement; and the most of the times forgotten Change Management component helps with the education, organizational development, integration and sustainability to operationalize changes.

Metaspire Approach Metaspire leads clients through an objective facilitation process. As a result our clients will not only have an aligned view on the low hanging fruit definitions, we also help the group align on priorities.

Do you need help with Six Sigma Lean, Business Process Management or Change Management?

We can help trim processes, control costs and improve profitability and operationalize changes.

Business Process Management and Six Sigma: Why Neither Can Stand Alone
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Nina Segura B.S., M.A., CSSBB
Metaspire Consulting - "Performance improvement from strategy to execution."
Web: http://www.metaspireconsulting.com/
Our Whitepapers: http://www.metaspireconsulting.com/white_papers

"I think a major act of leadership right now, call it a radical act, is to create the places and processes so people can actually learn together, using our experiences." Margaret J. Wheatley

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