If you stood in any local high school hallway you would hear the cries of “crisis” from every direction, but when you move out of that arena and into the world of business, what constitutes a crisis?

After reading chapter 11 of  Katie Paine’s “Measure What Matters”, crisis is a word not to be taken lightly.  I took a lot away from this chapter, it followed hand in hand with what I’ve taken from my crisis management classes, but offers and interesting and “updated” perspective on how to identify and handle a crisis.

Traditional mediums of crisis management barely even scratch the surface of what is to be followed in the digital world, in fact I think in all honesty if I even brought up social media monitoring to my current crisis management professor he would most likely dismiss the issue all together. But Paine makes it clear it is not only key to staying on top of a crisis it could be the KEY to preventing/ shortening the life of a crisis. Monitoring allows you to hear, see and handle issues as they arise. If you’re not monitoring you may be missing A LOT.

Monitoring gives you the tools to handle crisis at every level, prevention, duration and after. Knowing what is being said about your company can help you anticipate problems before they surface. During a crisis knowing what is being said and shared about your company or your actions can be key to handling the issues head on. And follow up through social media allows companies to better connect with their direct public and potentially rebuild that relationship.

Crisis is never a good word, but knowing how to utilize your tools when crisis happens can make all the difference.

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