When Not to Say Sorry

When you make a mistake, you apologize.

We learn this as children, and often re-learn this as professional communicators. Apologies are especially important during times of crisis or disasters to allay public fears and retain customer and shareholder confidence.

Timothy Coombs has suggested that social media can be used to monitor impending crises. But social media can also be effective for clients to build a relationship with the public during a crisis. Blogs can be particularly effective in conveying rapid updates and at the same time providing a forum for feedback and questions.

Other tools can include RSS for stakeholders that need constant updates, podcasts, and even videos.

On Feb. 14, 2007, a Jet Blue plane was stranded on an airstrip for nine hours due to a snow storm. Nine other planes were delayed the same day, and for four days following normal service still had not resumed.

In addition to offering compensation for similar events in the future, Jet Blue CEO David Neeleman issued a public apology that was listed on YouTube. He outlined strategies the company planned to avoid repeat incidents, and asked the public for their business and support.

The Jet Blue incident is frequently lauded as an effective way for a corporation to personally reach out and deal with the public during a crisis through social media. Apologies can be especially effective in maintaining positive relationships with the public, and even mitigate damages.

Many communicators suggest that an apology is the first step in any crisis. Eric M. Wagner points out that it is important for apologies to be sincere, and come before a company gets “caught.”

But there are times why sorry simply isn’t appropriate. In many jurisdictions an apology amounts to an admission of guilt, opening up doors to legal liability.

This issue was recently discussed in Canada, where various jurisdictions have different rules regarding apologies.

Richard Levick, President of Levick Strategic Communications has said,

When it comes to managing crises, attorneys should be on the bus, not driving the bus.

While this may be true, it is still important to check with legal counsel about the laws in your area before jumping on the bandwagon and issuing apologies using social media.

And preferably this advice should arrive before the crisis does.

June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Omar Ha-Redeye | 4 Comments 

Compulsory is not on the list

The key idea is control of me, by me, for me!

Do you prefer to drive an “automatic” or a “stickshift”?  To be honest, I have never driven an automatic.  When I drive, I like to have a relationship with the vehicle.  But if I sat in tail-backs everyday, I might change my mind.  I would change my mind.

None of us want our lives to be “dumbed-down”.  We get pretty irritable when that happens.  Think of the retired school teacher who writes wonderful letters by hand.

But she probably also types letters to bureaucrats on a computer and prints them out.   She’s a smart gal after all.

Social media needs to give us control, not take it away

Horses for courses, cars for different driving conditions, writing utensils for different purposes.  Technology makes us happy when it improves our ability to get things done.

If we start taking control away from people, they will get unhappy with us, or best work round us.

Colin Walker has a great post telling how his mother-in-law uses the internet for some tasks, and not for others.  She understand without studying psychology & computer science, what a computer will do more smoothly, and what a human does better : repetition vs discretion.

The five C’s

Colin also lists five ways social media can augment and make IT more useful to us:

Please note : compulsory is not on this list!

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June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment