Issue management
Who are issue management is in good order, knows what is going on and what will happen regarding the themes that are important to your organization. Analyzing stakeholders, interpreting social developments and responding to the political agenda: inescapable if you want to have a structural grip on issues. That can yield a lot of profit. Because those who have control can act proactively. And instead of responding to issues to prevent reputational damage, use issues to strengthen the company profile and position the organization socially.
What is issue management?
Social media makes it increasingly visible what organizations do. Problems that used to be solved in back rooms now become public in no time. When an organization does not deal well with incidents or issues, they escalate faster and faster. Organizations that are not alert to this run the risk of being criticized in the media. It is sometimes said that an image can be demolished in just nine seconds; the time it takes to download a video from YouTube. Issue management will only become more important in the coming years. Organizations need more than ever to have a grip on what is going on in their environment. Issue management is the timely identification and analysis of influences and developments from society, after which an organization can determine which policy and communication strategies and actions are appropriate. In this way, issue management enables an organization to provide targeted guidance to the issues that are important to the organization.
Issue management & crisis communication
Issue management is not the same as crisis communication. The first difference is time. Crisis communication is acute and requires immediate action. In principle, there is sufficient time and space for issue management issue analysis and informed decisions. The second difference is focus (past/future). Crisis communication is eminently reactive and aims to repair damage from the past so that reputational damage can be contained. Issue management focuses on the future and is ideally proactive. As a result, crisis communication has a tactical approach and issue management is at a more strategic policy level. In reality, however, it is difficult to strictly separate the two branches of sport. Issues that rumble on quickly turn into a situation in which crisis communication is required due to a newspaper headline or incident. In addition, in practice it proves difficult to give analysis and strategic choices priority over the issues of the day. An incident, which could result in a major crisis, can provide a good reason to move an issue higher on the priority agenda of management or policy makers in the future.
Phases of issue management
Issue management takes place in different phases. It is a chronological trajectory that is repeated again and again.
Signalling
To implement issue management properly, it is relevant that an organization knows what is going on in the outside world. Monitoring social media and other news sources provides a good overview of the relevant news. It is then important to indicate which news items may have an impact and which may not. Collecting news can be fully automated. However, the assessment of the opportunities and threats of developments in society is and remains human work.
To set priorities
Setting up monitoring is one thing, but sometimes you can no longer see the forest for the trees. It is therefore important to prioritize. Of all the issues facing an organization, five or six issues must be selected to take priority over the topics that are of less importance.
Scenario analysis
Issue management is largely about good preparation. A scenario analysis is used to identify possible scenarios that could occur and what their impact would be on the organization.
Internal position
The final position of the organization and the accompanying statement is achieved through collaboration between the communications manager and the content manager. The final position can be tailored to each scenario so that reactive communication is ready in the event of an emergency.
Issue ownership and the choice of strategy
The issue ownership determines what the associated strategy is. An issue owner is directly responsible for an issue. If the issue concerns the entire sector, the organization is not an issue owner and the organization must be prevented from unnecessarily taking over the issue. Sometimes there is no choice and an organization is the issue owner unwillingly.
The following strategies can be used:
- Strategy 1: Follow
If the issue is simmering and no immediate action needs to be taken, it is sufficient to just follow the topic and monitor the relevant news.
- Strategy 2: scale up
Once the issue comes to life and action is expected, it must be determined whether the organization is an issue owner or not. If an organization is not the owner of an issue, the subject must be escalated to the relevant party (trade association, police/fire brigade, sector institute, etc.).
- Strategy 3: Manage away
If the organization is the issue owner and the issue is undesirable, timely preparation is of the utmost importance to keep the issue as small as possible.
- Strategy 4: Claim
If an organization decides to be or become an issue owner, an organization can also actively take ownership of an issue. This requires courage, because tall trees catch a lot of wind, but in the long term it generates goodwill and a social image.
Action mode
Just making plans won't get you there. Associated actions must be linked to the strategy. For example, the 'following' strategy requires proper monitoring and alerting. With the 'scaling up' strategy, the relevant organization you want to scale up to must be contacted to determine how the lines of communication will run and what the most recent joint position is. When an organization decides to take on a topic, meetings are held with the most relevant internal and external stakeholders. With the opposite strategy, 'managing away', crisis communication must be prepared as a precaution.