Playing Matchmaker

Many yeas ago George Bernard Shaw penned one of his most famous stories, "The Matchmaker." It is the tale of a woman who brings men and women together for the purpose of matrimony. That plot should sound familiar as it was the basis for the popular Broadway and Hollywood musical, "Hello Dolly!" With that in mind, I wish to do my own brand of matchmaking. Up till now, the two I have in mind been more colleagues than anything. They are both part of most any organization's communication effort but have never been brought to the same table at the same time to explore how they could or should work together. That needs to change.

I am talking about crisis and strategic communication. Upon first glance, one would be forgiven for assuming the two have already been collaborators for a long time now. After all, they have so much in common: they are strategic in nature; they contain elements of measurement; they usually are geared to speak to specific publics; and they are designed to enhance the reputation or image of their organization. With all that going for them, how could such a match go wrong? More to the point, why haven't those two already been introduced to each other? For something that seems such a natural fit, matching the two is nothing less than a no-brainer. Yey, extensive research shows that it has never been done.

My guess is this is because the two types of communication plans have always been looked upon as having different purposes. The crisis communication plan is utilized when a high risk/high reward situation appears. Because these situations happen infrequently, the reasoning goes, under normal circumstances there is no need for a crisis plan to be put into play. While that may be true, what is also the case is the fact if a crisis is mishandled and miscommunicated, then an organization could be forced to adjust or alter strategies it has to stay in business and maintain positive connections with its various publics. As a result, it makes sense for the organization's leaders to include the same kind of talking points in its crisis communication plan as one would find in its broader, more encompassing strategic communication plans. For starters, the two should share the same talking points. Such a linkage could be the start of a beautiful friendship.