Event and crisis managers can learn a lot from medicine. When doctors talk to their patients, they explain diagnoses, show ways of treatment and, above all, listen carefully to those affected. Dialogue with those affected is also central in event and crisis management: Only when crisis management knows their situation and needs can it do the right thing. The dialogue with those affected should start long before an event or crisis begins.
Risk communication is an underrated component of event and crisis management. Once an organization has identified certain risks, it would do well to discuss them with its stakeholders. Potential victims can thus prepare themselves for the risks and make their own contribution to reducing the consequences of an escalation. Active risk communication has been part of everyday life in medicine for a long time.The Swiss pediatric surgeon Prof. Marin Meuli has had thousands of patient interviews with parents and children. Good patient discussions are based on facts, he says: “You should always pour your parents pure wine. Although the diagnosis and its consequences are often very unpleasant, uncertainty burdens far more. Uncertainty is disgusting.”
Doctor-patient discussions are a medical version of the risk dialogue. They address medical findings and possible types of treatment, disclose their risks and opportunities, and give patients the opportunity to make decisions on a well-founded basis of information. In the risk dialogue, experts not only speak, they also listen carefully to those affected.
“Informed decisions” are the goal of risk communication.
Exchange on equal terms creates the basis for trust between patients and their doctors. “Trust is the cardinal glue that ensures that things can be successful in the first place,” says Meuli. What works in medicine can also be applied to Incident and crisis management transferred: Without the trust of those affected, it is doomed to failure.
Risk communication shows and explains risks, engages in dialogue with those affected and thus creates the basis for them to make “informed decisions.” The decisions of those affected make a significant contribution to whether event and crisis management can function smoothly. “Informed decisions,” writes the English psychologist Theresa Marteau, “are based on relevant knowledge, correspond to the values of the decisive parties and result in appropriate behavior.” (Marteau, e.a. (2001): A Measure of Informed Choice.)
Turning affected people into participants
Even in emergency and emergency situations, those affected are not simply defenseless victims who blindly follow the decisions of crisis managers. They are responsible people and decide for themselves whether they want to accept and support the event and crisis organization and its actions. A good risk dialogue can therefore be a significant relief for successful event and crisis management. Similar to the doctor-patient conversation, it creates an understanding of risks and options for action in the event of an escalation.
Long before a risk escalates or becomes a crisis, event and crisis managers should therefore seek dialogue with potential victims. They can learn a lot from doctors in the process. These talks are demanding, says pediatric surgeon Meuli. “You often have to describe complex, medical relationships in simple words. At the same time, you must never forget the significance of the discussions for parents and children.” The bridge to event and crisis management is easy to build here too: Anyone who wants to reach those affected must try to put themselves in their shoes and speak a language in dialogue that even laypeople can understand.
Don't gloss over the situation
Openness is central to a successful risk dialogue: “The main problem must be addressed immediately. You have to name the diagnosis, explain how reliable it is and then explain the methods that are available for treatment,” says Martin Meuli. “Under no circumstances should you gloss over the situation. Optimism is important, but forecasts must always be true.” This also applies to unpleasant news: “A bad outlook is very unpleasant news, but it is at least concrete.” Even if something goes wrong, openness remains important, says Meuli: “There is no alternative to the full truth.”
Prof. Martin Meuli is one of numerous experts working in the new Risk Management textbook - refocused talk about their experiences. It goes beyond traditional crisis management and also enables lessons from related subject areas. Numerous reports include not only crisis managers, but also experts from the fields of surgery, psychology, aviation, tourism and the media. Risk communication and risk dialogue are among the important topics in the book.
More about this book at www.gartmann.biz/author
Prof. em. Dr. med. Martin Meuli
Swiss pediatric surgeon Prof. Martin Meuli (*1955) is a pioneer in pediatric and fetal surgery, burn surgery and plastic surgery at the University Children's Hospital Zurich. Together with his wife, plastic, restorative and hand surgeon Prof. Claudia Meuli, he developed a procedure to operate on fetuses suffering from spina bifida in the womb before birth. In 2010, he was one of the first surgeons in the world to operate on children while still in the womb. He carried out more than 150 such operations by 2020.