By Mary Beth West, APR

In my early career, I worked in corporate communications for a highly successful company that managed private-sector prisons, jails and detention facilities for local, state and federal government agencies across the U.S. – and even some facilities internationally.

The experience provided my first front-line experience with seeing just how complicated controversies and crises could be.  

I remember one occasion in Florida where the company was seeking to site a county jail facility in a fairly rural area.  The local Chamber of Commerce decided to host a community forum for the public to discuss the issue with elected officials. 

Off I was sent to Florida to help represent the company, where I fully expected to hear diverse points of view.  In my naiveté at the time, I had no idea the level of raw emotion I would see thrown in the company’s face – or mine – from picket signs and near-tearful opposition testimonies to venom-eyed stare-downs by people I’d never met before.   I left the event that night with local law enforcement escorting me to my car and my hoping that no one followed my co-workers and me back to our hotel.

That was in the mid- to late-1990s.  Our company didn’t even use external e-mail at the time.  To that point, I certainly didn’t know what I didn’t know back then . . . that in terms of complicated, I’d seen nothing yet. 

Interestingly, though, in the area of staging protests, many of the same tactics of yesteryear remain firmly entrenched in the toolbox of people who wish to organize around a common cause and state their case in as big a way as possible.

When a company or organization is confronted with a protest movement of any sort, there are several rules of thumb:

• Take it seriously, even if it’s small or seemingly disorganized.  Controversies can morph into crises quickly, and you never know how it might evolve and gain steam quickly. 
• Get at the heart of the matter.  Establish a point of contact within the group’s leadership.  What is the protest about, and does it have legitimacy?  Identify all of the protestor messages that involve your organization, its performance, its policies, etc. . . . whatever the situation involves. 
• Engage legal counsel.  While PR and legal experts sometimes disagree about certain aspects of responding to protest movements – particularly how communications should be handled to avoid liability issues – it’s still important to have all voices at the table for the full management team to make informed decisions. 
• Determine if there are indeed issues that need to be addressed publicly.  If the protest organization is small, contained and/or seems to be operating with a logical mindset (which sometimes isn’t the case), it could be prudent to work with the group on a one-to-one basis to address their issues, which in rare instances can nip the whole issue in the bud without a public spectacle.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, however, “fringe” groups can pose risks completely apart from the apparent issue at hand.  Be aware if security or law enforcement needs to be contacted.
• If the protest movement has little to no legitimacy with regard to the validity of its claims or otherwise includes protestors who behave unreasonably or erratically, be careful about interactions or communications that inadvertently lend credence to the protestors where none is deserved.
• At the same time, maintain a consistent undertone of respect, restraint and control – particularly with media communications. 
• Keep your message simple, direct and above all, honest.
• Avoid public “forums” for discussing the issues at hand – harkening back to my Florida experience.  Generally, the only winners of those things are the protestors.  In areas of government, it’s often difficult or impossible to avoid these situations resulting from sunshine laws and governance requirements – in which case, the critical factors are detailed preparation, clear messaging and as much control over the venue as possible.

Above all – you need to remain proactive enough that you’re staying in control of your own organization’s actions and communications and not being manipulated by others.  By being responsive from the onset, these issues potentially can be contained and, hopefully, successfully concluded.