Quite a few students mentioned they were surprised by some of the more ‘aggressive’ stakeholders that phoned in. As a seasoned PR professional, it surprised me that students were not expecting this. Dealing with conflict is a very big part of public relations, and as much you might try to please everyone, it's not always possible. Sometimes that hostility can be directed at you personally and it’s a part of the job that you’ll need to learn and manage. As interesting and challenging as the PR profession is, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops…then again, what job is?! Despite this, crisis communication is a skill you can use beyond your PR profession as it requires agile thinking, conflict management, decision making and leadership.
Here are some of your insights from the simulation and make sure you listen to Tina's podcast on her reflections:
“Blink and you’ll miss it. Today’s crisis simulation was unlike any assessment I have completed since starting university. One and a half hours of intense work that if anything taught me how to think on my feet.”
“What surprised me during the crisis simulation was the fast pace in which information was fed to us and how quickly decisions needed to be made.”
“I did find that it was a difficult assessment to prepare for because there was so much unknown and I had not done something like it before but that was part of its charm.”
“What surprised me in the scenario was the pace of the whole crisis. It was exhilarating how much had to be covered and responded in such a short period of time.”
“This exercise was definitely the most practical and useful assessment I have completed in my time at Curtin. It gave me a real gauge on how to approach a crisis and what order to address certain stakeholders in a fast paced environment.”
“The simulation has prepared me to know the importance of being calm even though the environment is stressful. The experience has been rewarding to actually see how I handled working under pressure and working in a team environment when these stress levels are high.”
“The time in which the events occurred was quite intimidating and it felt like time went really quickly; it was a great representation of how a crisis would unfurl in a real life situation.”
Some students said they didn’t feel fully prepared for the crisis – but you were, it’s just that you hadn’t put your crisis management theory into practice. And now you have, and you can say you’ve had a taste of what it will be like during a real-life crisis.