By Dave Westol
OK, you may be thinking, “Crisis! In our little officials association? Crisis? Dude, it’s a crisis if someone forgets to bring doughnuts for the meeting. It’s a crisis if the door to the room is locked and we don’t have a key. It’s a major crisis if ‘someone’ forgot to reserve the banquet hall for our annual dinner.”
Upon further review …
What can constitute a crisis? Let’s look at some examples that could happen related to a member of your association. And “member” means a dues-paying member of your association.
- Embezzlement or misappropriation of association funds.
- Controversy during a contest involving a member official and especially an official who is either the aggressor or the victim.
- Controversial conclusion to a contest — and those are almost always tournament or playoff-implication games.
- A board member who acts in an unprofessional or inappropriate manner (think sexist or racist comments on social media, for openers but that can extend to nearly any situation).
- An official (and member) who is arrested for drunk driving, any misdemeanor involving assault, any felony and inappropriate conduct with a child.
- Social media commentary, photos or video involving a member and especially a board member that attracts attention.
I advise boards of directors to invest time at least once a year discussing crisis situations and especially how they define those and what constitutes a “situation” versus a crisis. That is step one.
Next step: Who will speak for your association board in the event of a crisis? Advice: Have a primary spokesperson … and redundancy to the fourth degree — in other words, at least three backups. You are volunteers and not available 24/7. The challenge we face: Media representatives and reporters are available 24/7 and they will ask for comments. The standard, “Our president will speak for us” works unless your president is uncomfortable in that role, he or she is on vacation or is otherwise not available.
Have a specific list of those three additional persons who can speak for your association and a specific order in which they will be contacted if the lead spokesperson is not available. Rehearse talking points to ensure that whoever speaks for your association has two or three key points to make.
Is your association website up to date? Does the homepage include a mission statement or statement of purpose for your association? People will check that even before they contact your spokesperson.
What will your spokesperson say in the event of a crisis? Officials are often restricted by their state associations in what can or cannot be said for publication regarding a crisis involving a contest.
However, that usually does not restrict your spokesperson from commenting in general terms. Advice: Meet with your state association representative, provide some examples of situations and ask what can be said.
Phrases that I don’t like to see in real or virtual print include: “Messages left with the officers of the association were not returned by 5 p.m. today,” “Calls to the president of the association were not returned,” “The chairman of the officials association declined to comment.” Advice: As appropriate, talk with reporters. Have your points in hand. A press release works well — you can include information on your association along with brief comments. You can quote yourself.
If a message is left, return the reporters’ or news gatherers’ call. At the minimum indicate that the association is aware of the situation and that you are following protocol or procedure. Silence, especially in our world of viral news stories, is usually interpreted as, “We are hiding something.”
For some situations your procedure is internal, such as embezzlement or an ethical violation involving a member that is not related to an athletic contest. Do you have a procedure in place to process those situations? Has it been reviewed by an attorney? Have you used a test case to check your procedure?
Attorneys love it when a board of directors scrambles to respond to a crisis or situation and uses a procedure that is best described as “arbitrary and capricious.” That is the legal way of stating that your board of directors is making things up as it goes along. That is not a good thing. At the least, you may well end up going through the entire process again.
No one likes crisis situations. No one enjoys preparing for crisis situations. But excellent association boards prepare and occasionally rehearse for crisis situations. They do so because board members understand that no one knows when a crisis will occur … but sooner or later their board will face a situation or crisis.
The aphorism for some crews is stated as, “Better to look ugly and get it (the call) right than to look smooth and get it wrong.” That goes to the concept of taking your time and discussing the play (the ugly) as opposed to making a fast decision without an official timeout. Excellent association boards understand that in terms of crisis management, a board can get it right and look and sound professional in the process — no ugly involved — if the board is prepared beforehand for a crisis.
Dave Westol, an NASO member, is a longtime football official. He is principal and owner of Limberlost Consulting Inc., in Carmel, Ind. Westol consults with national fraternities and sororities and other non-profit associations. His website is Limberlostconsulting.com.
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