What is an issue?

It's an ever-increasing gap between what stakeholders expect and what an organisation does, aggravated by information from and the opinions of influential sources.

The expectations of stakeholders are based on their perceptions. And perceptions are formed by previous experiences, by cultural influences, by rules of professional affiliations, and the prevailing climate of opinions. Stakeholders use their perceptions as a filter which affects how they evaluate and respond to any new action or information.

When actions and perceptions are not aligned, the gap that is created gives birth to an issue. Issues are dynamic. They may smoulder under the “radar screen” for a while, and an organisation will be oblivious to their presence. When a trigger event happens, sometime unrelated to the organisation, it can expose the issue and bring it to the fore. A mismanaged or unmanaged issue can easily turn into a crisis, especially when it reaches the media and attracts the attention of a wider audience than the original stakeholders.

The two are not the same: the time scale is different. A crisis demands immediate response to a seemingly uncontrollable situation and the number of stakeholders grows exponentially. During the lifetime of an issue, the stakeholders are identifiable and there is time to develop a relationship with them. An issue in the background is relegated to professional staff work, whereas a crisis, with its potential impact on company, personal reputation and the P/E ratios, absorbs much of management’s attention and time.

How do you close the gap? First, you’ll need a good grasp of the universe of your stakeholders and their perceptions. This knowledge enables you to plan and act in a way that is sensitive to stakeholders. And that gives you the chance to establish trust, re-assert control and manage the issue.

Our approach to issues management involves six steps:

1. Continuous intelligence gathering about the key prevailing topics or themes and potential triggers. We observe six clusters of key themes that are relevant to most industries. Triggers are much more specific to your organisation.

2. Insightful interpretation of this information based on an “outside in” view.

3. Assessment of the trajectory of the issue and its impact on your organisation.

4. Imaginative planning to engage different stakeholders, some of whom may have hijacked the issue for their own purposes.

5. Tight project/communication management.

6. Process enhancement and training based on continuous evaluation and skill transfer to your staff.

Fire-fighting is expensive – in terms of money, resources and reputation. It’s much better to be prepared to handle trigger events and deal with them before they run out of control.