Over the past couple days, this blog has mentioned TXU’s public relations issues from last week.  In a perfect world, better planning and/or crisper execution might have avoided the letter and the letter from the limited partnership that is trying to acquire TXU.

In this situation, there are three needs that many firms have which are to stop the bleeding, to solve the problem, and to learn from what as occurred.  What does this mean?  What can we learn from the TXU situation? 

Damage Control

Damage control (stopping the bleeding) is the most immediate and obvious issue. Companies bleed goodwill from employees, customers, suppliers, regulators, and others when public relations issues arise.

In the case of TXU, the letter from the proposed investors had the effect of controlling damage.   It is unclear why the letter came from the proposed investors, rather than the company though.   

Fix the Problem

The second step is to fix the problem.  There are two potential problems, but only the insiders know whether either or both issues were actually problems.

Was the letter that was received by the Texas Public Utility Commission a problem?

Was it a problem that the proposed investors disagreed with TXU’s position as stated in the letter?

Learn from what has occurred

The term “learning organizations” is often thrown around. Every organization needs to learn, just as every person needs to do so.

By identifying what has occurred up to this point and internalizing that as an organization, TXU and the proposed investors learn from what has occurred so that the issues will be less likely to occur.

Others can learn from what occurred with TXU and the proposed investors so that they can avoid such issues.  This can be done by asking questions such as: 

• What lessons can be learned from what has occurred in this case?
• What would happen if their business received a regulatory notice?
• In what circumstances might a regulatory notice be received?
• What should happen if a regulatory notice is received?
• What controls are in place to review correspondence?

Based on the answers to the questions, other businesses can decide how they want to handle such situations.

Ideas

Communication is critical.  What steps might a firm use to avoid communication nightmares?  

• Create templates can be used for communicating with regulatory agencies
• Adopt guidelines for business writing that are aligned with the firm’s goals
• Implement reviews of correspondence on regulatory matters
• Consider briefing key stakeholders before making public statements

At the Texas Department of Human Services, it was offensive to be told how to close a letter.  (”Sincerely” was in and “Very truly yours” was out.)  While we didn’t like the rules, maybe they are necessary.

Filed by Coleen Davis at 1:39 pm under Achieving Goals, Business Acumen, Current Events, Planning Tips, Solving Problems