Zuryna: Welcome to Operations
Unfiltered, the podcast that
takes you behind the scenes of
influencer and talent management.
I like to think of it as the podcast
where project management meets
real life and sometimes real drama.
I'm your host Zaina, and today we're
diving into a topic that I know keeps
some public relations teams up at night.
What is it you might be asking?
Crisis management and the
age of cancel culture.
If you've been anywhere near social
media for the past few weeks, you've
definitely seen the firestorms from
Diddy's, multiple lawsuits to Jay-Z's
firing back with his attorney and even
the rat battle between Drake and Kendrick.
But what do these high profile crises
have to do with project management?
Turns out everything.
Because when you strip away the fame
and fortune, these situations are
truly just high stakes projects with
urgent timelines, risk mitigation, and
a whole lot of stakeholder management.
So without further ado, let's
get into this week's episode
of Operations Unfiltered.
Let's start by defining what
crisis management really is.
At its core, crisis management is just
project management under pressure.
And just like any good project,
it requires three key things.
Risk assessment.
What's the worst that can happen, and how
do we prepare stakeholder communication?
Who needs to know what and when?
And last but not least,
damage control and recovery.
How do we move forward?
Strategically, this applies whether
you're managing a brand's reputation.
Or leading a complex marketing campaign
because in both cases, missteps can
cost you, whether it's in dollars,
credibility, or client trust.
Let's break these down with
some current event case studies.
Okay.
First, we're gonna start by talking
about Diddy's legal battles.
I like to call this case study a
project without a risk register.
We all know that Diddy is facing multiple
lawsuits and the allegations have
escalated to federal investigations.
He's currently sitting in jail right now.
His brand, both as a business mogul
and music executive, is now in what I
like to call reputation crisis mode.
Translate that for me.
Of course.
This is a worst case scenario.
That should have been on a risk register.
From my purview, here's what's happening.
There's clearly stakeholder foldout.
I mean, revolt dropped him.
Celebrities are, distancing
themselves from him.
It's just not looking
good in that section.
For him, crisis communication
failure is big on his team.
His team's responses have been
minimal, leaving space for the
narrative to be controlled by external
voices like Shade Room, academics.
Everybody.
And last but not least, they've
had delayed risk mitigation.
It seems like there's no
visible, proactive approach.
No strong legal positioning.
No major media strategy, no
public crisis leadership.
Honestly, if I were leading his crisis
team, I'd be running a real time incident
response plan with clear roles for legal
PR and media outreach, because truly in
crisis management, silence is not golden.
It's costly.
Now let's flip the script and
talk about Jay-Z's situation.
I like to call this case study
proactive stakeholder management.
Jay-Z is taking legal action against
attorney Tony Busby for dragging
him into a lawsuit related to Diddy.
But unlike Diddy, Jay-Z took
control of the situation before
it became a major crisis.
From a project management perspective,
Jay-Z's approach mirrors what I like to
call proactive stakeholder management.
He's not waiting for things to spiral.
He's setting the record
straight on his own terms.
He filed a lawsuit before his
name got tied too deeply into the
controversy, narrative control.
His legal team publicly
stated his position, which
prevented further speculation.
And last but not least,
strategic communication.
Jay-Z took it to court.
He didn't argue on social media.
He kept it professional.
So what can you take
away from this situation?
If you see a potential issue,
don't wait for it to explode.
Address it early with
strategic risk mitigation.
Okay, so the final case study
that I wanna address is, of
course, Drake versus Kendrick.
This is what I like to call when
competitive projects collide.
So when you think about the
Drake and Kendrick situation,
unfortunately we have to say this
is manufactured for engagement.
Honestly, this beef has been brewing
for years, but in the last few
weeks, months, it's truly escalated
into a full-blown project war.
From a project management lens,
this is truly a, a battle of brand
positioning and strategic execution.
On Drake's side, his strength
is high frequency releases.
The tactic that I find that
he typically uses is staying
consistent and flooding the market
with music, he's the turnup king.
People wanna party with him.
He always keeps himself at the center
of conversation by dropping hits.
Thinking of this through
a project management lens.
I kind of equate this to agile project
management, meaning he iterates
quickly responds to competition in real
time and keeps up with the momentum.
Kendrick, on the other hand, his
strength is in scarcity and precision.
I equate him more like
waterfall project management.
He waits for the right moment, gathers all
the , necessary resources or T , and then
he drops something that's super calculated
from a project management perspective.
This is a long-term project strategy.
Instead of reacting fast,
he controls the pace.
So when you look at both rappers
and you look at this battle, it's
essentially two competing project
teams with different methodologies.
So how do we determine who the winner is?
I, it honestly comes down to execution.
And the same applies for actual projects.
You have to think about it like this.
Do you wanna iterate fast or do you
wanna build game changing products?
Both approaches can work, but
you have to commit to one.
So how do we apply this
to our everyday work?
Here's what we can take
away from these situations.
Number one, always have a risk register.
Even if you're managing a social media
campaign, ask yourself, what's the worst
case scenario and how do I prepare?
Number two, you have to control the
narrative in project management.
This means setting
expectations early and often.
If things go left, communicate
the why and your plan forward.
And last but not least, you have to
have a crisis response framework.
Whether it's a PR disaster or
a project that went wrong, a
structured recovery plan keeps you
from scrambling in the long run.
At the end of the day, the projects that
survive crises are the ones that have a
game plan before the disaster strikes.
Keep that in mind.
All right, let's bring this episode
on home with a section that I
like to call behind the briefcase.
It's where I take you behind the scenes
of a real project that I'm working
on or that a friend or a colleague
is working on, and we just chat
through how I've worked through it
or how that person worked through it.
Right now I'm helping a client with a
multi-city tour, and my main challenge
is definitely securing media placements.
Sounds simple, right?
I mean, we're in the age of social media.
One quick blast on Instagram, and you'll
get all the media placements, right?
Not so much.
It's been a challenge, but here we are.
How I've been managing the project
is with a few simple things.
First of all, Google Sheets has
been my most valuable player.
Every city that my client is going to has
its own tab, and I've filled it out with
media outlets that I plan to reach out to.
It just makes things easier
for me, keeping myself on task.
Media placements and media outreach
has definitely been challenging.
When I graduated in 2016 from Stevenson
University, go Mustangs, I relied
heavily on a site called Help a
Reporter Out, which is now defunct.
Bring it back.
I missed that site.
But anyway, I currently
use a site called Quoted.
Um, it helps me match with journalists
in real time in hopes of getting
my clients that media coverage.
And last but not least, follow up.
Follow up, follow up.
I am the follow-up queen.
I will send 14 emails.
I don't care, but honestly, if I
don't hear back in three days, I
typically bump it up the chain.
No ghosting is allowed
in project management.
Okay.
So those are my three things.
And honestly, if I can leave you
with anything, it's a process,
just like crisis management.
You can control everything, but you can
control how you respond and addressed.
And that's the difference between a
project that sinks and one that thrives.
Well, that's a wrap for today's episode.
If you love this, please make sure to
leave a review, share with your fellow
project managers, content creators,
anyone who's a marketing professional,
and let's keep this conversation going.
Until next time, keep your projects
tight and your narratives tighter.
I'll see you next time.