Presented at the Pathways Coordination Event and Expo, June 18, 2024, Atlanta, GA.

In consultation with:

Donna K. Alexander, President and CEO, Advoxum Global Strategies

Synopsis

Seminary leaders face conflict management now possibly more than ever, as they navigate the complex landscape of 21^st-century theological education. Leading a seminary through rough shoals requires an uncommon fortitude, a deep commitment to the vision and mission, prayerful engagement, and a business acuity and preparedness that many may not fully appreciate – until it is needed. Effective communication is the primary tool for resolving conflict. Leverage it to create connections, overcome differences, foster empathy, and pave the way for lasting resolutions.

Key Takeaways

1. Understand what you don’t know. In times of conflict or crisis, begin by asking about the scope of the situation. Ask about its genesis, the party(s) involved, and the leadership’s desired outcome. While leadership’s unity – preferably unanimity – can expedite resolution, it’s crucial to fully assess the situation before making assumptions or rushing to a decision.

• Recognize that you don’t know what you don’t know.
• Accept that you need to know as much as possible, as quickly as possible.
• Actively seek out what you don’t know.

2. Know Your Stakeholders. Fully understand who your stakeholders (constituents) are since effective communication requires tailoring your messaging to each stakeholder group. For example, if the conflict or crisis is internal, communicate to internal stakeholders differently than you would if external parties are involved.

To focus your outreach, group your stakeholders in concentric circles, with leadership in the inner circle (president/dean, board or advisory board), then campus/online communities in the second ring (students, faculty, staff). External audiences, grouped in the third and wider rings, could include supporters (donors, affiliated churches or denominations) and partnerships/affiliates, with the broader community and media in the outermost ring. Model a communications tree around which of those stakeholder groups should be contacted about a conflict or crisis – and by whom and when. Strategic timing of tailored communications to the various stakeholders makes a crisis more manageable.

Remember, in cultivating stakeholder relationships, proximity does not always equal power – a stakeholder’s influence may exceed their organizational ranking or geographic proximity to leadership. Stakeholder group size may not matter either.

Crisis Management Communications. Be methodical and rational – always. Start by assessing the nature and magnitude of the crisis. Rely upon your institution’s crisis management plan, using its rating system as a gauge for planning communications responses (at times, “no response” is the right response). If there is precedent for managing the crisis, assess the value of precedence and whether current policies provide sufficient guidance. If there is no precedent or plan, “build the ship as you sail,” relying on best practices and advice from outside counsel and experts.

Scale your crisis assessment tool to indicate whether the situation is a simple conflict, a budding crisis, or a full-blown crisis (or something in between, using no more than 4-5 rankings) and determine if it is systemic or an isolated incident. This assessment will affect both your strategy and messaging.

Once you have ascertained the nature and level of the crisis, focus on initial communications to ensure the crisis management team understands their individual and corporate roles. Outline leadership’s expectations of each team member with specific timelines and milestones. Inform all parties about the policies for guiding stakeholder communications. Effective coordination is underrated – the fewer surprises among crisis team members, the better.

Tailor all communications to reflect your mission and core values. Ensure that stakeholders receive essential information, focusing on what they need to know rather than what they may want to know.

3. Common Mistakes. Avoid defaulting to a “non-crisis” crisis response. Address the crisis in the nascent stages. Otherwise, you may be forced to triage communications with stakeholders who question why “nothing has been done.” Rebuilding faith and trust with concerned parties at this stage erodes if leadership’s proverbial head remains resolutely in the sand.

Setting sail without leadership consensus and a cohesive plan of action breeds chaos and can exacerbate crises. Embark with clear expectations and goals. Agree on priorities for corrective and curative steps, establish timelines and milestones, define metrics for success, and create a comprehensive communications strategy. Adhere to the plan, flexing as circumstances dictate, but always stay committed to truthful communications, your mission, and your core values.

4. Preemptive Measures and Best Practices. Before a conflict or crisis emerges, build relationships with your stakeholders and collaboratively develop – with their input, as much as practicable – your policies, guidelines, and crisis management plan to preempt, anticipate, and navigate conflicts and crises.

Truthfulness, accountability, transparency (to the greatest degree possible), and responsiveness form your reputational currency with stakeholders. Be clear, concise, and consistent when communicating with them, understanding and honoring the limits that confidentiality may impose. However, avoid using confidentiality as a blanket excuse to withhold information; let your governing policies and legal obligations guide you.

The willingness to understand the causes of a conflict or crisis, and a spirit of reconciliation and redemption can inspire a preemptory approach to the next crisis. Indulge in proactive risk management for the unavoidable, but do not dwell unnecessarily on the unavoidable. Instead, avoid the avoidable by thinking outside the box in crisis management. Innovate! Create policies and solutions – and communications strategies – that break the mold for resolving a lingering crisis and preempting the next one.

5.  Recovery. Regardless of how effectively you communicate, prepare to navigate rather than resolve or eliminate crises. This mindset can ease the transition out of crisis mode and help structure your messaging. Your stakeholders will take cues from your actions and communications, so demonstrate to your stakeholders how you are rebuilding. Remain transparent about achieving milestones, and consistently message how your core values drive the recovery process. Focus on the short term as needed but take the long view. After all, as many theologians remind us, that’s the view God takes.