Flashpoint Statement Checklist

Now more than ever, institutional leaders are feeling the pressure to publicly respond to flashpoints at a moment’s notice. EAB research demonstrates how flashpoints are increasing in frequency and intensity across the last few years, exhausting higher education leaders and leading to what feels like a never-ending crisis communications cycle. In some cases, these flashpoints result in small but costly mistakes that cause the situation to spiral further resulting in PR issues, leadership turnover, and reputational damage.

Costly mistakes are rare in other highly skilled fields with the help of a simple technique: consistently referring to checklist before completing a critical task. Dr. Atul Gawande, surgeon and author of The Checklist Manifesto, reduced surgery-related deaths by 47% in only months after requiring a pre-surgery checklist protocol. Learning from Dr. Gawande’s research, EAB developed a peer-reviewed checklist that senior institutional leaders can use to defuse tensions and avoid errors when publicly responding to controversial flashpoints.

Deploy EAB’s flashpoint checklist before releasing your next official statement.

Download the Checklist