The Essentials of Crisis Communications: A Concise Guide
In today’s hyper-connected world, the need for crisis communications is no longer a matter of if, but when. Every organization is vulnerable to a crisis—a situation that threatens to interrupt business, damage reputation, negatively impact people or the bottom line. Effective crisis communications is the bedrock of managing these high-stakes moments. This guide provides a starting sketch that you can use to help you move through a crisis.
1. The Cost of Poor Planning (The Risks)
- Operational Breakdown: Without a crisis communications strategy, your practical, on-the-ground operational response can quickly become disorganized and fail.
- Stakeholder Confusion and Anger: Lack of planning leaves internal and external stakeholders—including employees, customers, and investors—in the dark, leading them to quickly become confused, angry, and negatively react toward the organization.
- Perception of Negligence: The public and media might perceive the organization as inept, at best, or even criminally negligent, significantly damaging trust and reputation.
- Extended Resolution Time: A disorganized response dramatically increases the length of time required to bring the issue to a full and complete resolution.
2. The 6 Critical Pre-Crisis Steps
Proactive preparation is the best defense. These steps should be completed before the need for crisis communications arises:
- Identify Your Crisis Communications Team (CCT): Appoint a small, senior team, ideally led by the CEO and including top PR and legal counsel. If in-house experience is lacking, be ready to bring in outside experts.
- Anticipate Crises: Gather your CCT for intensive brainstorming on all potential threats. This helps you identify preventable issues and allows you to consider possible best-case/worst-case responses before you are under pressure.
- Identify and Train Spokespersons: Screen, select, and thoroughly train a small group of authorized spokespersons. Training is essential to ensure a consistent, professional message and to ward off unintended, untrained voices from speaking on behalf of the company.
- Establish Notification and Monitoring Systems: Consider what communications systems may be needed (e.g., phone trees, social media alerts, Google alerts) to quickly notify large numbers of affected stakeholders and to monitor the crisis’s origin and ongoing discussion.
- Identify and Know Your Stakeholders: Detail who matters to your organization. Employees are critical—they act as your organization’s PR representatives and crisis managers whether you want them to or not. Often — but not always — they are informed first.
- Develop Holding Statements: Create pre-written, general statements that can be released immediately while the full facts of the situation are being gathered. These are voiced in general terms (e.g., “We are investigating and as soon as we know more we will provide updated information.”)
3. The Post-Crisis Action Plan
Once a crisis is underway, your focus shifts to execution and recovery.
- Assess the Crisis Situation Promptly: Do not wait. Damage is often amplified by delaying the assessment and communication. Acknowledge the issue and activate the plan immediately.
- Finalize and Adapt Key Messages: Address the core questions stakeholders always ask: What is the problem? How did it happen? How am I impacted? What are you doing to fix it? What are you doing to prevent it from happening again?
- Post-Crisis Analysis: After the crisis has passed, conduct a thorough analysis. You must ask, “What did we learn from this?” to improve your plan for the future.
Crisis management is not just about damage control; it’s about preserving trust and ensuring organizational continuity. The failure to prepare is, itself, a preparation for failure. By committing to the steps outlined in this article, you equip your organization with the resilience needed to face any challenge. Ultimately, this article serves as your essential guide to crisis communications planning and protocols. Investing in solid crisis communications preparation today ensures that when high-stakes moments arrive, a clear voice and a well-rehearsed plan are your most valuable assets.
Contact Bettison for help getting your crisis communications planning and protocols underway.