An employee posts something embarrassing or inappropriate about the company on social media. A natural disaster affects your business operations, employees, or customers. You have a recall of your product. You are criticized publicly by a government official. Or you experience any other type of crisis. Are you ready to respond?
Here are important things to keep in mind in creating a crisis communication plan:
Be prepared
If you’ve got a communications team as part of your company—great! If you don’t, then establish a relationship with a public relations agency/consultant before you need them to help you respond to a crisis.
Be clear on roles and responsibilities, including who will act as spokespeople and who your reviewers/approvers are. Make sure everyone knows who is doing what. (Tip—have those contact lists and all materials on hand. Electronic versions are great, but a paper binder should be on hand in case electronic access is compromised.)
Practice. Have planned and surprise drills. Take them seriously so when you are in the command center for a true crisis, you’re ready. Run drills for a variety of situations to ensure your team is ready.
Have a plan
A crisis isn’t the time to figure out your channels, audiences (including your internal audiences), core messages or approach. Have an outline of a strategy/plan as a starting point and modify for the situation you’re facing.
Build templates of holding statements, employee communications, and other messages based on anticipated events. They can shave valuable time in responding.
Move quickly and be authentic
In the absence of information, other people will tell your story. Stay in control of your narrative. Communicate as soon as you can, even if it is to simply state that you are aware of the situation and are responding.
Stick to the facts and keep your messages simple.
Show you care. Recognize that humans are involved, and they want to know that this matters to you and your company. Your spokespeople need to be able to remain calm and reassuring.
Revisit your holding statement as new information becomes available. Provide regular updates as needed. Anticipate the questions you’ll be asked.
Build your stamina
Sometimes a crisis abates quickly; other times, you’re looking at weeks of responses. Have backups for your team so they can take a break if this is an extended situation.
Continue to balance the ongoing need for new information with steps your company is taking to address the situation or mitigate risk in the future.
Take time to debrief.
Commit to continuous improvement.
Pull the team together for feedback to discuss what went well and what you’d like to do differently in the future. Adjust your crisis communications plan and templates accordingly.
Back up your statements with actions and make changes as needed.
You can’t avoid crisis situations every time, but you can prepare for them and work to ensure that you’re maintaining your company’s reputation—externally and internally—at every step along the way.
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