Steps in Crisis Communication

When a crisis occurs -- face it. Take constructive action and organize a proper response. For this you need to plan so your organization is prepared. The way the media portray your handling of the situation will have a significant impact on the public's perception of your business. The stakes are high. Even a simple communications plan can help you deal with the public aspects of the crisis in an organized way, not by the seat of your pants. The plan will enable you to spend more time actually dealing with the crisis. The communications plan doesn't have to be elaborate. In fact, an uncomplicated plan is probably more effective because it will be flexible enough to allow for the inevitable surprises that occur in every crisis. What the plan should do is provide answers to certain key questions about how your business will communicate during a crisis. With these questions already answered in the plan, you can focus on the actual communications you're going to make about the situation. One thing to remember that is crucial in a crisis is tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. If you do this you have done all you can to minimize the situation. 1. Identify Your Crisis Communications Team 2. Identify Spokespersons 3. Spokesperson Training 4. Establish Communications Protocols 5. Identify and Know Your Audiences 6. Anticipate Crises 7. Assess the Crisis Situation 8. Identify Key Messages 9. Decide on Communications Methods 10. Riding Out the Storm The skill in effective crisis management is quickly and surely identifying what and where the real crisis is and then acting immediately to deal with it. The purpose of our program is to prepare a comprehensive crisis management plan, supported by a trained and informed crisis management team, so you can act with confidence and speed. Real-world experience has shown when a crisis occurs, definitions are irrelevant. You instinctively know you have a crisis on your hands. Explosions, transportation accidents, serious environmental damage, product tampering, and hostile takeovers are obvious crisis situations. Others creep up on you, and you may not notice until sales have slumped - perhaps irretrievably. Some crises are not easy to identify. Certain crises evolve slowly over a period of time and even show early warning signs to the discerning observer. A half dozen customer complaints could be the early signs of a potential product recall crisis. A series of mechanical failures within a factory might signal an accident is waiting to happen. The challenge is to distinguish between problems dealt with in a routine manner, and problems requiring activation of your crisis management system. What is important is for you to think through the probable crisis scenarios for your organization and determine in advance the fundamental policies that will serve as decision-making guidelines, should the unexpected happen. No organisation can anticipate all possible crisis scenarios. That is not the real purpose of crisis planning. Preparation vs. Reaction What are your chances of having to deal with such situations? Well, the bottom line is that there is no such thing as a business in which crises don't occur. Perception is as damaging as reality. If any of your external or internal audiences think or might think that there's a problem, then your communications program needs to address their concerns. This leaves you with two choices: prepare for crises or just react to crises. The longer it takes to react effectively, the greater potential for damage. This is increasingly true in our world of instant communication; a world where bad news is the favorite menu item of sensation-hungry media audiences. In fact, the most dangerous thing you can do is nothing, to go into paralysis. If anything, marketing and public relations becomes more important during a crisis. Very few crises are total surprises. Usually, key executives are privy to information which suggests the possibility or probability of crisis and this is the absolute latest point at which contingency planning should start. 1. Identify Your Crisis Communications Team A small team of senior executives should be identified to serve as your company's crisis communications team. Ideally, the team will be led by the company CEO, with the firm's top public relations executive and legal counsel as his or her chief advisers. If your in-house PR executive does not have sufficient crisis communications expertise, he or she may choose to retain an agency or independent consultant with that specialty. Other team members should be the heads of major company divisions, to include finance, personnel and operations. Often, during a crisis, a natural conflict arises between the recommendations of the company's legal counsel on the one hand, and those of the public relations counsel on the other. While it may be legally prudent not to say anything, this kind of reaction can land the company in public relations "hot water," which is, potentially, as damaging or even more damaging than any financial or legal ramification. Fortunately, more and more legal advisors are becoming aware of this fact and are working in close cooperation with public relations counsel. The importance of this understanding cannot be underestimated. 2. Identify Spokespersons Within each team, there should be individuals who are the only ones authorized to speak for the company in times of crisis. The CEO should be one of those spokespersons, but not necessarily the primary spokesperson. The fact is that some chief executives are brilliant business people but not very effective in-person communicators. This doesn't matter for written communications and may not matter for some audiences (see discussion of audiences below). Often, however, image communicates as strongly as facts, as politicians know well. Hence, communications skills are one of the primary criteria in choosing a spokesperson. In addition to the primary spokesperson and the backup, individuals who will serve as technical experts or advisors should be designated. These resources might include a financial expert, an engineer, a leader in the community or anyone your company deems necessary during a specific kind of crisis. This will take some brainstorming by the crisis communication team since what is needed may not always be apparent. There should be an authority or technical expert in their field and be available to supplement the knowledge of the spokesperson. 3. Spokesperson Training Spokesperson training teaches you to be prepared, to be ready to respond in a way that maximizes the chance of a story or analyst's evaluation coming out the way you want it to. Criteria for the spokesperson, backup spokesperson and crisis communication expert is: Comfortable in front of a TV camera and with reporters. Preferably, skilled in handling media, skilled in directing responses to another topic, skilled in identifying key points, able to speak without using jargon, respectful of the role of the reporter, knowledgeable about the organization and the crisis at hand. Able to establish credibility with the media, able to project confidence to the audience, suitable in regard to diction, appearance and charisma, sincere, straightforward and believable, accessible to the media and to internal communications personnel who will facilitate media interviews, able to remain calm in stressful situations. In addition to the designated spokesperson and backup, it can be anticipated that other parties involved in the crisis; police, fire department, health officials, etc., will also have a spokesperson. It is important to obtain the identity of that individual as early as possible so all statements and contacts with the media can be coordinated between the two individuals and their organizations/interests whenever possible. 4. Establish Communications Protocols Initial crisis-related news can be received at any level of a company. A janitor may be the first to know there is a problem, or someone in personnel, or notification could be in the form of a midnight phone call from an out-of-town executive. Who should be notified, and where do you reach them? An emergency communications "tree" should be established and distributed to all company employees, telling them precisely what to do and who to call if there appears to be a potential for or an actual crisis. In addition to appropriate supervisors, at least one member of the crisis communications team, plus an alternate member, should include their office and home phone numbers on the emergency contact list. APPROACH How are you going to deal with the media and the public? Are you going to be open about the situation? Are you going to disclose information about the crisis as it becomes available? If you elect to withhold information or try to cover up, recognize that you are risking your business as well as your reputation and your future. Experience demonstrates that rumor, exaggeration and distortion will result in the absence of full and authoritative information. Speed is of great importance. If facts are not disclosed immediately, reporters will dig out information on their own, usually from secondary and less reliable sources. Therefore, it is important that lines of communication be established with the press as soon as possible. How often are you going to provide information to the media? In many situations, you'll have only one opportunity to tell your story. In other instances, like an ongoing event, you should be prepared to give regular updates on the situation until the crisis is resolved. 5. Identify and Know Your Audiences Who are the audiences that matter to your firm? Most firms care about the media, customers and prospects. Private investors may be involved. Publicly held companies have to comply with Securities and Exchange Commission and stock exchange information requirements. You may answer to local, state or federal regulatory agencies. For each audience, you need to have in advance complete mailing, fax an phone number lists to accommodate rapid communication in time of crisis. And you need to know what type of information each audience is seeking. 6. Anticipate Crises If you're being proactive and preparing for crises, gather your crisis communications team for long brainstorming sessions on all the potential crises which can occur at your organization. There are two immediate benefits to this exercise: You may realize that some of the situations are preventable by simply modifying existing methods of operation; and you can begin to think about possible responses, about best case/worst case scenarios, etc. Better now than when under the pressure of an actual crisis. In some cases, of course, you know that a crisis will occur because you're planning to create it e.g., to lay off employees, or to make a major acquisition. Then, you can proceed with steps 7-10 below, even before the crisis occurs. 7. Assess the Crisis Situation Reacting without adequate information is a classic "shoot first and ask questions afterwards" situation you could be the primary victim. But if you've done all of the above first, it's a simple matter of having the crisis communications team on the receiving end of information coming in from your communications "tree," ensuring that the right type of information is being provided so that you can proceed in determining your reaction. Assessing the crisis situation is, therefore, the first crisis communications step you can't take in advance. But if you haven't prepared in advance, your reaction will be delayed by the time it takes your in-house staff or quickly-hired consultants to run through steps 1 to 6. Furthermore, a hastily created crisis communications strategy and team are never as efficient as those planned and rehearsed in advance. 8. Identify Key Messages Only deal with what you know. Don’t Speculate! You already know what type of information, categorically, your audiences are looking for. Now, what do you want them to know about this crisis situation? Keep it simple have no more than three main messages for all audiences and, perhaps, a few messages targeted at specialty audiences. In a crisis, you must be comfortable with an atmosphere of uncertainty. It's important for you to recognize that you can't know what will happen next. You can make educated guesses, but you must be prepared for anything while not assuming anything. Your best approach is to communicate one step at a time in a crisis, dealing only with the known at any point in time. Reporters are likely to ask you hypothetical questions about the crisis. You should make it your first priority to avoid speculating about what could happen, what could have happened or, if you don't know the answer, why something happened. Deal only with the known. It's very easy to get so absorbed in dealing with the media in a crisis that you get tricked into answering hypothetical questions. You should always be alert so that you can sidestep such "what if" questions with responses like the following: "We can only answer questions about the situation that exists at this point in time." "All I can say is what is known now." "I can't speculate about that. We are dealing with the situation as we know it now." "You're asking me to answer a question that can't be answered at this point." "I can't answer hypothetical questions." Don’t hurt your credibility by getting involved in speculation. When the speculation turns out to be off the mark, the media and the public feel they've been misled. This casts doubt on the credibility of the organization and its response to the crisis at a time when the need for credibility and trust are critical. What The Media Will Ask The media ask a fairly standard list of questions in the event of an industrial accident, natural disaster or business crisis. The media tailor their questions to the specific situation, but knowing what may be asked can help you prepare for the media onslaught with well-considered responses. What caused it? Who's to blame? Who's going to pay for it? Was anyone hurt? Is/was there any danger to the public? What are you doing to resolve the crisis? Could it happen again? Could it have been prevented? Why didn't your company anticipate something like this? Do you accept responsibility for this disaster? Have you had any other problems like this in the past? Why didn't the company know about this problem? Will employees be disciplined? Will the company be able to recover from this? These aren't questions that anyone wants to have to answer. That's why it's critical for your business to prepare for the worst by developing a basic crisis communications plan. The time to develop your crisis communications plan is when there's no crisis. When the disaster strikes, it's too late. 9. Decide on Communications Methods There are many different ways to communicate about a crisis situation, internally or externally. Employees, clients, prospects and investors can be briefed in person, or sent letters, newsletters or faxed messages. The media can receive press releases and explanatory letters, or attend one-on-one briefings and press conferences. Each of these options and the many others available have a different type of impact and must be evaluated by a professional who thoroughly understands the pros and cons of these various methodologies as applied to each company's needs. 10. Riding Out the Storm No matter what the nature of a crisis...no matter whether it's good news or bad...no matter how carefully you've prepared and responded...some of your audiences are not going to react the way you want them to. This can be immensely frustrating. What do you do? Take a deep breath Take an objective look at the reaction(s) in question. Is it your fault, or their unique interpretation? Decide if another communication to that audience is likely to change that impression for the better. Decide if another communication to that audience could make that impression worse. Decide if making that additional communication is worth the effort. Top .