From the BBC to Harrods, from Downing Street to the Post Office saga, corporate crises often worsen due to poor communication and a lack of foresight. These examples offer a sobering lesson for organisations everywhere.
Hardly a day goes by without another scandal in the newspaper and TV, yet it’s tempting to think that a crisis won’t happen to you.
The harsh reality is that no business is immune. And no organisation gets out of a crisis entirely unscathed. But being well prepared to manage comms during a crisis helps mitigate reputational and commercial damage and lay the foundation for recovery.
In his book ‘How to Survive a Crisis,’ Professor Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ, who has advised the Government on a wide array of crises, says:
‘Being well prepared for dealing with everything a crisis can throw at an organisation does matter. Understanding public attitudes to the crisis certainly matters. But doing the right thing and being seen quickly to do the right thing by those affected by the crisis – matters even more.’
While it’s hard to predict the exact circumstances of a crisis, advance planning can identify potential risks, assess their impacts and agree on responses.
Creating and training a crisis comms team with decision-making authority is critical for an organisation’s rapid and effective response. Establishing roles and responsibilities leads to coordinated actions, consistent messaging and clarity about who needs to know what and when.
Of course, not every problem is a crisis, but every crisis IS a problem.
At Definition, we define a crisis as:
‘An unexpected event or happening that threatens the reputational, operational or financial wellbeing of an organisation.’
Crises can stem from internal issues like product recalls, the criminal activity of staff or a regulatory breach. Or external factors like a cyber attack or environmental incident.
Most organisations have a business continuity plan to address the cause and return to normal operations. A crisis comms plan should complement this so that both functions work in harmony.
Comms in a crisis should be honest, factual and empathetic. Acknowledge what went wrong, accept responsibility where appropriate and state what’s being done to fix the situation. Attempting to cover up or lie is never the right approach. The truth will always come out, often worsening the situation.
Here are some simple tips for handling comms in a crisis:
- Stay calm
- Think clearly
- Act quickly
- Advise wisely
- Communicate clearly
When everything seems to be falling apart, having a plan makes it easier to follow these principles. And the cost is always less than the price of not having one when a crisis strikes.
Crisis comms planning is an investment in your organisation’s future wellbeing. Our Brand Protector team can help. They’re experienced in creating effective crisis comms plans, and providing 24/7 support for ‘live’ issues.
Our team includes former journalists, social media experts, internal comms specialists and customer/client engagement consultants.
Being prepared for a crisis is good business planning. Don’t wait for a crisis to happen.
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Written by Peter Davenport, Strategic Comms Consultant at Definition