Your company is facing a crisis. How do you maintain transparency and accuracy in internal communications?

- il est très important de communiquer aux collaborateurs sur l'état de l'entreprise, sa vision, les chiffres mêmes s'ils sont mauvais. - il faut stopper les bruits de couloirs et les "on dit" qui peuvent être anxiogènes en donnant la parole à la Direction afin qu'elle communique sur sa feuille de route. Le collaborateur se sentira ainsi inclus dans le projet de l'entreprise. - faire contribuer ses collaborateurs au bon avancement de cette feuille de route leur permettra aussi d'être plus engagé et d'être partie prenante.

1. Establish a Crisis Communication Team Designate a Team: Form a crisis communication team responsible for managing all communications during the crisis. Assign Roles: Clearly define roles within the team, including spokespersons and points of contact for different departments. 2. Develop a Clear Communication Plan Identify Key Messages: Determine the key messages that need to be communicated. Choose Communication Channels: Decide on the appropriate channels (e.g., email, intranet, meetings) for different types of messages. Set a Schedule: Establish a regular schedule for updates to keep employees informed. 3. Be Honest and Transparent Acknowledge the Situation: Address the crisis directly and acknowledge the issue.

Before communicating effectively during a crisis, it's crucial to fully understand the situation. Gather all relevant facts and establish a single source of truth to prevent rumors from spreading. As the authoritative voice, your goal is to cut through the noise with accurate and reassuring messages. Focus on informing employees about what they need to know to stay safe and continue their work, without overwhelming them with unnecessary details.

In a crisis, most key functions are all in same storm, except in different boats. When stress is high, the nerves have to be calmed. So, contingency planning or preparing ahead is always vital. Core teams with representation from key functions must meet periodically to review and assess readiness. During these, the comms function must help map scenarios and build suitable response mechanisms in Communication templates for all key stakeholders groups are 'saviors' when your time to respond is low. These templates need to be integral to your BCP (Business Continuity Plan). Always be truthful, transparent, and timely in crisis communication. Share openly, address concerns candidly, and with integrity to all stakeholders, including media.

1. Think. 2. Know the reality. 3. Listen to the most directly affected people. 4. Manage perceptions. 5. Adapt perceptions to reality. 6. Make decisions & act accordingly. 7. Tell the truth. 8. Rectify & apologize if necessary. 9. Make sure that the crisis (problem) is over. 10. Write a short document based on experiences & learnings. 11. Read that document in times of peace (before the next crisis arrives).

Pray first to God every morning and evening of the day, then prepare yourself to win with the little solution in hoping that it becomes your inspiration to be great. Then make sure you are effective and on task every day by eliminating distractions. Don't let a million dollars be your goal, make your goals successful and the million dollars will come. The last item is love what you do.

Hire a writer. Most often companies get this most important piece of the puzzle done in-house by someone who ‘can write’! I think the key here is the word Crisis. If it truly is a crisis you need a specialist. Just like you would need if you were having a heart attack. A professional writer is someone who knows how to assess the situation, understand your priorities and craft a series of messages that get through to people.

One of the most beneficial things you can do as a communicator preparing for a crisis is to have a plan for signing off communications. Things will be changing quickly and while you're waiting for the higher ups to sign off your latest release, circumstances may have changed. Agree a streamlined process for sign off or better still be in the room at the table with the crisis management team and get sign off in real time. The other thing to watch for is accuracy. You might be working with less facts than usual, or fewer systems than normal, and you still need to ensure you fact check what is being issued and goes through a quality control process. Have a trusted person or group available at short notice to review your comms.

It's important to ensure that your internal message shares all the same facts (or more) as any external message. You don't want your employees learning anything about the crisis from the news rather than from their own company leadership. Work in tandem with external communications to ensure that your messages share the same facts, and whenever possible, share the internal message first before communicating externally.

I find it's always more impactful when the message comes from the CEO or leader of the organisation. Whilst an email that goes out to the whole organisation at once is good, a video message is better.

Selecting the right channels for your message is critical. Use email for detailed updates, instant messaging for quick alerts, and video conferencing for personal, face-to-face communication. Depending on the crisis, it might be essential to allow employees to directly interact with stakeholders who have the information. This ensures employees can get immediate answers and alleviates fear and uncertainty. Make sure the channels reflect the urgency and nature of the information and are accessible to all employees. Additionally, provide mechanisms for feedback to maintain an open line of communication.

Krisen sind anstrengend. Wer in Krisen die Kommunikation verantwortet, steht st?ndig unter Druck, hat zu wenig Zeit und zu viele B?lle zu jonglieren. Das stresst k?rperlich sowie emotional. Stress ist aber ein schlechter Krisenberater. Wenn wir gestresst sind, k?nnen wir nicht klar kommunizieren. Wir treten hektisch oder gereizt auf und schüren damit wom?glich weiteres Misstrauen. Dabei brauchen Krisen vertrauenswürdige Menschen, die klare Botschaften angemessen herüberbringen. Wer Krisenkommunikation verantwortet, braucht einen klaren Kopf und starke Nerven. Selbstfürsorge und der Umgang mit akutem Stress sind deshalb wesentlich, Krisen zu bew?ltigen. Am besten trainieren wir das, bevor die Krise kommt.