10 Tips to Prepare For a Crisis

A crisis within your organisation can take many forms and all should be considered as possibilities with a crisis communications plan developed for each scenario, whether you are B2C, B2B or NFP.

It can happen anywhere at any time, online or offline, and you can be assured whether you are at fault or not, your reputation is on the line.

At the serious end it could be a product recall or it could even be where someone has attacked you in the media.

In this short post, I can’t provide a complete overview of what’s required, but I can, hopefully, encourage you to take crisis management seriously and be prepared for when a crisis does occur.

One recent example of a crisis involved a tour bus smashing into the Montague Street bridge in Melbourne. This image shows someone, presumably an employee, trying to cover up the branding of the bus company. (click on image to read more.)

Fortunately — and surprisingly — no-one was killed but it was the ‘cover-up’ of the logo that occupied the airwaves for some time.

Trying to hide just doesn’t cut it in crisis communication. Here are 10 tips that will help you in making sure you survive your next crisis.

1. Conduct an audit examining all the possibilities for a crisis and create a plan for each crisis.

2. Appoint a spokesperson who will speak empathetically, sounds authoritative and will provide reassurance to all stakeholders and the public. Have a backup in case the primary spokesperson is unavailable.

3. Create a contact list for each crisis identifying everyone who needs to be involved and notified if and when it occurs. Make sure they know they are on the list and given a copy of the plan.

4. Ensure you have a social media team involved as Twitter and other social media are usually the first to break bad news. Depending on the crisis, other key personnel to be considered include legal, the board, IR, unions, industry associations and security.

5. Simulate the crisis, not once, but every year as well as reviewing your plan and updating the contact list.

6. Don’t delay your responses when requested. Even if you don’t have any answers, you can explain what you believe the situation to be and what actions you and the company have taken.

7. Keep your responses simple and don’t use business and industry jargon. Be as honest and transparent as you can.

8. Tailor messages for each social media channel and where possible or required, respond to each individual message.

9. Monitor everything and measure its impact.

10. Post crisis, identify what did and didn’t work and review your plan.

I look forward to any comments you may have.