Crisis Communications Best Practices

Crises affect companies of all sizes across different industries.

This is not something you can ignore, and it affects different businesses in different ways. The inevitable nature of potential crises has made it very important for companies to have effective crisis communication strategies in place.

So, how does your company approach crisis?

Do you face this calmly, in a clear and decisive manner or do you go all out reactive and defensive? If your message appears combative or muddled, you certainly aren’t doing great at the moment.

Going forward, here are some of the crisis communications best practices that will help you manage critical situations to ensure you get some positivity out of what looks like a painful, stressful, and negative situation.

Having a workable crisis plan

Many crises come unannounced; some are however predictable. Without a crisis plan in place, the situation will become even more difficult. So, whether you’re working with an in-house team or outsourcing to professionals, you’ll want your plan to be cover every possible scenario that may trigger a crisis.

So, what exactly makes a great crisis communications plan?

Everything starts with a designated crisis management team with every critical department duly represented. The plan should also contain holding statements even for situations that seem unlikely.

Others include emergency contacts, an audit that can be completed as facts are unraveled, press release templates, designated spokespersons, clear social media policies, along with approved messaging channels through which information will be disseminated.

Working with reality

The team has to be prepared for the worst.

Today, it could be a small issue; tomorrow it could be a full-blown crisis, whatever comes, it’s always better to assess the situation before jumping into hasty conclusions.

So, once you’ve swiftly and properly assessed the situation to get your facts, what should follow this is an equally swift, factual, and genuine response. Your response should leave no room for misinterpretation and should be made as quick but precise as possible.

Owning up and making necessary fixes

One of crisis communications best practices involves keeping all the required parties informed of every known thing. Owning up to mistakes, apologizing and taking appropriate steps at quickly fixing the situation is always better.

Rather than being defensive or not saying much, it is always better to be honest and upfront with information. There’s no point adding more fuel to the fire. Owning up and making quick fixes will be very helpful to mitigate crisis early on.

Finally…

These are no doubt some of the best practices in crisis communications. However, that is not to mean you may not need outside help sometimes.

There are times when it would make much sense to hire an outside expert or a consultant to oversee your crisis communications plans and strategies.

You can’t afford not doing anything in the face of crisis. It’s always better to have a realistic and practicable plan in line with your business operations. It is equally better to respond swiftly to a crisis with the necessary actions.

As it turns out, every negative situation is an opportunity for your team even to make a positive impression. You shouldn’t exacerbate the situation, and that’s why you should consider incorporating these crisis communications best practices into your company’s crisis communications plans.