Getting a communications checkmate in the face of a company crisis

Trying to think strategically in the middle of a communications crisis is like trying to play chess while someone is punching you in the face!

I was recently reminded of this fact during a desktop exercise with a client. If you’ve never experienced these, they are the careful crafting of your organisation’s worst workday ever. That’s right – a sort of simulated nine circles of corporate hell where the skills (and sanity) of your entire senior leadership team comes under attack by a variety of challenging nightmares straight from the imagination of Dante himself.

The good news is these exercises are also an excellent way to prepare your team and protect your organisation in the face of most types of crises.

And what is a crisis??

It could be a sudden and dramatic decrease in funding, safeguarding issues concerning children or vulnerable adults; a fire or other significant damage to facilities; an investigation into the organisation by An Garda Síochána, a regulatory agency, or another public body, such as in response to a complaint. It could relate to misconduct by an employee, contractor, or volunteer, including criminal or unethical behaviour; a cyber-attack or major data security breach; financial irregularities; negative media coverage or social media posts that could harm the organisation’s reputation.

Why wait until one of those arrives to the door? By including a Crisis Communications Plan in your Communications Strategy, you won’t be scrambling for answers (which is no fun on a Sunday morning!)

And yes, a crisis could and does strike at any time!

What’s involved in a Crisis Communications Plan? You would complete a risk register that lists your vulnerabilities; establish your Crisis Response Team; agree on your protocols and procedures; train your spokespeople, identify your stakeholders and create your cascade list; draft your holding statements and set up monitoring systems.

That’s a great place to start. When the proverbial does hit the fan, you can activate your response.

Once the crisis is over – and it will eventually end whether in hours or weeks – review your plan and begin to repair your reputation. You might lose a few pawns along the way, but with a Crisis Communications Plan prepared in advance, a thorough session of media training for your spokespeople and the support of a great communications agency (I’m talking about us at Fuzion here!), you will emerge from the crisis with a glorious “checkmate”.

How many times has your inner voice said: “I really must look into getting a Crisis Communications Plan.” Don’t put it off anymore.? Listen to that uneasy feeling that you have in your gut – that’s not your chicken sandwich lunch talking – it’s a wise call to action!

If you want to know more about how Fuzion can help safeguard your organisation with a bespoke Crisis Communications Plan, help protect your spokespeople and messaging through media training or support you with a media office team to handle your crisis communications, drop us a line at [email protected]. Our Media Training team includes former broadcast and print journalists with decades of experience, corporate and crisis communications experts, and the skills you need to protect your organisation’s reputation, now and in the future.

Christine Christine Tobin is an experienced journalist and a Senior Account Manager with Fuzion. She is part of our Crisis Communications team and she also provides media training to clients.?