Plan not just to survive a crisis but to thrive

As the saying goes, never waste a crisis.

No sane person would wish for bad news about their organization. The worst negative news prompts existential crisis. When it's really bad, people are fired or convicted, customers flee, funding is cut, reorganization is mandated. As communications director, your job is to stabilize the organization by minimizing existential overreaction.

If you do it right, you'll not only be successful but the organization will wind up benefiting from the attention.

Are we talking about sleight of hand or outright magic?

Popular culture suggests this is done by shading the truth, cover up and possibly cold-blooded crimes. Smart professionals recognize that building on a foundation of lies and other misdeeds will only make matters worse when they come to light, compounding the scandal rather than mitigating it.

Besides, I personally don't have what it takes to lie with a straight face, break into a media office to steal files or crush a reporter's kneecaps. I hope you don't either, although you might be tempted. So, leave all that foolishness to Hollywood, and let's consider a recipe for lemonade, so to speak.

That's when people ask why it happened, who is to blame and what is going to be done about it.

The proverbial lemons that life has just given you will at least come in two stages. The first is when the public is asking what happened, who is involved and what is the impact. As uncomfortable as they may be to deal with, your communications training and planning should carry you through this phase just fine as long as you remember to be as forthcoming as possible.

The second round of questions are the really dicey ones. That's when people ask why it happened, who is to blame and what is going to be done about it. If these get out of hand, the public may begin gunning for a scapegoat like your CEO or even your whole organization. You won't be able to simply spin your way out of that.

You won't have to if you've put together a crisis-communications plan that is truly strategic and not just reactionary.

Too often, the plans I've seen stop at assigning roles for the day the news breaks and crafting a few bland "holding statements" that can be issued while more responsive statements are being put together and approved. That's good for as far as it goes, but what is the strategy for this second round of questions?

You need to give this plenty of thought and research now because a crisis is no time for quiet contemplation.

Here's what you do. 

All the talking in the world won't dissuade them from these second- and third-day stories once they sense there is an audience for them.

First, recruit your friends to stand up for you. Tap your board, your suppliers, customers, competitors, trade association, whoever. Urge them to defend you in letters to the editor, on social media and be available for interviews. 

They won't all be willing. Some undoubtedly will secretly delight in your misery. Others, though, will recognize they could be next and that they are generating a ton of goodwill by appearing to be the calmer heads calling for moderation. Plus, having you owe them a favor is another reason for them to step up.

Send them the fact sheets you release to the media. Ensure they are as well informed as possible so they don't risk embarrassing themselves with incomplete details. 

They will form what political campaigns call the Truth Squad. The credible independent sources who counterbalance the knee-jerk public reaction to slash and burn your organization for one mistake.

Second, draw from your research files to suggest follow-up stories to the media. If they find that your story has legs in the form of reader or viewer interest, then they'll want to run with it. All the talking in the world won't dissuade them from these second- and third-day stories once they sense there is an audience for them. So, instead of trying to fend them off, use a little jujitsu to steer them into a productive direction.

Here is how you make a crisis work for you. Find scientific studies, academic papers and even media reports on how similar crises were triggered or aggravated by factors beyond your control, such as regulations, poor education, lack of community infrastructure, etc. Your allies in the Truth Squad can help with this message along with the story ideas you're feeding reporters.

This might seem just mere deflection, but not when you consider the third step. That's to generate a groundswell to overcome this problem you have just helped the media to uncover. 

Sponsor a town hall meeting. Invite all your natural allies as well as the existing advocates for this solution. If the answer to preventing your crisis from recurring is a better emergency room, then invite the local medical association and the nurses union. Be sure to include the chamber of commerce and elected officials because your crisis tarnished the community's reputation with all the news accounts, and expanding the emergency room will show folks the true character of the community.

Suddenly, the public is rallying around this cause out of recognized need or community spirit or political opportunism, and they're no longer throwing rocks are your organization. 

It reminds me of when I waited tables while an undergraduate at the University of Georgia. I found that, despite being the typical klutzy freshman, some of my biggest tips came from when things went wrong, like spilled iced tea or a dropped baked potato. That's because I was always quick to apologize and make things right.

If you missed Part I, here it is.

Walter Jones is a communications professional with experience within political campaigns, government and the news media. He is a former president of the Atlanta Press Club.