Storylines

It’s Not a Question of If, But When: Refreshing Your Business’s Crisis Planning and Communications?

When things are going well with business – sales are climbing, your team is growing, and clients are satisfied – it’s hard to imagine that something could suddenly go wrong. The truth is, crises often happen when you least expect them, and they can hit any company, at any time.??

At WordWrite, we pride ourselves on being a team of solution-driven optimists, but the potential for crisis is always at the back of our minds, and we aim to equip our clients with the best tools possible to navigate hurdles when – not if – they aris

Our crisis planning and communications services are designed to accommodate the needs and best practices of a range of industries and companies. We work alongside our clients to develop a crisis plan that suits their needs and helps define for them what a crisis is, and how to identify one. WordWrite’s crisis planning approach involves several components, including:??

• Identifying the company’s crisis response team and assigning roles and responsibilities?
• Developing comprehensive timelines and FAQs for each crisis scenario??
• Sharing messaging templates and holding statements for use with staff, stakeholders and media??
• Creating a media response cadence and interview guidelines??

Much like media training, crisis training – another service we provide – is a critical tool for companies when preparing for media interviews, conversations with clients, employees, partners and the larger community. You may think you would know exactly what to say when responding to tough questions in a crisis, but no matter how well you know your company and its daily operations, without proper training, you could end up putting your foot in your mouth or escalating the situation even further.??

Two training exercises we recommend companies implement regularly to best prepare for future crises are:??

Tabletop exercises: Talking through a potential crisis and running through various likely scenarios are great first steps to get the team thinking more deeply about what processes are already in place for crisis management, what’s missing, and who needs to be included in the conversation.??

Media interviewing: Media and presentation skills training will help your company spokesperson, or the key storytellers of your organization, learn and practice tried-and-true techniques for staying on message during press conferences, presentations and interviews.??

When was the last time your team practiced responding to a crisis, even when you weren’t currently dealing with one? If you can’t remember, or the answer is, “It’s been a while,” you're due for some practice.??

You may not always be able to predict when a crisis will arise, but with the right resources on hand, and a thorough routine for practicing messaging, interviews and proactive strategizing with your team, you’ll be in a much better position to navigate crises when they occur and train your team and key storytellers to do the same.??

Paul’s latest podcast appearance?

Paul was recently interviewed over Zoom for Revealing Genius’s The Great Work of Your Life Interview Series, where he chatted with Mary E. Maloney about his passion for storytelling and WordWrite’s trademarked StoryCrafting process. Check out their conversation at this link!?

How well do you know our WordWriters???

WordWrite offers a wealth of services for clients, but it’s the people behind those services that make the magic happen! Visit our team page to learn more about each of our WordWriters and their backgrounds, unique hobbies and favorite quotes.??