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Crisis Communications: Six Crisis Communications Tips Toward Readiness
Anyone who has ever been in a crisis knows just how fast things
can spin out of control. Once you're in a crisis, planning is a
luxury you can't afford. Taking proactive steps to safeguard
your reputation becomes harder, as you scramble to react to each
new revelation or accusation.
As a result, many organizations reflexively 'shut down' taking a
'head in the sand' approach with the public. Others rapidly
shift from one strategy to the next, shopping for something,
anything that will resonate with the public.
In fact, so many high-profile gaffes have occurred, the public
might be forgiven for wondering just who if anyone is in charge
of the nation's leading institutions and corporations.
From the failure of the former Director of FEMA to acknowledge
the suffering evident to anyone with a television screen in
flood ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi, to the unintelligible
or unbelievable statements of baseball legends called before
Congressional committees investigating the use of steroids; the
forehead slapping moments ('What were they thinking?') continue
to preoccupy us.
So what can executives learn from such high-profile blunders?
First and foremost, its that crises don't HAVE to leave
reputations in ruin. It's not the crisis as much as the way you
react to it that deeply impacts your public reputation.
That means the time to plan your crisis response is before your
crisis occurs.
But how do you plan for the unexpected?
There are a few key steps every organization can take to
safeguard your hard-earned reputation in a crisis
CREATE A CRISIS TEAM
This group of first responders has to be large enough to get the
job done, but not so large as to be unwieldy. Include only
essential decision makers.
ASSIGN CLEAR TASKS AND LINES OF COMMAND
Make sure everyone knows the job they've been assigned during a
crisis, who they'll report directly to, and how often. Key
positions include handling internal and external communications
with key stakeholders. Detailed record keeping by each member of
the team is essential. Repeatedly ensure that contact
information for
each member of the team is updated and that
modes exist for two-way communication.
APPOINT A SPOKESPERSON
Limit the number of people speaking during a crisis,
particularly to outside parties. Make sure the spokesperson is a
member of the crisis team and is kept well-informed on an
on-going basis.
ESTABLISH SYSTEMS OF COMMUNICATION TO THE PUBLIC AND TO THE MEDIA
Temporary websites, hotlines and direct media outreach are
proven methods of keeping the media and the public informed
during a crisis. Make sure you have a media kit at the ready
containing information about your company or organization, as
well as a list of approved contacts. Make sure anyone answering
phones understands to forward all inquiries to the appropriate
parties.
DECIDE ON A RESPONSE
Agree on and establish messages early and review them often as
events unfold. Seek to tell what you know, when you know it. You
simply cannot wait until everything is known to issue your
response. It's essential that people and safety issues are
addressed first in every communication. Know that every
stakeholder will want questions answered about what happened,
why it happened, and what will happen next.
DON'T LET OTHERS DELIVER BAD NEWS FOR YOU
If there's bad news, make sure your key stakeholders and the
public hears it from you, not from regulators, the news media or
others. Get the bad news out quickly and at once, rather than
slowly and piecemeal.
Aileen Pincus is a former reporter,U.S. Senate executive
staffer, and public relations executive, who now provides crisis
and media training, as well as presentation and speech training,
as president of her own communications firm in Maryland. She can
be reached at http://www.thepincusgroup.com or at (301) 908-3896
About the author:
Aileen Pincus is a former reporter,U.S. Senate executive
staffer, and public relations executive, who now provides crisis
and media training, as well as presentation and speech training,
as president of her own communications firm in Maryland. She can
be reached at http://www.thepincusgroup.com or at (301) 908-3896
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