The unexpected happens. Something happens to your business...theft,
fire, loss of a primary supplier or regional catastrophe, the death
or serious injury of a key employee or a customer, an expose related
to your industry is on the 6 o'clock news, or perhaps someone in
your organization is allegedly involved in criminal activities.
Readiness is the key to surviving a company crisis. Delays in
reaction can mean the difference between a minor setback and
disaster.
Study how other companies respond during crisis. Remember the 1982
Tylenol poisoning crisis? The manufacturer, Johnson and Johnson,
reacted quickly, with candor and concern and launched an extensive
public relations program that restored a good image in both their
product and their corporation as a whole.
Contrast this with the way the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis was
handled. Although the crisis was the result of equipment and
operator failure, reluctance by officials to treat the situation
seriously from the onset, and a total lack of communication
exacerbated the crisis. The little information released was sketchy
and inaccurate. People were angry and frightened. The media had a
field day.
Now, which way do you want to handle a crisis? What steps can you
take to prepare a crisis communication plan?
CHOOSE
Assemble a team of employees based on differing areas of expertise.
Define responsibilities of team members and create a contact matrix.
Be sure each member knows who does what. Assure all are educated and
trained in best practices for crisis communications. Designate a
spokesperson.
ANTICIPATE
Anticipate scenarios. What types of situations could happen to your
company? What are the trends in your industry doing? Look at what
your competitors are doing. Look at examples in the media. What are
public and employee perceptions of your company? Create a threat
matrix based on likelihood of events. Make practice runs based on
types of crises in the threat matrix.
IDENTIFY
Who are your stakeholder groups? Each group will need the messages
tailored to fit their concerns. Don't forget your employees are
stakeholders as well. You will need to keep all interested parties
informed or people will draw their own, often wrong, conclusions.
PREPARE
When a crisis looms, people will have questions and concerns. Be
prepared to quickly answer questions and have a clear and consistent
message. Be ready to allay concerns and anxiety. Practice messages
and answers to assure they are clear and understandable. Quash
rumors with facts. Create draft templates for fact sheets, press
releases, and statements.
FOSTER
Build relationships with customers and the community well before a
crisis happens. Trust is key during the crisis and it takes time and
effort to build up credibility.
ANALYZE
Always debrief after a crisis. What did we do right? What can we do
better next time? Did we get our message out?
UPDATE
Once you have a crisis communications plan in place, revisit it
frequently to be sure all bases are covered. Take what you learn
during a crisis to improve plan.
About the Author:
Karen S. Sieczka is the founder of Karen S. Sieczka Training and
Curriculum Development, http://home.earthlink.net/~ksieczka/. She is
currently writing Foundations of Leadership, a workbook on
leadership development and has developed short trainings on employee
enrichment issues. Sieczka also writes articles and tip sheets on
various subjects including aging, literacy, and crisis
communications issues. She can be reached at ksieczka@earthlink.net