A crisis comes in all shapes and sizes. An employee accidentally or deliberately does something wrong, company leadership quarrels openly, hacked systems, fraud, an accident—the examples are endless. The fact is that 'something' happens quite often. For example, one in five entrepreneurs is a victim of cybercrime. What can you expect as a communications advisor when your organization is sucked into a crisis?
Phase 1: chaos
What is going on? What is happening? Who is affected? What should we do? Will we get through this as a company quickly or slowly? Can we still do our work? Time to take stock and gather information at full speed.
Phase 2: slightly less chaos
You have something resembling information. At the very least, you are in touch with everyone, but which way should we go? Now it's time to get a real overview. Assign roles. Put together a core team and ensure good communication among team members. Get to work: prepare an initial statement.
Phase 3: taking the reins a bit more
As things become clearer and the core team receives all available information (filtered or unfiltered), you can start drafting a communication plan. Who needs to be informed and when? Does a watchdog or perhaps even the police need to be involved? And what do they need to know? And most importantly: what are the scenarios for emerging from the crisis?
Phase 4: crossing the threshold
Do you break the news yourself? Or do you wait until inquiries come from outside? If your operations are affected and customers or suppliers are impacted as a result, you have no choice but to communicate. So you need to inform the people involved with your company. Colleagues first, of course, so that everyone is in the loop. Once you communicate, you can assume that the (trade) press will also reach out and that there is a chance people on social media who have no direct connection to your company will chime in. How do you handle that?
Phase 5: a way out?
Everything comes to an end. Even a crisis. What is your way out? How are you going to get there? When do you draw a line under the event? Will it take a bit longer? What are the steps you need to take in the coming period? To govern is to foresee.
Phase 6: after-care
At some point, the storm will die down. Time to catch your breath. Or is it? Don't forget that a crisis has an impact on your reputation but, even more importantly, on your colleagues. Keep communicating and offer tailored support where needed. And, of course, take care of yourself too. A crisis takes its toll.
Be prepared!
Do you want you and your colleagues to be well-coordinated when a crisis hits? Then come train under high pressure in Hibou's Boiler Room. It's thorough crisis media training, but also a playful team activity. In the Boiler Room, your team goes through a real crisis. That way, you can prepare for a crisis and be right on top of it when something actually happens.
Want to know more? Contact us.
