Crisis Communications: Drills are as important as having a good plan
Third of a three-part series
Those who fail to plan, plan to fail – this is never truer than when you and your business are in the midst of a crisis.
Having a good plan won’t make conflict disappear, but it will make things easier in the end. In crisis communications it’s important to have an effective plan that has been put to the test.
Essentials of a good crisis communications plan begin with:
Getting everyone involved in a crisis brainstorm – this helps you gain multiple insights and by getting everyone’s perspective you’re more likely to already have their buy in for when a crisis actually happens.
Brainstorming all types of potential crisis situations that your business will or might face in the future helps you better organize for an actual crisis.
Developing a step-by-step plan of what to do in a crisis and who handles what aspects. Be sure to include details like phone numbers for key players, within and outside of the organization; as well as scripts for talking to the media; media release templates; and any other forms that might be procedurally important.
Once you’ve gone through all of these steps and the plan has been approved as a good, viable fit for your business, put your plan into action. When I worked for a hospital, we actually went through a community crisis implementation where we would have one or two days set aside each year to work through a mock crisis. From accidents with large community casualties to bomb threats, we had a plan. Every employee knew her role and had a step-by-step script from which to work.
As important as it is to have a plan, it’s also crucial to practice implementing that plan so you and your business are fully prepared when a crisis arises.
Practice may not mean perfect in this case, but it does mean that cooler heads will prevail if you have actually walked through your plan as if a real crisis had occurred.
Make sure all key players have an updated, easy-to-follow copy of the plan – they need to know and understand the plan.
If needed, get other business partners involved – you might all benefit from the process, in addition to building on your relationship.
There’s nothing quite like going through a mock crisis. Once the role play is over, have a debriefing and get feedback from everyone involved to make any necessary changes.
Implementing your plan helps you more readily identify holes in your process that need to be fixed or other elements that need to be changed or added.
Having a well-thought-out crisis communications plan that has been put into action and tested will help your business ride through and survive the inevitable storms with greater confidence.
Karen Hamilton is communications manager at McCauley Communications. Email her at karen@mccauleycommunications.com.
