Organization

Survive the Unthinkable Through Crisis Planning

What is a Crisis?

A crisis is a situation that has reached an extremely difficult or dangerous point.

A crisis is an event, revelation, allegation or set of circumstances which threatens the integrity, reputation, or survival of an individual or organization.

Crisis management means

· having a plan in place,

· having identified who will do what,

· and having practiced the plan for most conceivable events.

No organization can just "wing it."

You need to develop a crisis management plan.

You need to develop variations of the plan to cover any emergency your company might be expected to encounter.

The goal of the plan itself is to ensure your people have the tools to get the crisis under control as quickly as possible to minimize the damage.  

It's about Proactive vs. Reactive  

Crisis Communications Planning is the process of managing the strategy, messages, timing and distribution channels necessary to communicate effectively with the media, employees, core constituencies, clients, customers and stake holders.

The focus of the crisis communications function is to facilitate the rapid de-escalation of the crisis through timely and effective communications methods.

Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act

The idea behind success, in a dogfight, a business situation, or a crisis, is to complete loops of decision making that are faster than those around you, such as your adversaries.

We want to shorten the life cycle of our decisions without increasing the failure rate of the decisions made.

If we have no preparation, if we don't take into account all the elements of the environment, including the possibilities of problems that haven't occurred but may, then we are

· either too slow in our decisions to be careful, and this allows the other guy to do things faster and thus better than us,

· or we are either too hasty in our decisions, and this leads to costly errors.

For crisis communication, preparation guarantees orientation

· In a crisis, you job is not to minimize the stockholder expense, it is to maximize the company's chances of survival. You need to limit the cost, but also you need to limit the damage to the company's reputation and credibility.  

· You need to react as quickly as a crisis breaks.  

· By acting quickly, and doing immediately the things you are eventually have to do anyway, you maximize your chances of staying ahead of events where you have some chance to influence the story.

What's the DEAL?

An effective crisis communications plan should:

·  D efine response strategies that can be implemented when a crisis occurs;

·  A ssign crisis communications resources and responsibilities;

·  E nable you to reach target audiences with key messages, and

·  L aunch public information and media relations campaigns immediately during a crisis.

In a crisis tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth.

Other things to remember:

· Never try to lie, deny or hide your involvement.

· If you ignore the situation it will only get worse.

· Don't let the lawyers make the decisions. While they are good intentioned it may cause the crisis to escalate.

· The cause of almost all crises fall into two broad categories:

· Overt acts and acts of omission.

· Issues of competence or lack thereof in matters of public perception.

Crisis Communications Plan Checklist

· Can we move immediately?

· Can we switch on a plan?

· Can resources be called out immediately, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day?

· Do we know what to say?

· Do we know who we want to reach - in order of priority?

· Do we have trained crisis communications managers to implement our plan?

Steps to Plan for a Crisis

1. The need for, and benefits of, a plan.

2. The types of crises which your organization may face.

3. Categorize these under broad headings: accidents, financial, personnel, abuse, etc.

4. Identify crisis management team - both permanent and ad hoc members, the decision-making process, approvals, etc..

5. Establish protocols, sign-offs, responsibilities, time frames (the goal is to short-circuit the usual decision-making approvals to allow the organization to be able to react quickly enough in a crisis). Identify third-party potential supporters or credible experts who can play a role in public assurances (for example, U.S. FDA Commissioner David Kessler's role of public reassurance during the Pepsi syringe-in-a-bottle crisis was a vital component of the Corporation's credibility).

6. Coordinate responsibilities with other Departments and agencies, and corporations and how they are to be involved - define criteria for designating lead agency status.

7. The principles which apply when communicating with the media.

8. Identify and prioritize target audiences and then identify channels of communications; update media list; consider alternate communications sources: newsletters, Internet, email, fax-on-demand, 1-800 lines,

9. Develop stand-by message and tactics. Prepare templated media tools, ready-to-use: news releases, media statements, fact sheets, backgrounds which should be prepared in advance, etc.

10. A system to test the crisis management plan.

11. How the crisis management plan can be assessed post-crisis so that the organization can learn from each one.

· College Example : http://webpages.acs.ttu.edu/jstill/3365/Plan_Example.htm

The Crisis Communication Team

Should be comprised of individuals who are key to the situation. Include as a minimum...

· the CEO,

· the chief of Public Relations,

· the Vice President,

· the Senior manager from the division in charge of the area that was involved in the situation that has brought about the crisis,

· the safety and/or security officer,

· the organization Lawyer,

· organization's designated spokesperson (and backup)

· anyone else who might be able to shed some light on the situation such as eye witnesses.

Media Strategy and Plan

Here are the key things to remember when dealing with the media in a crisis situation:

· Know what you want to say and repeat it often

· Don't wait until you have "something to tell them". If you don't know, tell them you don't know and when you might have an answer.

· Be honest.

· Stick to the facts. Don't guess or speculate.

· Be concise and direct.

· Be aware of non-verbal communication you give. Dress appropriately, watch you mannerisms, and stay cool.

· Know the level of understanding of the reporter and their audience and speak to that.

· Have talking points or key messages prepared.

Sample News Release :

http://webpages.acs.ttu.edu/jstill/3365/crisis_notes.htm#Sample%20News%20Release

Designated Spokesperson

In a crisis, the communicator's responsibilities include:

· Ensuring that the quality of communications itself does not become the issue.

· Driving the communications process pro actively rather than in a merely reactive manner.

· Maintaining tight control over who speaks on behalf of the organization. All media and public communications should be limited to one spokesperson wherever possible. Utilize the public role of the CEO or the Agency Head to the maximum benefit. This means making the CEO visible early and at key announcements throughout the process.

· Staying on message. Never make accidental news. Rigorously brief key officials prior to any announcement and role-play all awkward questions to ensure consistency of messages.

· Demonstrating empathy and caring about people; recognize public anxiety - don't dismiss it.

Criteria for the spokesperson, backup spokesperson and crisis communication expert is:

· comfortable in front of a TV camera and with reporters.

· preferably, skilled in handling media,

· skilled in directing responses to another topic,

· skilled in identifying key points,

· able to speak without using jargon,

· respectful of the role of the reporter,

· knowledgeable about the organization and the crisis at hand

· able to establish credibility with the media,

· able to project confidence to the audience,

· suitable in regard to diction, appearance and charisma,

· sincere, straightforward and believable,

· accessible to the media and to internal communications personnel who will facilitate media interviews,

· able to remain calm in stressful situations.

In addition to the primary spokesperson and the backup spokesperson, individuals who will serve as technical experts or advisors should be designated. These resources might include a financial expert, an engineer, a leader in the community or anyone your company deems necessary during a specific kind of crisis.

More on Media Handling, Presentation and Media Do's and Don'ts

Media Questions and Focus of Coverage < first news cycle

· What happened? (focus on facts or allegations)

· How much? (damage, money involved)

· Who was involved? (victims, accused etc.)

· What are you doing to help? Is there a credible response underway?)

Nature of Initial Coverage:

· The media must report immediately with little or no background or context.

Therefore, early on in a crisis, there is a heavy reliance on rumors, eye-witness accounts, unsubstantiated comments. Even though most journalists are responsible enough to label these comments appropriately, it doesn't prevent them from reporting rumors. This is particularly true of live radio or television coverage. "There is a report, Dan, which we cannot confirm at this time, that the company has had a history of these incidents

Media Questions and Focus of Coverage < second news cycle

· What was the cause of the accident, incident, bank collapse? (every conceivable cause is explored)

· Is this part of a pattern?

· Who will pay?

· What is the potential damage to reputation, stock price, ability of campaign to survive, political support, or future plans?

Media Questions and Focus of Coverage < subsequent news cycles

With full-blown media coverage, the media are in a feeding frenzy. It's no longer a case of defined "news cycles" (which live broadcasts have virtually eliminated anyway). Instead, the media are crawling over each other to report anything about the case. Every morsel of information is feasted upon.

Verified and unverified information is treated equally. It still doesn't have to be true, it just has to be "interesting". The mistake most organizations make is to keep adding "wrinkles" to the original story thus ensuring the issue stays in the news.

The event will spiral out of control into a full-blown crisis if a new and damaging allegation or revelation comes along. When new issues emerge some organizations are unfortunately still fighting "yesterday's issue". The organization can become either frozen in fear or fires back all guns blazing in a transparent effort to shift the blame.

What will further seal the fate of the company is if the CEO tries to stay out of it (under the mistaken impression that the right image to convey is "business as usual").

Practicing Tough Questions

A crisis situation is always difficult when dealing with the media. Therefore, tough questions and rehearsals are necessary to help the spokesperson prepare.

It is important, at the onset of the crisis, that the spokesperson, backup and advisors spend some time rehearsing prepared statements and answers to possible "tough" questions that may be asked by reporters. If possible, similar rehearsals should be conducted prior to each media interview, briefing or news conference. It is also important to anticipate and practice new questions as the story evolves.

It is better to over-prepare than to be surprised by the depth of questioning by the media. Be tough and be prepared.

The Communications/Public Relations staff should prepare questions and answers for the practice sessions. These questions and answers should be for internal use only and not for distribution outside the organization.

Don't volunteer information unless it is a point the company wants to make and the question hasn't been asked.

Don't talk off the record.

Prepared Statements

If you don't communicate immediately, you lose your greatest opportunity to control events. (Below is a fill-in the blanks news release that can be used with little or no preparation as your first news release). Your first news release should include at a minimum the who, what, when and where of the situation.

You must give the facts that have been gathered from reliable sources and confirmed. Don't over-reach and don't speculate. There is a limit to your role. To exceed that limit is a mistake. If you do nothing more than show concern for the public and for your employees in your first press interaction, you are already on the right track. The corollary of expressing concern and generating good will at the consumer level is securing the loyalty of your customers and employees by taking the initiative to share information with them. If your employees and customers don't feel like insiders, they are going to act like outsiders.

You must have a prepared statement on hand that can be used to make an initial general response to the media when knowledge about the crisis first becomes known on a widespread basis or by reporters.

As the crisis progresses and new information and facts become available, it is also advisable to develop prepared statements to be made by the spokesperson at the onset of any media interview, briefing or news conference.

These prepared statements also can be read over the telephone to reporters who call to request information but are not represented at news conferences or briefings. The statement can also be sent by FAX or e-mail upon request.

Sample News Release

A ___________________ at ____________________ involving __________________ occurred today at ________________ . The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming.

A (what happened) at (location) involving (who) occurred today at (time). The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming.

For instance:

An explosion at 1210 Market Street, the main plant for the Acme Toy Company occurred today at 3 p.m. The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming.

You could put down a definitive time for the next news conference or release of information if you know it but it is not necessary. This will not solve your problems, but may buy you enough time to prepare for the next news conference or release.

When you are answering questions . . .

- Remain friendly, cool-headed and confident.

- Answer only the questions asked and do so as succinctly and clearly as possible.

- Remember that you do not always have to know everything. You can say "I will have to check that out for you--please see me after the meeting.

- Avoid allowing one person to dominate the questions by moving on: "Thank you for your interest. I'll be glad to talk to you about your concerns after the meeting. Right now let's see if anyone else has questions for the group.

- See to it that arrangements are made for distributing information materials to the group, if requested/appropriate.