Communication crisis - how to prepare for it?

Responding to a crisis can determine the success or failure of an organisation. Even the best-run companies can suffer from unexpected events, such as a viral video from a disgruntled customer, an untold comment from an employee, a broken product or a cyber attack. How a company responds to a crisis will ultimately shine a light on the business or leave a crack on its reputation.

Learning communication strategies, or how to navigate through a crisis more effectively, is important for any organisation, whether it is a cosmetics corporation, a soap manufactory or a spa. As well as maintaining a good reputation, communicating effectively in a difficult situation can also speed up the response and return to the desired narrative around the company and reduce the damage.

What is crisis communication?

Crisis communication is about gathering, prioritising and managing the distribution of information to stabilise and minimise the impact of incidents – no matter what is behind it (e.g. reputational, financial, safety or employee issues).

A crisis communication plan is a strategy for responding, informing the environment and disseminating messages when any incident materially disrupts the normal course of an organisation’s business.

Prompt communication during a crisis reduces the risk of multiple interpretations of the situation and heightened anxiety. A well-developed action plan is essential to minimise damage to the organisation’s reputation. In addition, a well-considered handling strategy helps to speed up the response time to any unfortunate events.

When a company delays responding or fails to communicate with the community during a crisis, it exposes itself to the narrative created by the community and possible anger, which reduces trust in the company and exposes it to losses.

Crisis communication staff

To successfully navigate through a crisis, an organisation must develop a plan.

Effective communication strategies begin long before a crisis situation by identifying stakeholders and forming a crisis management team, i.e. those responsible for creating, executing and evaluating the effectiveness of the plan.

The crisis management team most often consists of:

• Public relations/social media officer
• Lawyer
• Managers of relevant departments (finance, production, HR)

Small and medium-sized film owners can rely on qualified external consultants to help them develop and enforce a process. A major advantage of using a PR agency, is that they can quickly spot an organisation’s weaknesses and their comprehensive experience in similar situations.

Then comes the time to identify potential risks and create scenarios for how the company will respond to alleged adverse situations. Some events are bound to be easy to imagine – from potential product defects, to incidents on the production line, accusations of greenwashing or allergies resulting from product use – while others should be abstract (who among us would predict a pandemic in 2019?).

Such an exercise – an industry and risk analysis – should shed light on the weaknesses of the organisation, enabling the crisis management team to prioritise how to respond to the most sensitive situations. Furthermore, it allows the selection of adequate communication tools, bearing in mind that nowadays social media plays a key role in crisis management.

Communicating effectively – how?

1. Time counts!

Traditionally, crisis management experts have relied on the ‘within the first 24 hours’ rule in the last decade – the ‘first hour after an incident’ in responding to critical incidents. However, in the age of social media, one hour can sometimes be too long.

Image experts recommend the 15-60-90 rule for effective crisis response time.

What does this mean? The organisation must respond to the incident within 15 minutes of its occurrence or disclosure. The announcement does not need to contain too much detail, but should confirm that the organisation is aware of and working to resolve the situation appropriately. This quick response builds the perception that the company (its communication channels), will be the point of information about the event. Thus, it is the company that takes over and shapes the narrative.

60 minutes – during this time the organisation provides more detail.

Within 90 minutes, a representative of the company should make a statement, whether in video form or through a ‘hundred’ in the media. The type of medium depends, of course, on the gravity of the situation the company is facing.

2. Communication that is honest, transparent and consistent.

Messages during a crisis should be simple and appropriate in form and style to the audience of the channels in which they are published. It is worth giving enough information so that people remain aware, while avoiding too many details that may cause confusion.

Words have the power to shape reality. Messages should be transparent to build and maintain trust. If there is no information shedding light on the crisis, it is effective to say… there is no information, rather than coming up with a seemingly quick response without informative content. Furthermore, inconsistencies in communication should be avoided.

Many organisations create draft statements in advance of a crisis, to have these waiting in a drawer for an instant response. Of course, it is difficult to predict what kind of crisis the company will encounter, but the form of the statement usually has a specific framework, the rehearsal of which speeds up action in stressful situations.

Prepared statements, are sometimes referred to as ‘holding statements’. One example might read: ‘We will immediately share further information/publish it on our social media and/or website’.

3. One voice and concern.

When writing communications, make sure that the most important information is the first thing readers see. Keep it simple in form and content. Communicating with care and empathy during a crisis is one of the best ways to effectively navigate an unwanted incident.

Importantly, a plethora of comments from the company creates chaos, so appoint one (or a small number of people authorised to speak on behalf of the company). Public relations officers should be qualified and competent to act as a spokesperson. The appropriate choice of words is usually crucial during crises. Each sentence should be balanced and not leave a multiplicity of interpretations.

4. Feedback monitoring.

Collecting comments and information about the situation gives the organisation insight into what people are writing and how they perceive the incident. The information obtained also provides the organisation with the opportunity to assess how crisis communication worked in real time (assessing the tone of statements, sources of discussion and opinion leaders).

Studying the publications of Internet users helps to understand public perception and can inspire communicators, for example, to create pertinent statements. It also helps to collate the most frequently asked questions and edit the answers – thus preparing FAQs, which speeds up communication and reduces the number of individual queries.

What is more, media monitoring makes it possible to detect a potentially problematic situation quickly, which can lead to a potential crisis being extinguished in advance.

5. All possible channels.

There is no way to predict where people will look for information about an incident. Therefore, it is important to use all brand channels and share messages effectively during a crisis. In addition, consider working with industry influencers (influencers, brand ambassadors) who can help get your desired message out to a wider audience.

Keep in mind not only external channels, but also internal channels. It is worth informing employees about the situation and sensitising them before engaging in discussions about it. Journalists or internet users may try to ask any person working in the company for a comment, which is why it is so important not to forget to take care of your employees in a crisis. they should always refer to the designated communications person.

Preparing for a crisis is an investment in the company’s future

In a world of information, where rumours spread faster than fire, thoughtful communication is the key to surviving a crisis. An effective information policy is not just about publishing a statement in response to events. It is a process that requires the involvement of the entire company.

Regular exercises – simulation exercises, updating communication plans and analysing the industry for risks – are key elements that will enable an organisation to face challenges. Don’t forget Monica Czaplicka’s 8P principle of social media crisis.

How a company handles a crisis can have a long-term impact on its relationships with customers, business partners and investors.

Expert text for Wirtualne Kosmetyki.