Crisis Communications

If you are in a crisis now — scroll down for some guidance or ask for help.

There are no good options in a crisis — but you still have to choose one.

Crisis communications are all about navigating limited choices in less-than-ideal circumstances.

  • The news cycle is shorter — but online articles live forever

  • Generic responses damage public trust — they can add insult to injury

  • Social media commenters are not “the public” — or the majority

  • What is a crisis to you might not be a crisis to the public

  • What once was a crisis to the public might not be anymore (e.g. data breaches)

  • Navigate the options before you — they are not infinite, and you have to choose

  • Avoid mistakes: small mistakes have a big impact on public perception during a crisis

  • Communicate clearly: even if you can’t say much — say that, clearly

FAQ

  • If a current situation could put your company at stake, you are in a crisis.

    A crisis requires an extraordinary response — you need to take actions that are outside your ordinary activities.

    If you are in a crisis now, some immediate pointers are here.

  • Click here for immediate recommendations.

  • If you are in a crisis, you have important decisions to make. Having input from someone who is not involved will help mitigate against making decisions.

    Communications support can range from hiring a crisis communications agency, to simply having someone sit in and oversee.

    Ultimately — YOU are the expert. You know your customers better than anyone else.

  • Managing a crisis is simply making a series of decisions.

    You can work with an agency, with an individual consultant, or you can rely exclusively on your internal team.

    You can work with an agency, with an individual consultant, or you can rely exclusively on your internal team.

If you are in a crisis now…

STOP

Great! Now do this.

Turn off your phone.
For the rest of the day, you’ll communicate using your computer (messaging platforms, video meetings).
You will not pick up any phonecalls.

Clear your day.
This will be the focus of the rest of the day (or until you are blocked).
Delegate the rescheduling to someone else, if possible.

Eat and drink something.‍ ‍
You’re going to need to think clearly and make decisions, and you won’t notice that you forgot to eat, and you won’t notice how that affects your decisions (it does).

Don’t try to do it alone.
You need a thought partner who is not involved: ask for help or bring in someone you already know.

There is no rule book for crisis communications — every situation is different.

But, there is a process to help you navigate the choices before you.

1. Gather your team.

2. Situation analysis.

3. What’s the worst that can happen?

4. Options

5. Tell the truth. Say sorry.

Assemble the stakeholders. Refer them to the first three instructions.

Notify anyone who might need to be responsive at short notice — this list will always include your lawyer. Notify your PR and customer support teams that you are beginning a situation analysis and you will notify them as soon as you have information to share.

This is going to be the hardest part, hands down.

Don’t rush. Be meticulous and question everything. Don’t compile a report of “what happened” because that framing will force assumptions; instead, list “What we know” and “What we don’t know”. An assumption will be your biggest mistake, and knowing what you don’t know is your most valuable defense.

Every crisis response begins with a panicked response to the worst case scenario — but in most cases that scenario doesn’t play out, or isn’t even possible.

Start with the worst case scenario and find its failure points. The sooner you fail out the worst case scenario, the sooner you can move on to what’s more likely, and focus your attention where it will be more effective.

Crisis response is all about options.

You are in a crisis: don’t look for the best option — you might not have any “good” options so that framing will skew your approach. And don’t look for the “right” option — there is no single right option in any crisis. Look for the least bad option. Every option will have pros and cons: be explicit who they are better or worse for, and record your logic; you might need to defend your choice one day.

Spin smells a mile away. You’re better than that. Listen to your gut; be a human.