The PR Studio

Crisis communications is one of the most challenging and rewarding areas of public relations. There is no “one size fits all” formula to address a crisis situation. Crises come in many shapes and sizes and they are not all created equal. Although there is never one winning strategy to uniformly apply when you find yourself in a mess, there are some standard considerations to help your crisis team to devise a customized plan.

One thing is for sure which is that when a crisis occurs within your organization, a sense of urgency is paramount. It is always beneficial to be made aware of a crisis prior to receiving a media inquiry. You are at an advantage if you can actually alert the media to the issue prior to reporters finding out about it. It makes an enormous difference in the tone and placement of the initial stories. That is what happens in a perfect world and we live in anything but so what’s Plan B?

There are some steps that you need to take immediately:

1. Gather the people in one room who need to be there regardless of the day or time.

When faced with a crisis, time is of the essence. You might have a small window to get your ducks in a row, but not long. You are going to need to say something of some relative substance soon so get everyone together that has the necessary information and input. Decide who needs to be at the table and do not waste any time.

2. Start to assess the problem.

Even if it is at first blush, try to get some sense of how big of an issue it currently is and is going to be. What is the nature of the issue? What and who else in the organization is going to be affected? What are the external and internal ramifications? Does it require a look at issuing a policy or changing one? What areas are going to require a deeper look or analysis? What do we know for sure right now and where do we need answers? Who is responsible for securing those answers and how much time do they need to get them?

3. Anticipate media questions and develop answers to them.

So now you know you have a problem and if you completed the above step you have some sense of what you are dealing with. It is the job of the communications specialist in the room to be able to tell the others in the room what the team should anticipate for the obvious and maybe the less obvious media questions. Figure out as a group what you can answer now and what the proper tone and positioning should be. If you don’t have the answer to something, don’t make it up. It is perfectly OK to tell reporters in an unfolding situation that “we have many of the same questions that you do right now and we are working hard to get those answers for you.”

4. Decide on a public announcement strategy.

This again really depends on the nature of the crisis and what the surrounding circumstances are such as 1. Do media know already? 2. Is it exclusive information that was developed by one reporter? Those questions are part of your assessment phase and your strategy needs to be customized to the totality of your circumstances. What if media is not aware of the issue yet? Do you hold a press conference? Do you issue a press release? Do you call select reporters who are familiar with the organization and invite them in for an explanation or explain it to them over the phone? The answer is … it depends on the size of the mess and how complicated it is. I wish I had an easier answer for you than that but I don’t. I have helped many organizations navigate through many crisis situations and each one required a tailored and unique approach.

5. Consider your constituents and what is necessary to inform them.

Is there an internal audience that needs to be informed or maybe some key external decision-makers/stakeholders? The actual method in which you communicate to them may vary, but one thing remains the same which is consistency. Make sure everyone is getting the same information regardless of how you provide it. If there are too many people, having too many conversations before you know it, it becomes a game of telephone. Then you are trying to squash rumors and misconceptions.

6. Don’t stop moving FORWARD!

This is the “one size fits all” tactic in a crisis. Do not let a crisis consume every aspect of your public relations. Even if it is a major crisis and you are consumed, designate someone on the PR team who is the ‘business as usual’ person. Don’t stop issuing information on positive happenings just because you are inundated. The bad news is contagious and once you are in a crisis you will be subject to a pig pile mentality. The only way to get out from under is to keep moving forward with the other aspects of your organization. Even if reporters do not want to hear about anything other than the crisis, too bad… it is your job to keep telling them anyway and to try like heck to break the chain. If you allow the crisis to define your organization then it will.

7. Don’t be so afraid of the media reaction to a crisis that you overplay what the organization needs to do to fix it.

The blood runs cold through the veins of every executive faced with a potentially damaging and publicly humiliating situation. Everyone assumes the crash position and naturally wants to quickly put a distinct end to the source of the problem. Bad press has career-ending ramifications for people and causes extreme anxiety. Let’s face it, it can be scary to drive straight into the eye of the storm, but you still have to buckle your seatbelt and head into the center of the twister. However, don’t be so fearful of negative press that you overplay what the organization needs to do. That’s why it is important to have a small group of reasonable, thoughtful and opinionated people at the table to talk it out. If it’s really bad, then crush it, move mountains to make sure it is fixed and doesn’t happen again. If in the scheme of things you are looking at a minimal story then don’t remove a fly from your forehead with a hatchet. That too will leave an ugly and unnecessary scar.

Panic and over-reaction don’t play well for an organization and media reps are like bees, they can smell fear. A deliberate and thoughtful approach that clearly demonstrates management’s ability to manage and make decisions in the best interest of the organization is preferable. However, the crisis team has to try to think of and address everything and then let the public know that you have thought of and addressed everything to fix the issue and prevent a future occurrence. This way you cut back on media opinion pieces, editorials, etc which will shorten the life of the story.