5 Top tips for crisis communications, in a crisis

As I’m sure many of you are right now, I’m sitting at home looking at a small screen and keyboard. Over recent months some of you may also have had to try to balance this working environment with the delights of home-schooling (yes I’d still swap it for the daily Waterloo & City sardine run, just..)

The broad Yorkshire-accented teacher I overheard most mornings always started with “and remember kids; train hard, win easy”.  In my school days it was fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Mantras that are more pertinent now than at any other time in a generation for businesses and boardrooms.

Now seems a very good time therefore to remind ourselves about the importance of planning, and take a COVID-19 reality check on what a textbook crisis communications plan might entail.

1. Ideally, have a plan. What are you going to say and do in certain scenarios?  If you don’t have a page entitled “what to do if someone in a seafood market in Wuhan is infected with a virus from a bat/pangolin which causes the largest financial crisis in 100 years”, then list the possible and actual impacts your business is experiencing. Agree what you are going to say, who is going to say it and how to get hold of these spokespeople when you need them.

2. Behind the agreed responses you have speedily added to your plan, assign key roles. Who will be monitoring social and traditional media, responding to press calls, responding to client calls, providing legal or regulatory input if required?  And be joined up, understanding each other’s roles will help prevent things falling through the cracks. And keep all your staff in the loop, briefing them on key developments as and when required.

3. Respond quickly to that first press, client or broker call. Then back it up when you have a more detailed response; update your website, social media feeds and other client communication channels with statements and updates outlining the action you’re taking. You must have a COVID-19 response on your website’s homepage, reassuring that (hopefully) you remain open for business and here for your clients. Do not let them guess or be told by competitors.

4. Be honest. There is a big difference between not sharing all the information on a particular subject and not telling the truth. The latter is a complete no-no and brings significant reputational risk and potential regulatory and legal issues down the line which may outweigh the short-term pain.

5. Review and learn from your performance. Post-crisis it will be easy to be relieved that worse-case scenarios didn’t come to fruition, that the pandemic’s impact on staff and bottom line was not as bad as initially feared. But be honest in your assessment. How robust was the plan, did you stick to it, how did it play out in the media, what do your key clients think of your organisation now?

How can we help you?

If you would like support in developing your crisis communications plan get in touch with the team at Full Circle. Either email us info@fullcirclecomms.co.uk or click here and we’ll be happy to chat through your challenges.