The Best Crisis Communications Begins Long Before the Crisis

Seven Tips to Help Businesses Prepare – and Possibly Avoid – Negative Situations | By Grant Gegwich, Independence Blue Cross

​As a public relations professional for more than 20 years, I have unfortunately become very familiar with how to deal with a crisis. Strikes, cybersecurity incidents, layoffs, employee misconduct – I’ve seen it all.
 
From first-hand experience, I can tell you that communicating about a situation that could negatively affect your business and its reputation is difficult. It’s time-consuming. It’s stressful. But there are ways to possibly make it at least at tiny bit easier.
 
What I’ve learned during my career is that good crisis communications begin well before a negative situation occurs. That’s why if you can’t completely avoid a crisis – and sometimes it can be out of your control – there are steps you can take to prepare. Here are seven:

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1. Conduct environmental scanning. What does this mean? Basically, it refers to reviewing external sources and factors that may impact your business. Read the news. Follow social media sites dedicated to your industry. Get to know your competitors. If something is negatively affecting your industry or a business like yours, you can expect that it could affect you.
2. Assess your vulnerabilities and manage risks. Do you know what your company’s weaknesses are? Are there things happening within your business that could lead to a crisis? Take the time to make that assessment. Identify areas of possible risk to your business and rank them by severity. And, if possible, do what you can do manage and address your vulnerabilities.
3. Establish a culture where bad news is shared. This refers to allowing your employees to talk about situations that they are concerned about; issues that can be addressed; potential threats; and more. Having free and open conversations can often uncover potential risks and give you the time – and ideas - to deal with them.
4. Know Your Stakeholders. Stakeholders are the groups of people who mean the most to your business. This can include your board, your customers, your neighbors, and other groups. When bad news hits, you’re going to have to communicate quickly to these important people. Create accurate lists – names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc. – of those people so that you do not waste time trying to do that when it’s needed most. You should also think about how you communicate with these stakeholders and make sure those channels (like social media, e-mail newsletters and more) are functional and supported.
5. Develop key messages. You probably already know what makes your business tick, your core values, and the image you’re looking to project to the world. But do you have these words written down and ready to go if you’re asked? It will help. You should also consider writing messages and frequently asked questions about your stances on controversial issues, your HR policies, and any other threats you found in your environmental scanning.
6. Plan ahead. Consider developing a plan that answers some basic questions about how your company would communicate during a crisis. Which stakeholders would you communicate with, in what order, and through what channels? Who would be your media spokesperson? If you’re not sure where to get started, you can find sample plans online. Also, there are a lot of great communications consultant and agencies in Delaware County who can help you get started with your planning.
7. Practice, practice, practice. It may feel a bit silly the first time you do it, but it can be very beneficial to get key employees together and run through a crisis scenario. It will help to expose questions and opportunities as well as help you to refine your plan and messaging.

 
As I said, communicating during a crisis is rough. Some of the most vivid and stressful moments in my career are when I’ve worked to protect my company’s name when bad news hits. But with a little bit of thought and work when things are quieter, you could possibly avoid putting yourself in such a situation, or at least lessen the possible affects from it.  

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Author

Grant Gegwich is the Director of Corporate Communications at Independence Blue Cross and is the current chairman of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce board. A Media resident, he has more than 25 years of corporate communications/public relations experience, including handling multiple crisis situations. He is also an adjunct college professor who has presented about a range of communications topics.