Planning for effective crisis communication

Planning for effective crisis communication

A robust crisis communications strategy should comprise three key elements:

1. Crisis Communication Planning

The crisis communication plan details how the organisation intends to engage with its key stakeholders in a crisis and to mitigate potential damage to its business, reputation and relationships. It should include an outline of the communication organization, its interface with the Crisis Management Team and protocols for ensuring all available communication channels are properly coordinated. It should also describe functional roles, with checklists to guide initial actions and to ensure that the response is consistent in tone and messaging to every audience, across every touchpoint.

2. Real-Time Crisis Response

Communication should be an integral part of any organisation’s response, from the first activation of the Crisis Management Team. In today’s “always on” media environment, that means being ready to confirm factual information and to describe how the organisation is reacting in real time, as the first reports and images are spreading across social media and into mainstream news channels.

3. Recovery and Post-Crisis Review

Once the situation begins to stabilise, the organisation will need to develop a communication strategy to support the recovery and potentially to facilitate the adjustment to a new, post-crisis reality. This will require setting clear and measurable objectives; carefully considering what the different audiences need and expect to hear; the message framework which will underpin the recovery strategy; and how to use the full spectrum of paid, earned, shared and owned communication channels.

No crisis should ever be wasted, so there should also be an honest and transparent post-action review of “lessons learned”, to build organizational resilience and ensure mistakes are not repeated in the next crisis

Senior Consultant John Bailey has made his mark in global crisis communications strategy. In this article John provides a powerful example of, and valuable insight into Crisis Communications and the importance of preparation. Contact Tantalus to benefit from John’s expert counsel.

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About Crisis Communications strategy expert John Bailey

John Bailey has spent more than 25 years helping companies around the world to prepare for, and respond to, reputation challenges and crises. He is the author of the Best Practice Guidelines on Crisis Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age, published by the International Air Transport Association. This is the definitive guide for the global aviation industry on adapting crisis response plans to meet the challenge of an “always on” media environment.

John offers an unrivalled breadth of international experience, having worked with more than 100 clients in over 50 countries, including in manufacturing, hospitality, FMCG, financial services and international sport. He has been involved in the response to numerous crisis situations, including several airline accidents and the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

More recently, he was part of the team advising the senior management of Malaysia Airlines on their response to the disappearance of flight MH370, a crisis unprecedented in aviation history. He has also worked extensively with AirAsia Group, and with more than 50 other airlines, airports and aerospace manufacturers.

John has been a speaker and panelist at more than 60 conferences around the world and at several universities and institutes including Singapore Management University and the prestigious Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Europe’s leading hotel school. He is also a regular presenter on the Master’s Degree in European Sports Governance (MESGO) program created by five international sports federations and at the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Training Center in Ashburn, Virginia.

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