In today’s busy workplaces where employees have strict deadlines to meet and are overwhelmed with to-do lists, complications are bound to arise when a crisis hits. Utilizing proper business communication and having a well-crafted public relations crisis communication plan that is constantly updated will help you remain calm and sane at such an event. 

There are many crises that your company can experience, from natural to man-made. And since you cannot plan for every crisis, having a crisis communication strategy that is appropriately managed helps you preserve your brand reputation and credibility. 

The ideal crisis communication plan needs to outline the messages to be communicated to the people affected by the crisis, like employees, the general public, media, and company stakeholders. You can display your crisis management plan on digital signage where it is easily accessible to all employees. 

Here is how to create the perfect crisis communication plan for your organization. 

1. Define a crisis 

The first step to creating a crisis communication plan is to define what counts as a crisis in your organization. You need to identify potential crises whose occurrence may lead to job loss, loss of profits, litigation, damage to your reputation, reduced employee morale, government intervention, consumer activism, low competitive strength, and reduced trust in the management team. 

The types of crises could be natural disasters like floods or a pandemic, external disasters like fires, or workplace violence. With the rise in using social media, most crises require a solid reputation management strategy. 

2. Develop a plan 

The ideal crisis communication plan should be simple, concise, and easily understandable. In addition, the plan should address only the vital issues regarding a possible crisis and have any additional or supporting information in separate appendices. 

Always have the document dated with the last updated date and include an index to show which sections were updated. Also, ensure the plan’s format can be easily adjusted if needed and have hard and soft copies. 

You can encourage your crisis team members to have an additional plan document at their residence. Depending on the crisis, computers may be inaccessible, and it would benefit your organization immensely to have the plan on CD-ROMS and flash drives. 

Also, ensure the plan clearly shows how you will communicate about and handle the crisis, activate the plan, and under which circumstances. 

For communication, identify which methods you will use for internal and external communication like a press release, voicemail, e-mail, social media, and who will be responsible for the communication. 

3. Identify your crisis communications team 

The team is tasked with gathering information, creating and relaying essential messages, and updating the media. They are also in charge of media monitoring on behalf of the crisis response team and handling all communication during the crisis. 

In your plan, identify the team members and define the roles of each. For example, identify the spokesperson, the member responsible for internal communication, handling media calls, and the backups for each role. This will allow smooth operations when the plan requires execution. Also, include the contact information of all the members, including their personal phone numbers. 

4. Create the key messages 

In the first point, you defined various crisis scenarios that may occur in your organization. Now, create the key messages that will be used in response to such events. Also, consider all the media or stakeholders’ questions and draft their responses. 

You can also create a vulnerability assessment that may help you identify the probability of different types of crises occurring in your company or community. Having your key messages in place will combat misinformation in your crisis response and is a core element in your crisis communications strategy. 

Your key messages should cover the following elements: 

  • The cause of the crisis 
  • A quick description of what happened 
  • A schedule for future post-crisis plans or a product recall 
  • Compassion message for the crisis’ victims, ensuring that you keep all victims’ information private until their next-of-kin has been reached and notified 
  • Suggestions for any protection measures where appropriate 

It is essential that you run these messages by your legal team and relevant managers to work on any issues beforehand. 

5. Identify your internal communications procedures 

In the occurrence of a crisis, identify the best communication channel you will use to ensure the key messages reach your employees. This could be one medium or different mediums to ensure they get the information in real-time. 

Also, determine how they would receive key messages in case of internal comms disruptions or business premises inaccessibility. 

Additionally, ensure that your employees know your social media or company media policy. For example, they should know that it’s against your media policy to speak to the news media. It is best to include a copy of your media policies in your crisis plan’s appendices. 

6. Prepare a contacts and media list 

When a crisis hits, you may not have the time to look for phone numbers. So, in your crisis response plan, include the contact information of evacuation centers, police, fire department, public health department, local government offices, suppliers, Red Cross, local and national press, and social media channels of specific influencers. 

Conclusion 

The bottom line is that, in a crisis situation, being prepared may reduce the event’s severity. Create a detailed plan and consistently update it as needed to remain relevant during a crisis. Also, ensure your appendices contain all the required supporting information to make the crisis management plan effective.