Everyone dreads it, closes their eyes a little and shudders at the thought. Many people mentally avoid the possibility of a crisis situation, so few arrive prepared when it finally happens.
Yet the best way to avoid a crisis, like war, is to be well prepared. Here's a practical guide to making sure your company or organization is prepared.
With people at the heart of communications (and this is not just a slogan, it's a mantra for us), it's vital to put them at the center of good crisis planning.
1. Identify key players
Every organization has its own chain of approval. It is therefore essential to know who the key players will be when a crisis situation arises. The first few hours of a crisis have a decisive impact on its aftermath, and so having rapid access to the people who will be making decisions on the direction to take is a must.
2. Let's talk about deadlines
Again, the first few hours are crucial. As we all know, everything gets dirty. A crisis is no exception. That's why it's important that a key contact is identified quickly, and that people who have questions for your organization get answers, even if these are incomplete at certain stages. It's important to maintain communication, both internally and externally, so that the message is controlled and clear, and to preserve the trust of the public who are observing what's going on.
3. Concise. Please be concise
How many times have we read a convoluted spokesperson's response that means nothing, or heard a (too) long 5-minute statement delivered without a pause for breath, for fear of being cut off? The result: doubt and confusion. Clarity, concision and precision are the key words to remember here. If you're practicing your lines of communication with a colleague who isn't directly involved in the issue, or with a friend who isn't a specialist in your field and doesn't understand what you're saying, then you know that you need to shorten and simplify your message.
4. The right person at the right time
Depending on the seriousness of the situation, it's important to identify the right contact person. Is it internal or external? Who should you speak to? And how? Above all, it's important that the sum total of the actions taken is consistent. While it's not obligatory (or advisable, depending on the situation) that the words used are always the same, it's vital that everyone retains the same thing, and that the human element remains at the heart of every decision, throughout the entire process.
5. The ultimate watchword: calm
Keeping a cool head in a crisis situation is essential. And let's face it, when you work for a company or organization and spend most of your weeks there, it can be hard not to get emotional when you feel threatened. But it's imperative to take a broader perspective, to remember that every crisis has a beginning and an end, and that what happens during the hours or days when a crisis is unfolding are crucial to what happens next. And to get through it well, you need to know how to put the right players in the right places. Knowing yourself as an organization, and recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses, are therefore major assets in getting through a crisis.
Fortunately, managing a crisis isn't part of every organization's daily routine - except for communications enthusiasts like the members of the Catapulte team, on whom you can always count in this case. kind of unfortunate situation.
