Every company, regardless of their industry or area, are liable to a crisis situation, whether is caused or broadcasted by media outlets. There are different Preventive methodologies and tools to avoid a crisis, but when it happens, a fundamental part of the resolution strategy is the communication strategy. An adequate communication during a crisis situation could be the difference between the survival or disappearance of the company.
Having the support of a Communication & PR agency with a Crisis department is vital for the design and implementation of the resolution and communication strategies. Even though, it’s important to have in consideration the things that shouldn’t be done during a crisis:
1. Inaction
At the beginning of a crisis situation, time and reaction capabilities are vital. It doesn’t matter the size of the crisis, it’s imperative to have specific protocols for every situation. Everyone should always know what to do and the first thing should be to call the experts in crisis support.
2. Be silent
It may be the case that the crisis it’s been managed, following the advice of the experts and following tried, proved and documented protocols. But if this isn’t communicated to give visibility of this actions to both internal and external audiences, it may be equivalent to not doing anything. An effectively solved crisis doesn’t guarantee the continuity of operations. There are specific crisis scenarios for which is imperative to have a proactive communication, such as a product recall.
3. Lie
In the development of a crisis, there are moments when not all the information is available (at the beginning) or others in which, depending on the gravity, it may be wanted or needed to minimize the situation. There’s strategic or personal information that me not be communicated, but there is absolutely no scenario whatsoever in which lying could be an option.
4. Repeat
It’s normal that when the crisis is over, the first thing that everyone wants to do is to leave it behind and never look back on what happened, and that’s fine. But having a faithful documentation with complete details of the incident, from the origin to resolution, will allow us to find areas of improvement in the processes and have a record of best practices that help to prevent similar crises in the future.
Regardless of its size, it’s important to have a manual with documented and tried protocols to act and react in a crisis situation and, also, having crisis drills that put to test those procedures and the people in charge of implementing them inside the organization.