Crisis Communication 101

By: Ryan Moschetti, Account Director

“Oh…a crisis will never happen to me!” This is a common phrase that many many professionals say and believe. In reality, a crisis is inevitable and can happen to anyone and at any time. A far too common mistake that professionals and companies or organizations make as not to be prepared for any issue, whether small or large, arises. Today, news of a crisis can spread faster than ever due to social media and the 24/7 news cycle. In order to combat this, there is a significant need to have a fully developed crisis plan ready to be implemented at any time. While a full plan is going to be highly detailed, these simple steps are crucial in response to any crisis.

Step one: get the facts. In any crisis or situation, it is crucial to find out exactly what happened and who was involved. Without this information, it’s hard to begin any form of crisis resolution. When dealing with a crisis, an organization must do whatever possible to attempt to contain it or limit any damage to its reputation within the first hour. This is called the “Golden Hour Rule,” and the idea behind it is to address a situation within an hour before it becomes a much larger problem.

Step two: monitor the situation. This can be done in a variety of ways. If the crisis was smaller and happened Internally, beginning an internal investigation to figure out any crucial details of what happened. If it was a larger scale crisis, turn to social media to see what different groups of people are saying. By monitoring what is said, it can help communicators craft an effective message.

Step three: be transparent and admit that something had happened. In any public relations situation, transparency is a must. To be genuinely authentic and build strong relationships with different shareholders and public groups, transparent and clear communication is a requirement for success. When dealing with a crisis, being transparent by admitting that something has occurred is a significant step in resolving the conflict. When admitting fault, it is crucial to release details as soon as they are available. Even when there may not be a ton of information available in the beginning, it is still important to begin the open line of communication between the person or organization and their publics.

Step four: develop a strong and compelling statement to address what occurred. This is a vital step and one that can be easily done incorrectly. There are numerous cases of organizations and people creating poor statements that create even more negative effects than what the actual crisis caused. Examples include United Airlines’ response to removing passengers, Uber’s toxic company culture, and Facebook’s connection to Russian advertising. Each of these failed to address the crisis further and lead them into more scrutiny.

Step five: begin to rebuild the public’s trust and develop a plan to move forward. Once all other actions have been properly addressed, companies must start to rebuild trust with their public groups and work to strengthen their reputation once again. While there are different options to do this, it is essential to do something that is best suited for the company.

In today’s fast-moving world, companies and organizations are more visible than ever. News moves extremely quick and can significantly damage to reputations nearly instantly. Crisis communication has always been a necessary part of the communications industry, but now it’s more important than ever. Always remember, it’s always better to respond to a crisis, than to remain silent.