Crisis Communications

Just because you have a communications strategy or component in your business continuity plan, don't assume you have a crisis communications plan that will work when you need it. There's communication... and there's communication. How much do you say? Who says it? When do you say it? Does everyone know what the plan is? Below are some articles that can help you transform your communication plan into a crisis communication plan.

Despite the addition of social media to crisis communication tools, some things have not changed. (Item #1)   Your emergency communication strategy is like a fire drill for your communication plan. (Item #2)   Business continuity plans lacking a communications ingredient are plans with a gaping hole. (Item #3)  

Mishandling information during a crisis could result in a damaged reputation as well as lawsuits. (Item #4)   The best of communication plans are less effective if they don't have effective emergency communication built in. (Item #5)   This effective crisis communication strategy is known as A-C-T N-O-W. (Item #6)  

As always, we look forward to hearing your comments & insights regarding business continuity. If you have a topic you'd like us to cover, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Three rules of crisis communications that never change

Although social media may have added a whole new dimension to the discipline of media relations, it's interesting to note that many of the key principles haven't really changed at all. This is particularly true in the field of crisis communications. Three of the most important rules of crisis communications for traditional press and broadcast media are just as relevant to social media.
http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/3_rules_of_crisis_communications_that_never_change_43481.aspx

2. Fire Drills: Communications Strategy in a Crisis

Just as your office building needs a fire drill, your communications strategy needs an emergency plan. Every site or service will fail eventually; it's only a matter of when or how. An emergency communications strategy ensures you know where the exits are, when and how to take them, and where it's safe to assemble while the fire rages, so that you can act quickly and confidently-even under pressure. Most importantly, it guarantees that the tricky task of crisis communication can be handled effectively regardless of which member of your team is available: a fire drill may be scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on a Tuesday, but an actual fire is much more likely to strike in the middle of the night, when the only one up is the lone engineer working late.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/fire-drills-communications-strategy-in-a-crisis/

3. Crisis communications: get it right - the first time

No matter what the news, timing can turn an event into a "lose-lose" situation. One of the lessons which can be learned is that rumors are a disaster waiting to happen. Negative rumors and positive rumors have the same effect. As an old newspaper reporter and editor, the author knows very well that rumors - even well-intentioned ones - can play havoc with peoples' lives.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0292.htm

4. How do you handle crisis communications?

Mishandling information during any type of crisis can burn reputations fast, causing grave losses of credibility and income. That is why businesses and nonprofits must think ahead and develop a crisis communication plan to properly address potential doom and gloom situations. Those could include scandals, lawsuits and natural disasters and handling public outcry over policy-related decisions.
http://www.wyomingbusinessreport.com/article.asp?id=59679

5. Crisis communications and disaster response

Recent events such as terrorist acts, hurricanes and power outages have shown us that interruptions to our businesses, not to mention our daily lives, are never far away. Even the best-thought-out disaster-response plans are inadequate if they don't include effective means of communicating to first responders, citizens and emergency operations centers.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature0339.htm

6. A-C-T N-O-W: A Strategy for Effective Crisis Communication

In this first part of a three-part article, the author discusses the need for all employees to understand crisis communication and know their roles in the process. The way in which a company communicates a crisis to the world affects the public's perception of the company.
http://www.todaysengineer.org/archives/te_archives/jan02/te1.asp