Stay Ahead of Your Next Communications Crisis
February 22, 2024
Most of us don’t like to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
That may explain why nearly three-quarters of Americans do not have a documented will, despite the fact that we all know the reason for having a will is inevitable.
And it also helps explain why most organizations don’t do an effective job of preparing for potential communications crises.
Only 12 percent of U.S. communications professionals surveyed recently by Cision are fully confident in their ability to prevent crises before they happen.
That means nearly 9 in 10 organizations can be doing more to make sure they are equipped to prevent a communications crisis — and to be poised to act quickly and effectively when they are put in the crosshairs of a controversy or rapid-response event.
Here are some of the steps we take when we work to develop rapid-response communications strategies for our clients.
Conduct a communications risk audit
Our first step is to review the organization’s activities and practices to determine where there are risks.
For foundations, for example, we recommend reviewing grants over the past three to five years to determine whether they have granted money to a nonprofit that may be considered controversial. Some journalists and social media sleuths are looking for opportunities to call out organizations that have funded groups that are either legitimately questionable or do not align with their political ideologies.
We also look at policies, executive compensation, past communications, and other practices to determine whether there are potential trouble areas lurking.
By spotlighting these risk areas, the organization can then determine whether it needs to change or update any of its policies — and can develop talking points and strategies for responding quickly if questions arise.
Game it out
Even if there are no potential red flags in your risk audit, unexpected events can always be lurking around the corner.
Your organization may experience an unexpected leadership change, employee misconduct, a natural disaster that interrupts your operations, or any number of other potential crises.
We recommend creating action plans for some of these common what-if scenarios, so you aren’t caught flat-footed if they occur. Here’s some advice on how to do that.
This will not only help you communicate more effectively in the face of one of these situations, but it may also help your leadership make smarter decisions about how they would guide your organization through a difficult storm.
Create a rapid-response communications team
Every organization should have a team that’s ready to move quickly and push out effective communications during a crisis.
By having this team in place, you have a framework for making rapid decisions and improving your chances of controlling your own narrative. You’ll know in advance who has the final sign-off on public statements, identify your official spokespeople, and know who will be charged with communicating across each of your channels.
Here is more advice on how to create this team — and info about how it can help you prepare.
Stay on top of the news
Finally, it’s important to monitor what’s happening in your industry and the broader culture and identify scenarios where your organization may face future communications challenges.
The world — and public opinion — can change quickly and it’s important to make sure you aren’t using outdated language or embracing practices that were once commonplace but no longer hold up in the face of new research or information.
You can never anticipate every possible communications crisis. But by being prepared, you can head off some— and be better prepared to own the narrative when faced with a worst-case scenario.
