How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan in 7 Steps
How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan in 7 Steps
When Crisis hits, there is very little time to think. It helps if you have a framework or structure for thinking through your response. The following 7 steps would be helpful to follow:
- Step 1: Assemble – The first step is to assemble a team to brainstorm on the crisis and decide how to respond. A big brand or business should have a crisis management team. That is the time to assemble the team and convence a team to find out what is going on. A small brand or individual also needs to convene a group of trusted and knowledgeable advisers to help with thinking through the problem to determine what needs to be done.
- Step 2: Assess & Analyse – Convene the crisis management team in a formal meeting. Start by assessing what is going on. This requires making a clean sweep of what is going on either online or within a specific environment or playing out online. It is important to note that a crisis could be playing out completely off social media. Its presence off or on media just spreads impact. But it is possible to face a crisis that is playing out only in boardrooms, within a family unit, in a community, within a company etc. Anything that poses an existential threat to an individual, brand or organization is a crisis- regardless of if it is playing out publicly or not.
Analyse what is going on in terms of impact to the business, brand and reputation. It is important to understand what is going on and plot from the stand-point of the trigger incident, the unfolding narrative, the sentiment and actions that have resulted in the negative impact.
- Step 4: Audiences & Stakeholders – Begin the Stakeholder Mapping. Who are those most interested and influential in the situation? Who are the advocates and potential allies? Who are the antagonists and what is their motivation? Identify the key stakeholders and begin to map them according to interest and influence. Anyone with high interest and influence must be managed closely.
- Step 5: Required Action – Determine the primary objective of the crisis response. Is it to de-escalate or confront or amplify. The nature of the crisis should guide what needs to be done. In most cases, you would want to de-escalate but if unfairly targeted by a misinformation campaign for instance, there may be a need to take a different approach. But a careful assessment needs to be taken as to if a public response is the best solution. (Also important to build scenarios into follow-up actions after a push-back if that is the chosen strategy)
- Step 6: Message – Determine what message you aim to pass across to key stakeholders in person or within a closed door session as appropriate depending on the situation at hand. Do not feel pressured to put out a public statement unless the situation calls for it. If personal or brand reputation has been tarnished in public, then a statement is essential to counter the false narrative.
- Step 7: Platform – Determine the platform to communicate the messaging either in person or on selected social media platfforms. Use the platforms that are most relevant to the audiences and impactful for achieving the desired outcomes.
- Step 8: Timing/Sequence – Determine the best timing and order of response e.g. ensure all trusted allies and advocates are aware of the response plans before going public. Stress-test your messaging to ensure that it ages well. Depending on the situation a 24hr response may be required, particularly for a high-stakes brand.
Crisis Communications is the most delicate and complex form of communications. What you say and do can make the situation better or worse. So it is important to be careful about how you respond. Doing and saying nothing is not an option as crisis can develop a life of its own and cause irrevocable damanage if not well managed.
Sola Abulu & Associates (SA&A) is a strategy and communications training and consulting firm dedicated to enabling businesses, brands and institutions to achieve their desired objectives through strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation risk management.
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