How to Communicate in a Business Crisis
Prepare for a crisis ahead of time., Draft your messages., Deliver your messages as soon as you possibly can.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Prepare for a crisis ahead of time.
It is important to establish a method for handling a crisis before a crisis happens.
The following steps will lead to an effective crisis management plan.
Identify what could go wrong.
This list will be different for each company, and should be as thorough as possible.
For example, a cake delivery business may experience a crisis caused by food allergens, an accident during transportation and/or a fire in the kitchen.
Maintain a fact sheet outlining each and every crisis possibility, as well as the people who must be involved, the methods that must be used to divert the crisis and the audience you must deliver crisis information to.
Familiarize yourself with your audience.
Depending on how large your company is, your audience may be composed of 1 or a combination of the following: employees, customers, board members, politicians, the press and/or the media.
Create a crisis communication plan.
This plan should direct the flow of information in the event of a crisis.
Taking into account each of the segments of your audience, decide on the outlets you will use to communicate with your audience when a crisis does happen.
For example, if your audience is composed of your employees, customers and the press, then your crisis communication plan should incorporate methods for communicating with all 3 of them; this could mean holding telephone conferences for employees, sending mass emails to customers and writing a press release for newspapers.
Assign responsibilities to members of a crisis communication team.
For each item on your communication plan, you will need to assign a task to a communication team member.
For example, you may delegate the task of drafting the crisis message to the marketing director, the task of conducting telephone conferences to the human resources manager, the task of sending mass emails to your Internet sales division manager and the task of working with newspaper editors to the vice president.
Additionally, you may want to choose a company spokesperson for high-profile crisis situations. -
Step 2: Draft your messages.
When a crisis occurs, it is time to enact your crisis communication plan.
Gather all of the information you can about the crisis in order to prepare your crisis messages
- 1 tailored to each segment of your audience.
A crisis message should include the following elements:
An explanation of the crisis.
Be as succinct as possible.
Try to give the audience enough information to satisfy their inquiries but not so much information to seem as though you are trying to explain your way out of something.
A revelation of your concern.
Let your audience know that you are genuinely affected by the impact the crisis may have on everyone involved.
A claim to responsibility, as applicable.
Own up to your part in the crisis, and offer a sincere apology, if it is warranted.
A pledge to address the cause of the business crisis, and to work to find a solution.
Offer a firm commitment to preventing a future repeat of the crisis.
An assurance that the crisis is an isolated event
- not to be confused with the company's overall efficiency
- and that you are still confident in your company.
However, you should only provide this assurance if you can stand behind it without reservation.
Do not lie, exaggerate or twist the facts in a way that only provides false hope to your audience. , Your goal is to get information to your audience members before they get it from less reliable or damaging sources.
Use the avenues outlined in your crisis management plan to communicate your messages to each segment of your audience. -
Step 3: Deliver your messages as soon as you possibly can.
Detailed Guide
It is important to establish a method for handling a crisis before a crisis happens.
The following steps will lead to an effective crisis management plan.
Identify what could go wrong.
This list will be different for each company, and should be as thorough as possible.
For example, a cake delivery business may experience a crisis caused by food allergens, an accident during transportation and/or a fire in the kitchen.
Maintain a fact sheet outlining each and every crisis possibility, as well as the people who must be involved, the methods that must be used to divert the crisis and the audience you must deliver crisis information to.
Familiarize yourself with your audience.
Depending on how large your company is, your audience may be composed of 1 or a combination of the following: employees, customers, board members, politicians, the press and/or the media.
Create a crisis communication plan.
This plan should direct the flow of information in the event of a crisis.
Taking into account each of the segments of your audience, decide on the outlets you will use to communicate with your audience when a crisis does happen.
For example, if your audience is composed of your employees, customers and the press, then your crisis communication plan should incorporate methods for communicating with all 3 of them; this could mean holding telephone conferences for employees, sending mass emails to customers and writing a press release for newspapers.
Assign responsibilities to members of a crisis communication team.
For each item on your communication plan, you will need to assign a task to a communication team member.
For example, you may delegate the task of drafting the crisis message to the marketing director, the task of conducting telephone conferences to the human resources manager, the task of sending mass emails to your Internet sales division manager and the task of working with newspaper editors to the vice president.
Additionally, you may want to choose a company spokesperson for high-profile crisis situations.
When a crisis occurs, it is time to enact your crisis communication plan.
Gather all of the information you can about the crisis in order to prepare your crisis messages
- 1 tailored to each segment of your audience.
A crisis message should include the following elements:
An explanation of the crisis.
Be as succinct as possible.
Try to give the audience enough information to satisfy their inquiries but not so much information to seem as though you are trying to explain your way out of something.
A revelation of your concern.
Let your audience know that you are genuinely affected by the impact the crisis may have on everyone involved.
A claim to responsibility, as applicable.
Own up to your part in the crisis, and offer a sincere apology, if it is warranted.
A pledge to address the cause of the business crisis, and to work to find a solution.
Offer a firm commitment to preventing a future repeat of the crisis.
An assurance that the crisis is an isolated event
- not to be confused with the company's overall efficiency
- and that you are still confident in your company.
However, you should only provide this assurance if you can stand behind it without reservation.
Do not lie, exaggerate or twist the facts in a way that only provides false hope to your audience. , Your goal is to get information to your audience members before they get it from less reliable or damaging sources.
Use the avenues outlined in your crisis management plan to communicate your messages to each segment of your audience.
About the Author
Kevin Wilson
Creates helpful guides on hobbies to inspire and educate readers.
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