PR Issues and Crisis Communications

101 Issues and Crisis Communications

Don’t hope for the best, prepare for the worst by Rebecca Smith – That Comms Co.

As we’ve all witnessed with the recent global outbreak of COVID-19, crisis events will often occur when we least expect them to, and bring with them devastating effects for businesses and individuals alike.

While very few (if any) were anticipating the arrival of a global pandemic, in being prepared for worst case type scenarios, businesses can better equip themselves to manage through adversity. The best defence against a crisis is preparedness.

Here are six steps to guide you through the process of preparing for issue and crisis events.

1THINK THINGS THROUGH WHEN YOU’RE NOT UNDER PRESSURE

Decisions made under pressure are rarely the best ones. To avoid having to make hasty judgement calls when a crisis hits, take advantage of ‘business as usual’ times to assess various scenarios that could negatively impact your business so you can develop a sensible response plan for each of them.

2UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BIGGEST RISKS ARE TO YOUR BUSINESS

Consider a range of potential risk scenarios, then identify the top three to five of them that would pose the greatest threat to your business or are most likely to occur. Natural disasters causing physical damage to your storage facility — for example storms or bushfires — are obvious threats, but also consider how your business would stand up to an industrial accident, an electrical fire, or even a cyber security breach that could shut your IT and communication systems down.

While we know that the COVID-19 outbreak and the damage it’s wrought is an unprecedented event, it’s still possible to prepare at a very high level for an economic downturn with respect to how you would potentially communicate with your customers during this type of event — regardless of what might have initiated the downturn.

3WHAT WOULD IT TAKE FOR EACH OF THESE SCENARIOS TO REACH CRISIS POINT

Once you’ve identified the top highrisk scenarios for your business, take a thorough look at each of them and what their escalation points would be. Consider how you will detect an incident has occurred and the different stakeholders who would be affected. You should view these scenarios from as many angles as possible, with the help and insights of your team.

A good rule of thumb for assessing when an issue has reached or is close to reaching crisis point is when it stops you from operating business as usual.

4COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Most businesses have some level of planning in place to mitigate against risks and often processes for dealing with crises operationally, but it’s not uncommon for businesses to underestimate the importance of having a communication plan to go with these.

There are many platforms available to people these days that allow them to share their grievances to a wide audience, such as social media and Google. If they’re unhappy with your business, and you haven’t communicated with them effectively, you risk having your business discredited and called out publicly for your perceived failings. Getting on the

front foot with timely and informed communications with those who matter to your business can work to mitigate against this.

5WHERE TO COMMUNICATE AND HOW

When you are preparing for a crisis, think about the places your customers will go to find information. It could be your website, your social media pages, email or phone hotline. Plan communications for your stakeholders across all of these platforms and ensure your key messages are consistent across each of them. The format of the messages may need to be slightly different depending on the platform, but the facts and instructions should be the same.

The advantage of the communication technologies we have at our disposal is that you can deliver information immediately and frequently — this can be a lifesaver during a crisis when you need to keep your important audiences informed of an unfolding situation or issue important advice.

6MAKE TIME FOR TRAINING

Being crisis-ready shouldn’t be limited to management — your whole team needs to be prepared to act when an issue or crisis occurs. Share your action plans with all of the team members who might play a role in a crisis situation and provide them with training on how to execute your plans. Your team should know how to detect when an issue may be escalating, and what they should do to manage it so everyone is on the same page and is empowered to act quickly and with confidence.

No-one wants to be in a crisis situation, especially when livelihoods are at stake. But taking measures to be prepared for worst case scenarios will help you to not only be better equipped to manage the smaller issues, but also critical for your business to bounce forward after a crisis.

WHEN TO CALL IN THE PROFESSIONALS

While the steps above offer ways to help you manage communications when an issue arises, there may be times when the situation calls for professional advice. l

That Comms Co. is the SSAA’s preferred public relations and crisis communications service for its members and is able to be engaged to prepare holding statements and customer communications as required.

For more information and advice on crisis communications support contact SSAA at admin@selfstorage.com.au or +61 3 9466 9699.

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