BY BART KING
Crisis communication often happens after an organization or individual makes some type of mistake. The PR team, for instance, steps up to handle a large safety recall or respond to the release of damning information about a public figure.
However, crisis communication also comes into play in response to broader, external events. That’s happening now as the spread of the COVID-19 virus affects the operations of nearly every business and organization in the U.S. and abroad.
The full economic and social impacts of the virus won’t be known for weeks or months. But now is the time for organizations to institute crisis communications to protect their reputations and stakeholders. The risk—even to organizations with minimal operational impact—is that a lack of effective internal and external communication will cause people, who are already under stress, to quickly become confused and upset.
Without reliable information, customers, clients, partners, shareholders, and/or community members can easily form negative perceptions about what your organization is or isn’t doing in response to the crisis. Similarly, inaccurate news or rumors may spread among employees, customers or other important stakeholders.
That’s why the first rule of good crisis communication is to get involved as soon as possible.
Use a Holding Statement
While it’s important to begin communicating with stakeholders right away, it’s equally important to put out accurate information about carefully considered actions.
We don’t want to make situations worse by rushing strategic decisions. Therefore, the best first step is often to put out a formal holding statement. This press release is meant to establish contact with your stakeholders, acknowledge the situation at hand, and let people know you’re on it.
If you’ve already instituted response procedures, say so. You don’t have to go into great detail, but let people know action is underway.
Whether or not you have actions to share, take the opportunity to empathize with your stakeholders and express your concern and solidarity for the challenges ahead.
Lastly, let them know that you’ll be distributing additional information soon, and where it can be found.
Solidify an On-Going Comms Strategy
With your holding statement out the door. It’s time to quickly bang out an on-going communication strategy and supporting tactics. As with most comms planning, you can follow this approach:
Identify the goal – What needs to happen? Do you need to reschedule client appointments? Convene virtual meetings? Educate the community about support services?
Identify the audience – Which stakeholder group or groups do you need to reach to achieve the goal.
Develop the message – What message or series of messages does the audience need to receive in order to take action toward the goal?
Choose the format and distribution channel – Is it a press release and media pitch? Or should it be a blog post, an email blast, a video, a social media post, or some combination? Consider how and where you already communicate with stakeholder groups and the urgency of the message.
Develop an SOP – As the pandemic goes through stages, new organizational goals may emerge. At the very least, you’ll need to develop and distribute new messages. A standard operating procedure (SOP) will streamline the drafting, approval and execution process, allowing your organization to react quickly and effectively.
Should You Reach Out To the Media?
If your organization is involved in first-line response to the virus, yes.
You’ll also want to make use of the distribution channels you own and control (social accounts, email lists, text, etc.). But public health officials, hospitals, school districts and local governments need to ensure they have open lines of communication with local radio, television and newspapers. Reach out to them right away to coordinate the sharing of important public health and safety information.
If your organization is not on the front line, take a hard look at your goals and potential distribution channels. Now more than ever, businesses should be mindful of the tone and timing of announcements to avoid coming off as opportunistic or out of touch. (We’re gathering examples of communications going out now and will share them with context soon.)
Ideally, you want to work through existing media relationships to ensure your messages don’t land awkwardly. To this end, keep in mind that media outlets have their own goals for ensuring their audiences are informed about the evolving situation. There will likely be peaks and lulls where editors are alternately overwhelmed with news that needs to get out, or searching for a new angle.
If your organization’s audience is well-aligned with a media outlet’s audience—and you give as much thought to their goal as your own—you should be able to work together.
Get Ahead of the Situation Now
Ultimately, the COVID-19 crisis is just beginning.
Now is the time to form your crisis management team, if you haven’t already. The team’s task is to analyze what future developments may adversely affect your organization and develop appropriate scenario plans.
Scenario plans should contain not only operational responses, but also communication needs. With a communication SOP in place, you can then generate and distribute messages rapidly to maintain positive relationships with key stakeholder groups until the crisis is resolved.
If you need assistance developing your crisis communication plan, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
