Forming a crisis communications plan for times of uncertainty

With the continuing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, we are living in an uncertain and anxiety-ridden time. The health and safety of ourselves and our loved ones is first in our mind, and it can be tough to feel rational and measured as we continue to operate businesses.

For small and growing businesses, it can be a confusing time, and you may not know the best ways to move forward in communicating with your audience and stakeholders. Our biggest tip is to be proactive: communicating as early and as clearly as possible, so there’s no question from your audience about what to expect from your organization.

What is a crisis communications plan?
A crisis communications plan outlines when and why to communicate to your organizational stakeholders when some sort of timely crisis occurs (such as a natural disaster, tragic event, legal or newsworthy issue, etc.). This type of plan is something every business hopes they will never have to put into place, but is necessary to help you get ahead of the story, be proactive, and communicate directly to your audience.

We encourage all businesses to have some sort of crisis communications plan ready to put in place when necessary.

  • Discern when a crisis communications plan should be put in place.
    Like we mentioned above, it can be hard to think rationally in times of crisis and confusion. Our number one recommendation regarding a crisis communications plan is to craft it before it’s necessary.

    Take time to strategize what types of crises could effect your business, and when your organization should be proactively communicating with your audience. In non-emergent situations, we’ve outlined a few questions to ask yourself in the next step below regarding when to respond to a situation. But as we’ve mentioned above, we recommend communicating with your direct audience as clearly and early as possible, so that there’s no question about how your organization will operate moving forward.

  • Outline what you will need to communicate, and to who.
    Some crises require an immediate response, while others may not be quite as clear. In either case, organizations should order their communications to 1) employees and close stakeholders (in person or via an emailed statement), 2) to their clients, customers, and main audience (via direct email, email newsletter, social media, and other communications channels, and 3) to the community at large and media - the latter only if necessary. As a general rule of thumb, there are two types of situations when a crisis communications plan needs to be put into place:

  • Emergent situations that directly effect your organization. These situations would require an immediate response on your organization’s part, due to the immediate question of safety and health of those involved with your organization. Some examples would be an emergent situation at a physical location, such as a violent act, flooding, or fire; or a high-profile legal situation involving an employee or stakeholder of your organization.

  • Situations effecting the community at large. The current COVID-19 fits into this category, as would crises effecting your general community, such as terrorist activity or natural disasters. This situations are more amorphous and often changing, which can make it hard to discern when and why to respond. Our recommended questions to ask yourself when and if you should respond:

    • If it’s a situation that may effect your business, communicate up-front to your employees and close stakeholders. In a situation such as the COVID-19 outbreak, an example would be any retail store in an affected area. Customers may have questions, or may wonder if you will remain open; when questions start being asked, it’s time to be transparent with your employees regarding talking points and how to reassure customers.

    • If there are changes to your business to communicate, talk to employees and stakeholders first, followed by your larger audience, and the media last. If the situation escalates and something out of the norm of your business occurs (such as closing your retail location or limiting hours), we encourage issuing a notification to employees and close stakeholders first, and then issuing a message on your other communication channels (such as a email newsletter and social media channels). Issue a media statement last, after your audience has been communicated with, so no stakeholders get their news from the media before hearing from you.

    • Steer clear of adding to the noise if your response doesn’t add values. If it’s a situation where no one is asking questions - for example, being a non-brick and mortar store during the COVID-19 outbreak - is your response adding value? If there are no questions being asked of you and your response will simply be adding to the noise, we recommend not issuing a response.

We’ve created a Google Doc template covering exactly what to communicate to your audience and the media. Craft your own crisis communications plan here. Simply click File > Make a Copy to create your own file.

  • Create a list of all ways you communicate with your audience.
    In any case of a crisis, you will need to act quickly. Following communication directly with your stakeholders, issue any necessary update statement on other communication channels, as to update your audience and community at large. These channels could include:

    • Social media

    • Email newsletters

    • Direct email or phone communications

  • Establish a go-to media contact.
    Even if you’re a solopreneur or small business with only contractors, it’s valuable to outline and document who will be the spokesperson to speak to media when necessary. If you’re part of larger organization, this could be your president, vice president, or director of marketing or communications.

    Ensure they are always equipped with talking points, and make it clear that they will be the only one speaking to media in the case of a crisis, as to avoid any other stakeholder communications with media. This ensures a clear, consistent message in line with the plan you’ve worked on.

RESOURCES

For up to date news and recommendations on COVID-19 spread in the United States, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Anna BeyerleComment