Crisis Management Starts with Planning

Three things in life are certain: death, taxes and the fact that bad news about a crisis situation arrives no more than five minutes before the first media call. Too often, the media call arrives before the bad news.

Financial institutions won’t see many terrorist incidents, spill millions of gallons of oil or vent radioactive gases. But regulatory calamities, protests and various scandals, to name a few, make it very possible you will someday be in crisis communications mode.

In crisis communications, there are two cardinal rules. One, plan, because if you don’t, it will be even worse. Two, when it occurs, try to tell everyone everything as fast as you can. This article focuses on planning.

Crisis? What Crisis?

The first step is to define what would constitute a crisis. A simple definition is any event or situation that presents a “discontinuity” in conducting business. Anything that disrupts business can be a crisis. Define it and anticipate possibilities. Imagine what could happen in a worst-case scenario (this is a role where pessimists come into their own). Play a major game of “what if” with your staff. Practice issues tracking by reviewing media. See what the “hot” issues are, what problems are surfacing that could disrupt your institution’s business. The bigger the list, the better prepared you’ll be.

Prepare the Crisis Communications Plan

Not planning invites problems like nothing else imaginable. If you don’t plan for a crisis, your response will be slow, awkward, and incomplete, all making the situation even more harmful. Planning allows what political folk call “damage control”, minimizing the damaging effects to your institution’s image and reputation.

The crisis communications plan must be written. The first rule of thumb is to keep it simple. No one will ever read a 400-page crisis plan or touch anything that ponderous in a time of immediacy.

The second rule is to keep it current. A loose-leaf binder is best and you should consider date-stamping every page. If it isn’t current, you’ll be responding with Pony Express in an e-world.

You can buy a generic crisis plan or manual from various sources, have a public relations agency prepare one (most PR firms have crisis capabilities) or prepare one in-house. Just do it!

Once done, make sure to distribute the plan to everyone who needs to know or even might need to know. Update it as necessary or set a regular quarterly review/update process.

Identify Your Spokespeople

Crisis communications demands a single organizational voice. That means the spokesperson or spokespeople who will represent your institution to media and other audiences in times of crisis. Select spokespeople based on position (the CEO is an obvious one), authority, expertise and credibility.

It isn’t enough to select them, though. If your spokespeople aren’t good in tense situations or media interviews, train them. The time to pull a Richard Nixon – sweating, scowling, awkward, defensive, not forthcoming – is not when a crisis strikes and communication is a must.

Also, make sure your spokespeople are reachable by more than one person, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (or 366 this year). Crises have a way of occurring late Friday afternoon, at night, Before dawn, and/or on weekends and holidays.

The Crisis Team and the Response Methodology

A crisis situation is best handled by a team set up in advance. Include your spokespeople, communications manager, public relations agency (if you have one) and other key managers. All need to be reachable at any time and know to assemble quickly in one place (if at all possible).

Use the plan to lay out what will transpire when a crisis occurs, where (central crisis management location) and how it will be done. How will information be distributed? What is the approval process (speed it up!)? Who will call/write/fax/e-mail whom?

Be sure to include legal counsel. Another certainty of crisis is that it will have legal ramifications. You may have to balance the attorney’s inclination to say little or nothing with the real need to say everything, but keep legal counsel involved and updated.

Maintain Comprehensive Lists

Make sure you have lists of not only media, but other key audiences, as well, and make sure those lists are “live.” By live, I mean constantly updated and ready to go at all times. Miss a person in the crisis communications loop and you will have an unneeded, extra problem.

Your media list is a priority. Every local media outlet should be included. Newspaper, magazine, radio, television. News and financial reporters/editors. Regional media, trade media and, as appropriate, national media. Remember the Internet: online news services, e-zines and chat rooms.

Don’t forget other audiences. Some to consider are board members, suppliers and vendors, political leaders and, vitally, employees. There are undoubtedly others. Make this the topic for another brainstorming session. The list can’t be too big – easier to delete unnecessary elements based on a particular situation than to look up names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses when you’re responding at warp speed.

Have Your Background Material at the Ready

Media, and perhaps others, will need background to understand the crisis and your response. Prepare that material in advance, keep it updated and always have it at the ready.

Background can include institutional history and fact sheet, biographies of officers and spokespeople, and the like. Also, to the extent possible, have background relating to various potential crisis areas. The more you have, the less you’ll have to create. Save your brainpower to understand and communicate the crisis specifics, not the background basics.

Having done all of the above (and this is the ideal, which is never achieved but should be a goal nevertheless), you’re ready for action. And if you never activate, so much the better. You’ve bought peace of mind by planning.

(A version of this article was previously published in Credit Union Times.)

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Copyright 2005 Venture Planning Associates / ISSN: 1529-1316
Last Modified October 11, 2005