Don’t Wait for a Crisis to Put
a Plan in Place

The best time to plan for a crisis is before it starts. Learn the basic components of a crisis plan and start creating one today.

Launching a new company puts an endless stream of demands on the management team. Too often companies get consumed by other priorities such as planning, financing and hiring. It’s understandable.

At the same time, they often put their company at risk by ignoring preliminary crisis planning.

Crises require quick, decisive action. We live in a 24/7 world – text messaging, blogs and online media report on crises almost as they happen. If you’re not prepared to respond just as instantaneously, you will lose control of the situation and perhaps the company.

Tylenol’s responded to the 1982 deaths caused by a perpetrator lacing capsules with cyanide by immediately recalling every product on the shelves worldwide.  This incident is still considered the role model in managing a crisis well. On the other hand, former Exxon CEO Lee Raymond was slow to acknowledge and visit the site of the Valdez spill. The public and the investment community never forgave him. 

Basic Components of a Plan

Assessment. Start by understanding potential crisis situations your organization could face, as well as your current communication capabilities if those situations were to occur.  Generally, crises can be grouped in three major buckets:

• Those requiring instant and full attention – a fire at a construction site or a robbery or death at a retail site
• Those requiring quick, but not immediate, action – a lawsuit
• Those that have the potential to become huge crises if not managed correctly

Planning. A comprehensive plan ensures the right people learn about the crisis situation immediately and the right resources are mobilized to begin communicating with all affected stakeholders (customers, employees, shareholders, etc.) The plan should include five key components:

• Assessment – What are the facts? What’s the current situation?
• Alert – Who needs to be alerted and in what order?
• Mobilization – What steps do we need to take to address the circumstances, i.e. shut the plant down, recall the product?
• Initial communications – What do we say? Who is our spokesperson?
• Ongoing communications – How do we keep our audiences briefed and rebuild trust?

Training. Lastly, you need to review the plan with all key managers to ensure the company is ready to assess and respond to a crisis. Media training prepares client spokespeople to work effectively and confidently with reporters in crises.

For more information on managing issues and crises, see the Survive section of the Atkinson website.