Battling the Waves: How a Crisis Communication Playbook Keeps Your Organization Afloat
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février 24, 2025
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They say “failing to prepare is preparing to fail”, but in today’s world of growing and varied crises, what does real preparation look like? We’re told to “expect the unexpected,” but how does that translate into tangible actions to protect businesses and organizations when the stakes are so high?
In Turbulent Waters, Trusted Anchors: The General Counsel’s Evolving Role in Navigating Crises, an Economist Impact report sponsored by FTI Consulting, a “preparedness paradox” has emerged –almost a third of survey respondents ranked reputational crises as one of the top three risks faced by general counsel (“GCs”), yet also one of the top three risks they feel least prepared for.
As daunting as that finding initially is, the reasons behind it may not be as sinister as it first appears – aren’t all crises reputational to one degree or another? Take cybersecurity, which is listed in the top eight risks, this could be look at instead as a purely technology or operational risk, with internal knock-on-effects if systems are down or you’re threatened with a having to pay a ransom. However, there are huge reputational ramifications around cyber-attacks when it comes to public opinion concerning trustworthiness and safety of data – particularly if it’s not the first data breach you’ve had.
Whilst reputational risk is its own category, it bleeds into others very easy, which can feel all-encompassing and too large in scale to prepare for. Typically, a reputational issue can pose risk in one or all of the following areas: commercial, regulatory and legal, as well as impact any ongoing or future initiatives. That makes the need to prepare for it effectively even more important. But effective preparation isn’t just about determining the various crises and their various risks, it’s essential that preparation moves forward into implementation, even before a crisis hits – building tools that are readily available when the time comes.
The Deciding Factor: A Crisis Communications Playbook
Another reason why reputational crisis is something GCs feel least prepared for could be that only 33% of respondents have a prepared crisis communications playbook. This is a vital and invaluable tool that goes well beyond just a set of pre-prepared factual statements to provide to press and employees.
A properly crafted playbook allows organisations to respond proactively and strategically when a crisis hits, getting the right people into the right places to take control of the narrative from the start, to minimise any negative impact and reduce possible long-term damage. There are five key elements that should appear in every effective crisis communications playbook:
- Team: Identify key members of the crisis communications team, their roles and responsibilities. This typically includes general counsel, as well as key operational leads and department heads such as human resources. Ensure you also identify key internal and external stakeholders including employees, clients, investors, press, regulators and suppliers. Managing these relationships can be critical to preserving commercial opportunity and safeguarding the organisation’s reputation.
- Escalation and mobilisation: Build a response framework that outlines the first actions to take when a crisis is identified, including assessing the situation and gathering key facts. Define the escalation process, including who makes decisions at each stage and how to ensure timely response. This structure is key to ensuring an efficient and timely response that can also condense lifecycle of the crisis.
- Core messaging: Create tailored messaging for each group identified, these should include holding statements, fact sheets and FAQs. These can be templates or outlines at this point, to be built out when more information is known.
- Cascade: Think clearly about who will want to know, in what order they should be told and how they should be told. Not all stakeholders need to be told proactively and some will absolutely need a direct call from the CEO. A key element of this approach is understanding who to notify internally so that they are best prepared to manage their own key relationships.
- Channels: Determine what channels will be used to distribute these communications effectively and critically note who can access them. If there is only one person who holds the “keys to the kingdom” on your social media channels, how will you get hold of them out of hours?
It’s also important to remember that just because it is written down, doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t change when the time comes. Flexibility, agility and adaptability can make or break a crisis response, so it is important to build that in from the start. Whilst a communication-ready position is recommended, there are certainly times when proactive communication is not necessary or even ill-advised. All of these variables must be kept in mind when assessing the specifics of a crisis. Decisions should be made by identifying where risk might manifest.
Getting Your Message Out There
It isn’t just key internal stakeholders, investors, clients, suppliers or the press that you need to communicate with both during and after a crisis. In today’s world, with increased globalisation and the heighted use of social media, many different voices can be amplified and influence how a crisis response is perceived by society as a whole. In short, you may need to communicate with the world so as to influence those who are most important to you.
In FTI Consulting’s Leading from the Front: Beyond the CEO, The Power of Leadership Voices report, 85% of FTSE 100 CEOs now have a presence on LinkedIn and 92% of business leaders say LinkedIn plays an important role in building trust in their company. This positions LinkedIn as a vital platform and your leaders as vital spokespeople.
By its very nature, social media is more social. It allows space and scope for leaders to be able to communicate from a place of authenticity in a personable manner. When working on these messages, it’s important to see things through the eyes of those who could be affected and tailor the messaging effectively. Too often the emotion of the situation and fear of saying the wrong thing can stall the initial communications – this can often mean they end up being overly formal or legal in tone.
As they say, “you only get one chance to make a first impression”.
Published
février 24, 2025
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