A crisis is any situation that threatens the integrity or reputation of your company, usually brought on by adverse or negative media attention. These situations can be any kind of legal dispute, theft, accident, fire, flood or manmade disaster that could be attributed to your company. It can also be a situation where in the eyes of the media or general public your company did not react to one of the above situations in the appropriate manner.

If handled correctly the damage can be minimized. One thing to remember that is crucial in a crisis is tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. If you do this you have done all you can to minimize the situation.

The Crisis Communication Team

This team is essential to identify what actions should be taken. The team should be comprised of individuals who are key to the situation. They should include as a minimum the CEO, the chief of Public Relations, the Vice President, the Senior manager from the division in charge of the area that was involved in the situation that has brought about the crisis, the safety and/or security officer, the organization Lawyer, and anyone else who might be able to shed some light on the situation such as eye witnesses.

The job of this team is to come up with a plan of action and decide who the spokesperson should be.

A copy of the management recall roster should be attached and should include cellular phone numbers. Once the crisis communication team is selected a list should be made of the people on the team and what each team member is responsible for.

In addition to the crisis communication team the Public Relations or Communications department should be supplemented with competent people who can answer phones and if required escort media. Having calls from the media answered promptly is essential. As soon as possible a prepared statement should be given to this staff. This statement should be something such as "Facts are still being gathered but there will be a press conference before 4:00, give me your name and number and I will call you back to let you know when."

One of the first responsibilities of the crisis communication team should be to determine the appropriate positioning or message to address the emergency. This is where "Tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth" begins. Keep in mind that people tend to remember what they hear first and last.

It is always best when a mistake has been made to admit it up front, and begin doing whatever is possible to re-establish credibility and confidence with internal and external audiences. This may be difficult for senior management to do, especially if the Lawyers are involved since it is their job to minimize the eventual legal cost to the company. However, if you do some homework you will find that following the advice in this plan will minimize the legal costs. Many Public Relations case studies are made of issues where the lawyers had too much say in what was done and upper management didn't get involved from the beginning. Don't let the lawyers make the decisions. While they are good intentioned it may cause the crisis to escalate.

Positioning

To decide on a position, it is important to step out of your role in the company and put yourself in the situation of whom ever was involved in the crisis or try to view the crisis from the eye of the public. Ignoring the situation will only make things worse. Examples of categories to consider for positioning are:

• Human/clerical error

• Unauthorized procedures

• Inadequate supervision/quality control/standard operating procedures

• Misuse of confidential information

• Errors of judgement

As you are considering the position it is important to consider the wide range of consequences (e.g., legal, financial, public relations, effects on administration, effects on operations).

Designated Spokesperson

One individual should be designated as the primary spokesperson to represent the Company, make official statements and answer media questions throughout the crisis. A back-up to the designated spokesperson should also be identified to fill the position in the event that the primary spokesperson is unavailable.

In addition to the primary spokesperson and the backup spokesperson, individuals who will serve as technical experts or advisors should be designated. These resources might include a financial expert, an engineer, a leader in the community or anyone your company deems necessary during a specific kind of crisis. This will take some brainstorming by the crisis communication team since what is needed may not always be apparent. There should be an authority or technical expert in their field and be available to supplement the knowledge of the spokesperson.

Media Policies and Procedures

Select a place to be used as a media center. It should be some distance from offices of the crisis communication team, spokesperson and emergency operations center to ensure that media are not in the middle of the action if they happen to take the wrong turn or have to pass by those offices or areas on the way to the restrooms. If there is a visual (a fire or rescue operation) don't make the media center in such a remote site that they can't see what is going on because they may not show up and if they do you will loose their confidence and it may appear that you are hiding something.

Don't change the rules that you already have established for the media. If the media are currently required to be escorted then during a crisis they should be required to be escorted. Any change in the way the media is dealt with during a crisis may change the views of the reporter. It is important that they feel that you aren't trying to hide anything.

Reporters may ask to speak to staff or at a school, faculty or students who are involved with or have been affected by the crisis. It is best to restrict all interviews to the primary spokesperson, back-up spokesperson or technical expert. Controlling the interview process is key to managing the crisis.

However, remember that reporters have the right to interview anyone they want to and if they don't get the answers they want from you they will get them somewhere. They are all after the scoop. They all want a different angle than the reporter standing next to them.

All media should be treated equally. What is given to one (such as access to an area effected by the crisis) should be available to all media.

Practicing Tough Questions

A crisis situation is always difficult when dealing with the media. Therefore, tough questions and rehearsals are necessary to help the spokesperson prepare.

It is important, at the onset of the crisis, that the spokesperson, backup and advisors spend some time rehearsing prepared statements and answers to possible "tough" questions that may be asked by reporters. If possible, similar rehearsals should be conducted prior to each media interview, briefing or news conference. It is also important to anticipate and practice new questions as the story evolves.

It is better to over-prepare than to be surprised by the depth of questioning by the media. Be tough and be prepared. Don't volunteer information unless it is a point the company wants to make and the question hasn't been asked. Don't talk off the record.

Prepared Statements

If you don't communicate immediately, you lose your greatest opportunity to control events. Your first news release should include at a minimum the who, what, when and where of the situation. You must have a prepared statement on hand that can be used to make an initial general response to the media when knowledge about the crisis first becomes known on a widespread basis or by reporters.

Sample News Release

A (what happened) at (location) involving (who) occurred today at (time). The incident is under investigation and more information is forthcoming.

Speaker Presentations: CHECKLIST OF DO'S AND DON’TS

(by Sandra K. Clawson Freeo, NewsPlace.org/crisis )