What Does Crisis Preparation Look Like?

"During crisis preparation, organizations ready themselves for the inevitable crises that will befall them."

(Timothy Coombs)

This week, our topic of conversation has been Crisis Preparation. This is a very heavy and large area to cover as a company, because crisis can look so different each time it is confronted. In order to begin properly preparing for a social media crisis, whether it be internal or external, there are a few steps to take, which are being taken from the book Ongoing Crisis Communication by W. Timothy Coombs, an expert in the field that we have found to be extremely helpful in our learning process.

Diagnose your vulnerabilities.

Every company is vulnerable in some way, and it might look different for you than it does for your competitor. In order to assess, brainstorm with your crisis management team to create a list of potential crises and threats, and put up strongholds where you are weaker. Assessing crisis types goes hand in hand with diagnosing vulnerabilities, because each type will bring out different vulnerabilities. Using a crisis simulation service by a firm such as CommCore Consulting Group or even doing it on your own using a online tool like FireBell is a smart way to go about identifying and preparing preventative and management strategies for if crisis appears.

Train a Management Team.

In his book, Coombs discusses the value of being able to trust your team to handle situations, and than can only truly be done through training, and being selective in who you put on the team to begin with.

"The crisis management team (CMT) is a cross-functional group of people in the organization who have been designated to handle any crisis and is a core element of crisis preparation."

Laurence Barton, author of Creating the Best Crisis Communications Teams, further elaborates, giving a detailed list of what divisions must be represented in a CMT.

"It posits that team members must represent specific functional communications, operations or technical safety, quality assurance, social media manager, human resources, information technology, finance, government relations, marketing, and the CEO or representative."

These skills should be available to the CMT simply because potential crisis might involve any odd combination of fields, and preventing them requires knowledge an expert in information technology might not have in the area of government relations.

Select a spokesperson.

In addition to the team members listed above, investing in forming a pool of spokespersons is an incredible asset to a CMT. In the Public Relations Journal's 49th Edition, there can be found an article called Prepare for Business-Related Crisis, by experts Carney and Jorden. Within this article they describe the purpose for having a spokesperson.

"The primary responsibility of the spokesperson is to manage the accuracy and consistency of the message coming from the organization."

Having multiple people to pull from when one might not be available, ensures that there will be consistent coverage both before and during a crisis, having a consistent voice. "When working together, multiple spokespersons can share one voice." (Coombs 81)

Anticipating future crises is the best thing you can do for your company. Take initiative and utilize the tools available to your organization in order to take preventative measures. While every possible crises cannot be anticipated and prepared for, having an understanding of the major types puts a foot in the door of success. Share with us your experiences as we share with you our finds, and stay tuned for our next post on Sunday, which will elaborate on more steps to take your preparation strategy further!

Listed below are some of the options for training a CMT for your organization, with links provided to references or examples on how to organize them.

Orientation Seminar

Functional and Full-Scale Exercises

Tabletop Discussion

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