With the world changing at a rapid pace, a crisis for any organisation is really only a matter of when rather than if. But if disaster were to strike your business, would your team know what to do?
When it comes to a crisis, it’s often not the event itself but how an organisation responds that has the most critical impact on its reputation and recovery. While every crisis is unique, many are predictable and not necessarily unexpected – and can be planned for.
History tells us that the organisations most likely to survive a crisis with their reputation intact are those with robust crisis communication strategies, well-trained team members and clear company-wide protocols.
Be prepared
Preparing for the worst rather than simply hoping for the best involves investing in crisis planning and regularly testing these plans to ensure your team is as ready as they can be should an unfortunate situation unfold.
From natural disasters to cyberattacks, proactively planning for a crisis starts with identifying potential risks and creating strategies to mitigate them. Clear communication protocols and transparent stakeholder engagement are critical to minimising damage during a crisis response and maintaining trust longer term.
Building your team’s skills to effectively manage a crisis response takes time and practice. Determining where to start will depend on the experience of your team and the sophistication of your crisis management planning to date. To develop and practise these skills, consider:
- Crisis planning workshops – assessing current issues and risks, considering potential crisis scenarios, and examining internal roles and processes.
- Scenario mapping – establishing a series of issues and risks and mapping them based on likelihood of occurring and their potential impact.
- Desktop simulations – a practical way to test your plan, ensuring roles are understood and responses are streamlined under pressure.
- Media training – preparing key spokespeople to handle challenging interactions with the media.
Crisis communication support
At BBS, we specialise in helping businesses adapt to a shifting risk landscape. Whether you need to review your current strategy, practice crisis scenarios or enhance your communication processes, our tailored solutions ensure your organisation is equipped to navigate any situation.
When a crisis hits, we are also available for ‘live’ crisis management support. We work collaboratively with organisations to manage hour-by-hour communication demands, providing strategic advice for managing situations, messaging for internal and external stakeholders, and managing media inquiries and responses. Our approach always reflects the unique requirements of each client and responds to the nuances of the crisis environment.
Over the past 35 years, we have helped clients through fatalities and serious injury, criminal charges and trials, civil level proceedings, executive and board disputes, natural disasters, public health situations, environmental catastrophes, mismanagement, cybersecurity, data breaches and more.
Prepare for tomorrow, today. Contact us to discuss our full suite of crisis communications training or to enquire about our live crisis management services.
