Crisis Communication: Everything That Corporates Need To Know!

by Purvi Dalvi Writer

What is a crisis?

A crisis is an unexpected disturbance that not only shakes the company but also develops a fear of uncertainty amongst the employees of the organisation. It threatens the ability of the company to operate effectively and could hamper its progress.

What is crisis communication planning?

They are the various tools used by the company to respond strongly to emergencies. Getting worked out in such scenarios would not provide an efficient solution. Crisis communication involves technologies, systems and protocols to help companies overcome the disaster steadily. This planning consists of the crisis team of the company and the top management. Some companies also take the help of reputation managers to tackle the issue calmly and positively.

What is the need for crisis communication?

To avoid unforeseen situations, organisations should have a pre-planned crisis communication in place. That way employees can use a focused approach and avoid unnecessary panic.
The pre-planned strategy defines the roles and responsibilities of the employees in the event of the crisis. A crisis communication plan includes detailed actions that need to be taken by the management and the employees. That keeps confusion at bay.
A proper crisis communication planning allows employees to focus on their work and reduce the fear of uncertainty.

What does crisis communication planning comprise of?

Strategy: Your plan should include how you will communicate the crisis to employees without instilling fear in them. It should explain the purpose, activation criteria, and the procedures regarding internal and external communication.

Crisis team: The team must collect information, create and disseminate key messages and work in sync with the media. Along with the crisis team, the media team also closely monitors the plan as they have to respond to them well.

Internal communication: A comprehensive communication plan should be in place so that the employees can counterattack the crisis. It should explain how everyone should conduct themselves and deal with the matter in a dignified manner. At the time same time, employees should be discrete about the information they share to the world.

Key message: While drafting the crisis communication plan, all sorts of scenarios need to be taken into consideration. Each of them should hold a key message for the internal and external factors of the organisation. Run through the plan once with the legal and top management of the company, to sort out the hidden issues.

A crisis never comes knocking at the door. With the help of a thorough crisis communication plan, you can safeguard not just your organisation but also the employees’ future.