Golden rules of dealing with a crisis

Posted by Kate Betts on 16th March 2020

We’ve been busy behind the scenes advising, and running training sessions, on how to deal with a crisis. And there are some golden rules that are worth remembering:

• Speed of response is vital. If you don’t communicate about what you are doing, other people will be commenting and you will be running to catch up. You need to be communicating as soon as you can to show you have a handle on what is happening.
• Leadership is vital. It is no use your CEO saying: ‘I can’t help, so I won’t go’. People need leaders more than ever in a crisis. They need to be reassured. It doesn’t matter if your CEO can’t fix the problem, mop up the flood, save people or property; they need to be seen to care. Theresa May couldn’t sort out the Manchester Arena bombing, but she went to Manchester the following day. Richard Branson famously went to the scene of the Grayrigg train crash as soon as possible. The boss at Alton Towers didn’t hide away after the awful accident there. Get your CEO out there.
• And when you do say something, the best advice is to take CARe. That stands for Concern, Action, Reassurance. I am not sure what part of that the words: ‘Many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time’ fits into.
• Have a crisis plan. Crises happen and you don’t want to be making up when it is all going wrong.

If you want to know more about how to prepare or deal with a crisis, please contact us.