Fail to prepare… Or prepare to fail?
Posted by Kate Betts on 18th June 2019
Recently I seem to have spent a lot of time advising over crisis communications matters. I am not sure if it’s something to do with the current climate, but it does seem to be worrying a lot of people.
Most of the work I am doing is planning, rather than reacting. And that is the way it should be. As the old saying goes: Prior Planning Prevents P*ss Poor Performance.
And when you are in a crisis situation the last thing you need is a poor performance. How you deal with a crisis makes a massive difference to how you are perceived. And if you haven’t prepared you are unlikely to deal with it well. Not only is lack of planning going to lead to a poor operational response, but your reputation will take a battering. Just ask Oxfam or Thomas Cook.
You could say: it will never happen to me… and I have listened to heads of marketing from big organisations talk about how they don’t have to worry about their reputation as it is so good. I’m guessing they don’t have a crisis comms plan!
Bad things can happen to any organisation. It might be a complete accident, a force of nature, a failure of product or service, a disgruntled employee, a dishonest sub-contractor, or a targeted attack. The list goes on and on.
The first thing to do is create that list; work out what could happen (be realistic!) and you can start to create your plan around potential crises. Although, as we all know, something will happen that you don’t expect. I love the rugby club comms manager who told me they had a mini tornado come through their stadium during a game, and no, they hadn’t prepared for that! But a good generic plan can work in any scenario and is a ‘road map’, directing you where you need to go and making sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities should the worst happen.
And don’t forget that other old phrase, Murphy’s Law: If it can go wrong, it will.
So, make sure you are prepared. Or as the Scouts would say: Be Prepared!
For more information about crisis comms planning and exercising, or dealing with an on-going or imminent crisis, please contact us.
Kate also runs open courses on crisis communications on behalf of the Chartered Institute of PR and Government Events. Dates for the rest of 2019 are:
July 2nd - London
September 10th – London
October 9th– Manchester
