10 Ways to Prepare for a Crisis
[by Nora Jacobs] We’re unaware of any insurance policy you can buy that will protect your organization from experiencing a crisis. There are, however, several proven steps you can take to significantly enhance your crisis response capabilities. Here’s a short checklist to get you started:
1) Assess your threats. Determine the most likely events your organization could face and prioritize them. Focus on those that would have the most severe impact on your ability to operate, or your reputation.
2) Develop messages you might use if those events were to occur. Draft a potential standby statement for each as well.
3) Develop a plan identifying individuals who would lead communications during a crisis. Add responsibilities for them, along with audiences you’ll need to reach and ways to reach them. Include checklists and forms to make management of the process easier. Include guidance for handling media relations.
4) Share that plan with your team. Make sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.
5) Make sure your plan dovetails with your operational crisis plan. Get buy-in for your plan with the team that will drive operations during a crisis event.
6) Share your plan with key consultants and vendors. Make sure they’ll be available to assist as needed during a crisis. Web providers, your ad agency and marketing firm should be on that list.
7) Make sure your spokespersons are trained to deliver your messages during a crisis. Remember that speaking to the media during a crisis requires special skills your spokesperson may not have yet.
8) Make sure you have active social media channels in place and are using them. They may be the most efficient way to tell your story during a crisis.
9) Practice your plan. A dry run will identify gaps you’ll want to fix now, not during a crisis event.
10) Finally, revisit and update your plan regularly – at least annually.
Sound overwhelming? Start at the top and work your way down the list. As you begin to develop a crisis preparedness mind-set, you’ll realize you’re creating something as close to a crisis insurance policy as it’s possible to have.