By Felicia Knight
Managing a public relations crisis isn’t easy. That’s why we advocate avoiding a crisis in the first place. It can be made a little easier, however, by understanding what’s happening, what’s at stake, and what needs to be done. Most important is how you respond and the best way to respond is with a story—a true story, a better story—that moves beyond the crisis.
You need to change the conversation from people’s fears, their disappointment, their anger, your failure (if there is one), or an outside destructive force to one that identifies the problem and lights the way forward.
A crisis can involve anything from loss of life to loss of privacy, from internal malfeasance to external market forces. From the revelations of the Panama Papers to the Alabama governor’s political sex scandal, a communications crisis nearly always has the potential to cause long-term harm.
Managing a crisis must include:
Information
You need it for internal and external communications.
What happened?
Who’s responsible?
What are the damages?
What are the potential damages?
How can we fix it?
Responsibility
If this crisis came from within, take responsibility and if the situation calls for an apology, deliver one. If the crisis came from without, explain how it affected your company or organization, and how the situation will be fixed.
Rapid response
Disclose as much as possible, and take decisive action to move forward.
Ongoing communication
Keep people informed, internally and externally.
Regaining your reputation
The crisis may have passed and the news cycles may have moved on, but if you’ve taken a hit to your reputation, you need a plan to regain public trust.
Central to your plan to regain public trust is your story. Tell a story that details lessons learned, explains the way forward, and how your company, organization, or self will be stronger and the public better served.