Communication Tools

Crisis management plans are both necessary and dangerous. They are necessary because, without them, a company is frozen in indecision when a crisis occurs. No one knows where to begin. Crisis management plans are templates. They provide the organizational framework to begin the process of crisis response. They specify the needs – the need for a spokesperson, for training, for message development, for identifying key media contacts, for recruiting third-party supporters.

But crisis management plans are also dangerous if they create the illusion that the company is in full preparedness mode simply because the plan is in place. Crisis management plans are living, changing, developing organisms. They need to be constantly revisited. They should be subjects of ongoing discussion and refinement long before a crisis actually happens.

Test your crisis management plans with real-time role-play exercises. Update the plans. Can you reach all crisis team members on a truly 24/7 basis? Effective crisis management plans guarantee that you can.

Crisis management plans are the key to integrating the different skill sets that must be brought to bear during a crisis. Crisis management plans should be a product of ongoing collaboration between lawyers, executives, HR, and communications teams. The very act of collaboration in the planning process helps ensure that that collaboration will be real and effective once a crisis actually happens.