Part 1- Communicating Through Crisis

Spoiler Alert: start before the crisis.

From where I sit here in The Bahamas, it seems like crisis has been almost ubiquitous since 2019.

Hurricane Dorian found our shores in 2019. I remember watching in horror as the storm devastated Abaco and Grand Bahama. Deep, terrifying uncertainty settled in as power grids failed, and I could not reach my family in Freeport. It was the first time the country contended with a storm of that magnitude, and the gaps in our ability to manage such a catastrophe were laid bare in its aftermath.

Not long after, COVID-19 started its march across borders. So little was known about the virus at the start that misinformation often took centerstage where proven science might have typically prevailed.

Two years later, other challenges emerged. Mucked-up global supply chains have periodically created shortages of essential goods,

inflation is the highest in decades, and while fears of a recession seem to be cooling, the possibility of an economic slowdown remains high.

In The Bahamas, most recently, the collapse of a cryptocurrency behemoth has turned an unkind media eye on our jurisdiction. And as this collapse unfolded, the pace with which negative narratives could be spun on platforms like Twitter, for example, became even more apparent. Social media's ability to amplify and deepen a crisis has been proven time and time again.

What is a Crisis?

Crisis is

a universal constant. It will come. One way to deal with it is to complain once it does arrive-- to lament that we could not predict it--- another is to prepare for it.

A vital part of that preparation is communicating about and through a crisis, so here are some quick tips to get you started.

Pre-Crisis

Spoiler Alert: prepare for a crisis before you have to manage one.

Si vis pacem, para bellum-- "If you want peace, prepare for war."

How to Prepare for a Communications Crisis

Know your Audience: When communicating through a crisis, knowing ahead of time who you're talking to, what they care about and what media they trust is indispensable. These insights help you to craft your key messages, outline your media strategy, and

leverage spokespeople and allies to address and even assuage concerns. But this does not only apply to your external audience. Your internal audience, from frontline workers to C-suite leadership, will be in the trenches fighting for the survival of your organization's reputation. Answering their questions and giving them the tools they need to enter the fray confidently is just as important as talking to your customers or the media.

Use Your Imagination: When I do guided sessions with organizations, I often ask them to imagine an ideal world to facilitate a discussion about their organization's vision. To prepare for crises, it's the exact opposite-- imagine all the things that could go terribly wrong. Gaming out the likely and the unlikely scenarios, big and small, and using that as the basis for preparation is critical. Obviously, not all crises are the same, so identifying and prioritizing the sources and types of crises is also essential.

Create a Crisis Team: If you're a comms professional in an organization, you cannot handle a crisis independently. You should build a team of internal partners from across your organization that will be integral to your crisis communications management. These partners will not only keep you informed, but they will also help secure internal commitment and engagement and coordinate the response across your organization.

Prepare Crisis Resources: To reduce the inevitable scramble that comes with any crisis, preparing a few fundamental resources ahead of time can make a huge difference. These resources can include your "Red Book," the comprehensive crisis manual. There is even some tactical content that you can have waiting in the wings, like a "dark site," proforma messages, and holding statements that will allow you to communicate quickly and effectively in the immediate term. Drawing on these ready-made resources instead of building them from scratch in the middle of an emergency will make everyone's job easier.

Simulate the Scary: As the #WorldCup comes to a close, a word from Pele: "Practice is everything." Your audience insights, imagined scenarios, team building, and beautifully designed resources could mean very little in a real crisis if you don't test and hone them. Simulating crises regularly to ensure that all your preparation will result in the positive outcomes you're aiming for is how you get as close to prepared as possible. Some companies run small internal tests, while others hire crisis actors, bringing their operations to a halt to simulate as real an emergency as possible. You cannot overestimate the value of practicing your crisis comms strategy.

This list of tips is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully, it gets you thinking. Have you done enough to prepare for the inevitable crisis, big or small? As a new year approaches, it will undoubtedly bring new challenges, so how can you ensure that your organization is ahead of what might be coming?

If the last few years have taught us anything, expect the unexpected. And, as that profound African proverb reminds us, "You don't have to get ready if you stay ready."

Ready for Part Two? Read now.

If you want to learn more about how you can prepare your organization for crises, shoot me an email at jgaskinsjr@gmail.com. Look out for part 2!