Communication Management

Name: - Azyyati Zharifah (210203085)
- Ufairah Azanna Halda (210203061)
MK: Communication Management
PROACTIVE CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLANNING
What is Crisis Communications?
Crises vary in nature and scale, but can still pose risks to your organization regardless of
size. Maybe an employee made a… let’s say “less than wise” choice on social media or a CEO
suddenly passed away. Perhaps a vital warehouse just burned down or your CIO just dropped
the bomb that you’ve been hacked. Regardless of the crisis, this is the point where public
relations and the leadership team come together to form a crisis communications plan that
clearly outlines:
• The nature of the crisis.

• The level of risk or exposure
• Primary audiences for communication (which may not always be the media).
• Who the decision makers will be (rarely should everyone be in the room).
• The communications strategy going forward.
• Who the spokesperson will be.
While only one small part of corporate crisis management, crisis communication is
fundamental to any successful response. And to be fair, I have often been in that room where
everyone was scared that a crisis would ravage an organization and I had to be the person to
politely inform them that no one outside of that room would care. Crisis communications isn’t
simply a plan for media statements and press conferences. It is a process and regardless of the
process, each crisis, no matter how small, requires an appropriate level of planning and
response.
The Proactive Crisis Communications Plan

In some cases, a crisis is simply too big to avoid and requires a head on approach. This
is the proactive crisis communications plan. For example, in my past life as a reporter I attended
a local police press conference with an unknown topic. The police chief walked out and gave
a detailed account of inappropriate officer conduct within the department, outlined their steps
to address it and took questions. No reporter in the room had a clue that was coming, but by
taking a proactive approach, the police chief shaped the narrative from the beginning. The last
thing they wanted was someone finding out on their own and suggesting the department tried
to cover it up. They chose transparency and forthrightness.
While a proactive crisis communication plan sometimes runs the risk of making
mountains out of mole hills, it can also preserve an organization’s integrity while diffusing any
ticking timebombs of a story later down the road. Remember that proactive crisis
communications may not even involve contacting the media. Maybe you discovered
inappropriate conduct within the office and instead of letting the rumour mill get out of control,
you choose to send an office wide notification or hold a meeting to discuss the issue openly
and re-enforce rules or expectations of office behaviour. Your plan should still involve
contingencies, though. For example, any company-wide email should be written with the
expectation that someone outside the company will see it. That needs to be part of the crisis
communications planning process.
HOW TO BUILD YOUR CRISIS COMMUNICATION?
1. Put crisis communication on your agenda

Most companies think about crisis communication only when they are in the midst of the
crisis itself. Then they run around trying to contact the right people to deliver an effective
message, and, hopefully, put out the figurative crisis fire. Take advantage of the calm moments
at work to organize your thoughts on crisis and brainstorm both potential crises which could
affect your company and appropriate responses. Read up on other company’s crises and reflect
on what you perceive to be ‘good’ responses with minimal lateral damage.
2. Set up a crisis communication team
Some companies have an official crisis communication team in place, either in-house or
out-sourced. If you don’t have a team, it’s time to form one. Ideally, your team members should
include CEO/Senior Official, Corporate Communications/PR Director, Operations
Manager/Customer Service Executive, Legal Advisors, Human Resources Director, Finance
Department Representative, and Technical/IT Experts. However, for a smaller company (yes,
crises happen to small companies as well, often with much more dramatic conclusions), you
could choose a smaller team. If you do have a team, when is the last time you met with them?
Although nobody likes a meeting for a meeting’s sake, this is the best way to ensure that your
team is (still) on-board with your crisis communication strategy.
3. Dust off your existing crisis communication plan or draft a new one
Like your crisis communication team, when is the last time you checked your crisis
communication plan? Be honest, some of you don’t even know if you have one or where to
find it if you did. Look at the last time it was updated. If one of the crises involves a fax
machine, it has probably been decades since you last looked at it. Pay close attention to the
resources allocated and the chain of command which was once established. Does this reflect
your current company status? Are the resources the same? If not, it is time to rework your crisis
communication plan.
4. Prepare templates
Through brainstorming potential crises for your company with your crisis communication
team, you can prepare templates for the messages which would need to be sent out during the
crisis. These templates can save you time when the crisis is happening. Imagine that there is a
natural disaster right outside your hotel which could endanger your clients: A templated
message is a better way to begin than a blank Word document. Save these templates in a shared
folder with your crisis communication team so that all messages are consistent. Also, save
previous crises messages to debrief at a later time.
5. Get training
Numerous types of crisis communication training exist. When was the last time you, your
crisis communication team, or anyone in your company trained to deal with crisis
communication? This type of training could be done with only the team or with all the
employees as they, too, may be faced with inquisitive minds and need to know how to respond
to questions as well.
6. Do practice runs
Imagine a crisis situation within your company and do a practice run. In this way, you
could see first- hand if your crisis communication plan actually works and if your team is up
for the challenge. Practice runs are win-win situations: If all goes well, you can be confident
that you are as prepared as you can be when the next crisis strikes. If there are glitches, it is
better to catch them now when there is nothing to lose and make the appropriate modifications
to your crisis communication plan.

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Name: - Azyyati Zharifah (210203085)

- Ufairah Azanna Halda (210203061)

MK: Communication Management

PROACTIVE CRISIS COMMUNICATION PLANNING

What is Crisis Communications?

• The nature of the crisis.

The Proactive Crisis Communications Plan

HOW TO BUILD YOUR CRISIS COMMUNICATION?

1. Put crisis communication on your agenda

2. Set up a crisis communication team

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