Crisis Plan
A crisis plan is a planned, organized arrangement that an organization creates on how to deal with a certain crisis, particularly when communicating with the media. Crisis communication, or a crisis communication plan, is the term used to describe the interaction with the media during and after a crisis. The crisis plan is usually created by the public relations team of an organization.
There are many different events that can happen within an organization that can qualify as a crisis. It is important that an organization is prepared ahead of time for each possible crisis with a crisis plan. There are some types of crises that aren't worth preparing for, however, due to the unlikelihood that it will ever happen (such as the executive team being abducted by aliens) or because an outrageous amount of time and work is needed in order to be fully prepared.
Crisis Plan Components
The two main components of a crisis plan are
- A description of the actual crisis, which is how the company will deal with the crisis immediately on-hand in order to minimize loss if possible.
- The crisis communication plan, which is how the company will communicate with the media and the public about the crisis that is currently happening or has just recently happened.
Potential Crises
There are many potential crises that could affect an organization. Each crisis should have its own crisis plan with crisis communications already planned.
- Scandal involving top executive
- Natural disaster which may or may not directly affect the organization
- Death of key figure in company or key person unrelated to company
- Plummeting stock price
- Crash in computer system, causing important information and documents to be lost
- Embezzlement inside the organization
- Dramatic downsizing that results in significant unemployment in the area
- Union having problems with the organization
- Government investigation (IRS, FDA, etc.)
- Lawsuit between employees or involving outsiders
- Problems with a product, especially if it leads to a recall
- Sexual harassment case
- Fire or explosion within the building
- Protest against the company
- Employee strike
- Physical violence between employees
- Theft done by employees or non-employees
Crisis Communication
If an organization is not well prepared with a crisis plan, negative results are likely to happen. Crisis communication is the most important part of a crisis plan. Depending on how well an organization handles the media determines whether or not the company survives the aftermath with as few scars as possible. An organization may find itself suffering only minor injuries, or it may become damaged beyond repair and suffer the ultimate fate of death.
The most important objective of crisis communications is to protect the integrity and the reputation of the company. If an organization does not have a well-though crisis plan, it could find itself looking foolish in front of the cameras. The spokesperson may not know exactly what to say to the media or may say something inappropriate for the situation. The reporters may throw some tricky questions at the spokesperson, and without proper preparation, he may not be able to answer quickly enough or to satisfy the public.
The worst thing an organization could do is to lie about a crisis situation or not tell the truth or not admit a mistake. If the organization were caught lying, the effects would be terrible. The organization's credibility would diminish, and the public would feel that they could not trust the organization. If this happened, the products and services offered by the company would likely not be bought or used, resulting in another company that has become a failure.
If, however, the organization is able to continue projecting a positive image to the media and the public, the organization may not only recover well with few bruises; it may come out even better than before.
