Trade conflicts, nuclear conflicts, climate crises, and finally the corona virus: crises are currently shaping the debates and personal agendas of many. Mistakes in communication cause considerable economic damage to companies, individuals, or organizations in difficult times – especially through the loss of credibility and trust. Social media, sometimes unpredictable, can further exacerbate crises.
Crises are among the greatest challenges faced by companies and by people. The Swiss writer Max Frisch once said: “Crisis is a productive state. You just have to take away the flavor of catastrophe from it.” Crises are usually difficult but critical and emotionally demanding situations for companies. The first challenge for communications work is to avert damage to the company. In any case, crises have an impact and can lead to situations that threaten the existence of the company.
Taking action before the crisis
Crisis communication begins before the crisis hits. Those who are well prepared and have acted before the crisis strikes remain especially able to act when corporate takeovers, job cuts, incidents, recalls, strategy changes or new structures lead to uncertainty among the relevant stakeholders or, in the worst case, to negative headlines and damage to the company’s image. Crisis communication is one of the most important fields of internal and external corporate communications.
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Many triggers are possible
There are many different types of crises, making them difficult to deal with properly. There are many triggers for crises, from mass layoffs to environmental scandals, from industry crises to accidents, from the missteps of individual company employees to animosity on the Internet. Who has not experienced and suffered a crisis of meaning or a life crisis? Happily, we usually get through these situations again and again and often enough emerge strengthened from these times. Crises that affect companies or institutions, on the other hand, usually take place in the public arena. Media coverage exacerbates the situation, and a minor issue quickly develops into a major trouble spot.
A rewarding investment
Every organization is vulnerable to crises. The days of playing the ostrich – burying your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away – are over. When the CEO or CFO of a sound company considers the cost of creating a crisis communications plan – either a large investment of internal time or hiring an outside professional for a significant fee – it’s easy to be tempted to imagine, “It can’t happen to us,” or “If it does happen to us, we can handle it relatively easily.” Thousands of organizations affected by natural or man-made disasters have suffered far more damage than they would have with a fully developed crisis communications plan.
Strategically managed crisis communication provides protection
Public interest, media competition and the growing importance of the Internet are reinforcing the trend toward more and more spectacular news. For many media, it is becoming increasingly difficult to escape this dynamic and the pressure to publish. All this also increases the stress on those responsible for the crisis – wrong decisions and miscommunication can be the result. Unprepared or incorrect crisis communication can let the situation get out of control, permanently damage the public’s trust and thus harm the credibility of the responsible parties. The working atmosphere and the motivation of the company’s employees can also suffer as a result. And finally, inconsistent statements by responsible people and experts, misunderstandings, finger-pointing and discussions in the media become a burden on crisis management itself.
Crisis communication is an essential part of crisis management. Like crisis management, it requires clear structures and prepared strategies. In crises, it must be ensured that all those responsible have the same level of information and knowledge and that the media and the population are informed as comprehensively, currently, consistently and truthfully as possible. For this reason, coordination processes for informing the public must be established in advance.
With our many years of organizational experience and knowledge of how social and traditional media tick in crisis situations, we can help you successfully master crisis situations.