COMMUNICATING IN A CRISIS

COMMUNICATING IN A CRISIS

Warren Buffett’s famous warning that “it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it” grows in significance as the years go by. Multiple and ‘always-on’ media channels mixed with increasing risks such as cybercrime and greater corporate transparency puts the emphasis not on ‘if’ there is a reputation crisis, but ‘when’.

Having a robust communications plan in place and the skills to execute it are critical to mitigating the potential fallout from a crisis, they also provide piece of mind for partners and investors.

These measures are not just insurance. Companies that respond well during a crisis, often fair better when the dust has settled than they did before. It demonstrates to all interested parties that yours is a well-run business. But getting it wrong or being unprepared can result in catastrophic loss of business value as reputation, employee sentiment and good will plummet.

Our two-day workshop equips communication teams and business leaders with the right personal skills and organisational tools to prepare for and react to crises. We create a variety of scenarios with our delegates and look at: the chains of command, messaging, how to control external and internal communication channels, when to comment and correct spokesperson deployment.

Using these scenarios, we examine the roles of leaders in a crisis and work to enhance their capabilities as spokespeople. Filming our delegates interviewed under pressure we ensure they come out of the coaching with improved self-confidence, personal impact and leadership qualities critical to managing a crisis.

We also look at the three major issues determining an organisation’s exposure to reputational risk and examine how they can be mitigated. And we explore the emotional and rational reactions to crises so that spokespeople can display credibility, integrity and control of the situation maintaining trust with all audiences.