Don’t wait for a crisis to happen. Be prepared.
You never know when a crisis will happen, but you can bet it will at some point in your career. There are two main types of crisis – operational and communication. Operational crisis include things that disrupt normal business operations. These can include physical injury or death of an employee, a chemical spill, an active shooter, fire or weather event. A communications crisis includes any threat to your brand. It can basically be summed up as anything that hits the media you didn’t plan for.
When a crisis hits do you have a plan ready? You’ve got to be ready to get information to your stakeholders, employees and the public.
Here’s a quick checklist to make sure you are prepared.
- Make plans based on different types of scenarios that could affect your industry. Know why each matters and how it would impact your business.
- Do you have a team in place? Who is the spokesperson? Who will handle social media? Who preps the CEO? What happens in each department?
- Do you know your public? Make a list of stakeholders, vendors, families. Anyone you might need to reach depending on the crisis.
- Make sure your media list is up to date.
- Are their outside resources who can lend a hand?
- Review and Revise the plan often. A plan is only as good as the last time your used it. Make sure your review quarterly so that you will be prepared when a crisis hits.