CORY: What's going on?
My deposit is not correct, and I've got checks that are going to bounce.
I'll have to pay a fortune in bank fees.
ALI: My rent's due.
How am I supposed to pay it?
CORY: Is the company in trouble?
Have we been hacked or something?
Does somebody out there have all our personal information?
HOST: Crises unfold
fast – they're times of chaos and worry.
It's vital to plan as precisely as possible what and
how you'll communicate before a crisis occurs.
First, it's a good idea to brainstorm potential sources of crisis and
plan appropriate responses.
Identify any types of crisis that could affect your department and
their potential consequences.
Then plan and rehearse suitable responses for each type.
LENNY: Suppose we ran into a situation where we couldn't
pay our employees at all?
DIANNA: You mean like a software glitch, or a bank deposit problem?
Everyone would be really angry. But then, probably really worried, too.
They'd want to know how long they'd have to wait to get paid, or
wonder if the company's going under,
and then they'd start worrying about their jobs.
LENNY: So how would we handle that?
DIANNA: I guess we would have to be honest and explain the problem.
We'd need somebody at the executive level to reassure the employees the company
isn't in trouble, and that it was a technical problem we are investigating.
HOST: Whether facing a public crisis, or a smaller internal matter,
you must identify the audiences that you'll need to reach.
These might include the segments of your customer base affected, if any, and
other interested stakeholders.
If the crisis is an internal situation, determine who
within the company must be notified, and how best you can reach them?
The size, nature, and impact of a crisis may require a company to review and
update its existing media posts.
Organizations that survive a crisis the best know what they stand for
before the crisis happens and confirm those values, even under duress.
If the crisis is liable to attract public attention, look for proactive
statements about your company that you can draw on when responding to a crisis.
It's also important to check that existing posts
won't compromise the company in a crisis.
A joke on your web site might be OK now – but if visitors were accessing
the site for news during a crisis, it could make the company appear insensitive.
LENNY: We could get a message up on our internet, internal Facebook, and Twitter
account to make sure everyone knows what happened and what is being done.
DIANNA: We'd want to keep it internal, if we could.
LENNY: If we could...
HOST: In 2007, the Los Angeles school system encountered massive overpayments
and underpayments after implementing payroll software.
A teacher's union brought a lawsuit against the school district
because of all the payroll problems.
While these were public school systems,
the lesson remains, even an internal issue can make its way into the press.
It follows directly, then,
to plan your internal and external communication channels.
Getting your message to the audiences you need to reach may include telephoning
or emailing the press, contacting important stakeholders,
such as customers, distributors, employees,
vendors, investors, or any others directly affected in person.
And don't neglect social media or
underestimate its power in shaping public perception.
Finally, it's useful to plan a command center – a space
where a crisis team can meet, with necessary communications equipment.
Plan a backup location and
equipment, in case access to your offices is unavailable.
Managing a crisis means keeping your head
when everyone around you may be losing theirs.
Planning in advance means knowing what to do if the worst comes to pass, and
when to carry out your plan.