Are you ready for a crisis?

With Swine Flu (or H1N1) doing the rounds, it seems like the perfect time to start talking about Crisis Comms. What should you do, when should you do it, and how?

While times are good
Ideally you should be part of your organisations crisis response team, which should also include reps from different areas of the business including Security, Facilities, HR, IT, Finance, Legal, Contracts and Senior Leadership.

It is important to keep response plans up to date, and run regular crisis simulations to test the plan and make sure everyone is well-versed in crisis response situations.

Crisis hits
It’s here, it’s worse than anyone could imagine, and everything is happening at a million miles an hour. What do you do? Get out your plan, and follow your comms checklist!

Comms checklist
- Determine the extent of the crisis. Gather as much credible information as you can.
- Identify a single spokesperson or coordinated spokespersons for the organisation.
- Start and maintain a log of actions taken, the times, and parties involved.
- Get contact information to / from emergency response organisations if required.
- Develop a set of messages, ensure all spokespeople are briefed consistently.
- Prepare answers to likely questions.
- Communicate to employees.
- Respond to media queries. Make sure to use media contact logs to record what was said and to whom.
- Coordinate all messages with crisis response team.

During the early hours of a crisis it is important to communicate early and frequently to build trust with stakeholders and make sure they know you are managing the situation.

Don’t assume knowledge. Over communicate if you have to.

Be honest and open, fight the urge to deny or shift blame – this will only prolong the media coverage and story angles. If you are in the wrong, admit it quickly and honestly.

Don’t decline to comment unless you absolutely have to. Silence will be taken as an admission of guilt or perceived as the organisation having something to hide.

Combat rumours, tell your side of the story and show sincere empathy. Don’t just repeat corporate messages of ‘Our priority is the safety of our customers.’ Be open and genuine, for example ‘My heart goes out to those who have been affected by this incident, I can’t begin to imagine what they are feeling and will do everything in my power to resolve it.’

Talking to the media
- Write out a list of likely questions and answers.
- Be honest, open and accurate.
- Do not speculate, discuss matters only within your direct knowledge or area of responsibility.
- Ensure answers support your agreed messages and overarching corporate messages and branding.
- Be polite but firm.
- Do not argue with the journalist.
- Consider everything to be on the record.
- Speak slowly and clearly.
- Be concise, avoid acronyms and jargon.
- Do not use or repeat negative language.
- Do not address matters under litigation.
- Take the high road, don’t talk negatively about the competition.
- Be mindful of confidential matters or products / services that have yet to be announced.
- Use the opportunity to tell your company’s story.

Are you ready for Social Media?

Looks like Social Media tools and applications aren’t the passing phase that the cynics were predicting, they are here to stay.

If you are just starting to think about Social Media tools for your organisation you can be forgiven for feeling like you are significantly behind the eight ball. There is a lot to think about, and you should work out if you are even ready to use Social Media tools now…in fact you may never be ready.

For some companies Social Media works a treat, for others it fails miserably and just won’t ever work, why is that?

Well, some companies simply aren’t the right environment; they don’t have an employee culture where Social Media tools works well, or they have overriding business requirements that prevent that sort of open, collaborative communication.

Here are a few important things to consider before you dive in:

Will it succeed?
It isn’t just the younger population who are embracing Social Media tools, hell my parents are on facebook and twitter! But they may be more willing to make it part of their daily working lives and adopt it more readily. Different groups will be more willing than others, think of technically minded folk such as engineers versus labourers, how will the different groups respond?

Are Social Media tools likely to be seen as an extra burden by your employees?
Are senior leaders likely (and willing) to embrace the new technology?
Do Social Media tools complement your existing strategy, vision, goals and values?
Who is your audience, and are they already using these tools?

Build a business case
Don’t feel you have to implement everything. If a wiki is likely to work best for you, start with that. Once it becomes accepted and you can demonstrate value, then you can branch out and try something new.

Is there a need?
Who will use the tools?
How will they generate useful conversations or information?
How will they give employees better access to leadership?
Will they help global teams communicate better?
How will they actually help your business and your employees in their daily jobs?

Can you let go?
Social media tools only work when they are open and honest. Communication has to be transparent and it has to be two-way.

Do you work in an industry where information is sensitive, and needs to be controlled?
Are you REALLY ready to hear the feedback that is likely to be generated?

Conduct a trial
Get together a focus group to trial the new tools. Make sure you are implementing the right thing at the right time and to the right people.

Set guidelines
Yes Social Media tools are designed to be open and honest, and you have very little control over them. But you need to set guidelines. What can and can’t be talked about, and to remind employees that confidential information rules still apply.

Have a look at Telstra's 'Guardrails', released after a Twitter incident. Another example is the Powerhouse Museum and there are loads more out there.

The basic premise should always be, use common sense and don’t be stupid. Make sure everyone is accountable for what they say, allowing anonymous postings can lead to disaster.

Internal versus external
Social Media isn’t a great way to sell products. However, it is great for building a community among your customers, gathering useful feedback, and has been succ and For a lot of organisations, using Social Media tools internally is a lot less scary and can offer great benefits to employees and the organisation. Capture knowledge through a wiki, engage employees by encouraging your Managing Director to blog and solicit comments and questions. Build team cohesiveness through a facebook style tool, or bring in an instant messaging system that also allows for online group meetings, video-conferencing and collaboration.

Lincoln has moved

Folks, my obsession with Abraham Lincoln has grown to such a proportion that he needed a blog of his very own.

You can now find the latest sightings and random facts, myths, and general made-up-stuff at The 16th President.

Drop me a line with your own Lincoln sightings!

What's behind the wall?

My Lincoln reference for today was sent to me by a friend who saw a CNN story about The Tunnel, a movie about the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel under New York City that supposedly contains hidden objects and secrets that would unravel many of the world's current mysteries. Some of these secrets include the missing pages from John Wilkes Booth, the assasination of Abraham Lincoln, and information on conspirators involved in Lincoln's death.

Of course there are rumoured to be other treasures like a perfectly preserved locomotive from the early 1800s, but what is that when there are Lincoln mysteries to uncover!

The filmmakers are raising money from the public to finish the shooting and excavation, so let's find out what's behind the wall!!