Filling the communication vacuum

It’s day twenty of our 28 day examination of organisations in crisis and issues management mode. Given the pace of the 24 hour news media and the power of social media, it’s not surprising that there is an ever-increasing hunger for information, especially in the early stages of an incident. Being able to satisfy this hunger helps assert control over how a situation plays out. Consider the following elements in your crisis and issues management planning to help achieve this:

* build online communication channels and relationships beforehand: you can use them to get information out quickly in the event of an incident
* have a corporate backgrounder and positioning papers on likely issues (safety, security, privacy etc) pre-drafted so that you can fill the communication vacuum with accurate information
* build and media train a team of spokespeople so that “no comment” is not your only option
* examine and manage your online reputation: what do people see if they search for your name?

Engaging with stakeholders in order to shape how a crisis or issue plays out is often the best strategy. Preparing resources and plans beforehand helps you to do this more swiftly and more effectively.

Grappling with their own issues, incidents and crises today are:

Barclays/HSBC/NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland: financial services; report makes corruption allegations (note that HSBC whilst provides a comment, the other three refuse to do so)

HMRC: public body; further controversy over inaccurate PAYE payments

Krystal Ball; US politician; provocative images from social media sites leaked on the internet