In a world of increasing risks, a plan should be a Board priority
A crisis is like a car crash in the dark!
It’s unexpected, shocking and disorientating.
And the consequences can be expensive.
So, you might have hated paying the premiums but now you need it you are awfully glad that you did.
It’s the same with developing a crisis communications plan.
You might question the prospect of paying the cost of the work involved but it will always be less than the price to be paid for not having one when the need arises. In my view, it’s the one investment every Board should sanction.
In his book, ‘ How to Survive a Crisis,’ Sir David Omand, former Director of GCHQ, puts it like this:-
‘As always, prior preparation is never wasted, since it brings together key people to discuss what the plan should contain. Much better that those relationships and the allocation of tasks and duties be understood in advance of need, not improvised on the hoof.
Of course, nobody knows an organisation better than those who work within it. But when formulating a crisis communications plan it is always advisable to also work with external specialists who will add a valuable, independent and wider external context.
Given recent crises at the BBC and within Numbers 10 and 11, Downing Street you might be forgiven for wondering if they followed this basic principle!!
No plan will ever perfectly correspond to a specific crisis; that’s why it’s a crisis and not just a problem!
But what it will do is to track the narrative arc of a crisis, anticipate how media coverage will drive opinion, assess impacts of a range of scenarios, identify the audiences to be addressed and prepare outline responses that can rapidly be amended to reflect the particular circumstances of the incident. It’s easier editing an existing draft than starting from scratch, especially when time is of the essence.
Most importantly, as Sir David emphasises, it will have allocated roles and responsibilities in the crisis communications team which will bring order to potential chaos.
So, when the next crisis makes the headlines – and these days you don’t have to wait long – it’s worth asking:’ Did they even have a plan?’