Business and crisis communication: how to inform?
What is crisis communication? How to make strategic use of information? AMIGAMAG takes stock of this essential element of communication, which is speaking up in a crisis situation.
The life of a leader is not always a long, calm river. Disturbing elements may rush into a breach. This is when a storm arises, which can be devastating for the image of the company.
When a disturbance arises, it is essential to know how to react in an appropriate and relevant manner. This is the principle of crisis management. One of its components consists of communication adapted to the circumstances.
What is crisis communication?
Crisis communication brings together all the actions that will be carried out internally or externally to counter or at least limit the effects of an adverse event for your image.
Some organizations have crisis cells that allow anticipation and excellent responsiveness. If this is not your case, know that there is a set of good practices to adopt to remedy the incidents.
Communicate internally in a crisis management process
When we talk about crisis communication, the primary attention is rather frantic about media communication and, more generally, that directed towards an audience outside the organization.
While this is important, it should not be the one to consider at first.
Internal employees are to be considered as an audience to be privileged before any “outside the walls” communication process. The reason is simple: they are your best spokespeople when they are adequately informed.
A crisis is never harmless, and your teams are on the front line to be able to remedy it and work together to provide support and solutions. Do not underestimate their potential. On the contrary, show them your confidence.
Another reason to take care of this internal communication is to harmonize the speeches. A briefed team on the situation and the directives will allow communicators to do more efficient work.
When your organization experiences a test, your employees are more likely to feel reinvested if they have received a sign of consideration, having been appropriately informed. Remember that they are essential cogs in your business.
For the exercise to be relevant, the approach with staff and collaborators must be consistent, in fact, but also and above all, with the values defended by your corporate culture. The speech must then touch on what unites your teams and what makes sense in their commitment to your side.
Another essential element to keep in mind is that your external communication must echo your internal communication. Needless to say, the counter-productivity of a double discourse.
Crisis communication: adapt the company’s external communication
The main risk is to get lost in problem management considerations that would limit decision-making for decisive actions. This is why you have to know how to operate a skillful balance between reactivity and reflection.
The communication axis could be defined in a communication plan dedicated to the context and taking into account the urgency and the issues.
Companies are offered several possibilities in terms of crisis communication:
- the gratitude. This strategy aims to maintain a line of values-oriented towards transparency, recognizing the error that led to the crisis,
- the responsible third party. This is to bring attention to an element so that the company is no longer at the center of the debate,
- denial. It will be a question of refusing to recognize the existence of the crisis or the involvement of the company in it.
While the first strategy approaches an ethical model, the others can have disastrous consequences, the opposite of the expected effect.
If, in such a context, you are not able to carry out your communication yourself, think of the communication agencies which have made a specialty of crisis management. They will also be able to provide you with recommendations to work on your image and advise you on the anticipation phase that you will need in the future. that disturbing elements rush
