Disaster recovery
Some tips to avoid looking like idiots, or worse.
So, something has gone wrong in your workplace that becomes public knowledge. It might be a workplace accident, maybe your web service has been hacked, or even gone down for multiple users.
How to look like idiots, or worse.
Whatever the incident, here’s the way you look like idiots or worse:
- deny the incident has taken place or don’t react when querued;
- release boilerplate text that reads along the lines of ‘we care deeply about our employees/customers/banana milkshakes’ which effectively does #1 again and utterly contradicts what has actually happened.
- start attacking anyone who questions what’s going on
- attack or rubbish the customer/victim/employee.
How to take control of the message
Here’s how you look in control and address issues:
- be honest.
- be timely.
Really, that’s it.
If something has gone wrong, the best way of dealing is to fess up as soon as possible, and it can be as simple as “We’re aware something has gone wrong and are investigating. We’ll keep you updated with further news as it is available.”
Then follow up with honest, real and truthful updates. If you have a plan for recovering, make it known.
That’s how you build trust.
So why do this?
It’s simple: there’s an awful lot of “fake news” (otherwise known as bullshit) out there. Which means there’s a growing number of people who are innoculated to it. They’re your worst nightmare if something has gone wrong. Because they’ll call you out, publicly and loudly. They’ll shred your reputation and take choices out of your hands. You’ll be on the run from that moment forwards.
Add to that, it takes moments to find further information, be it lies or truth. Which means you lose the iniative.
No-one has ever moved forwards by being on the back foot.
What’re the risks?
Legal might want to avoid any chance of someone suing you, or the board might want to avoid “losing face” in a hostile world.
Except those things will happen anyway if the issue is big enough. Hiding things is what children do. Avoiding responsibility is cowardly.
If you want to operate in the world, take peoples money, their time and energy, look after the things they hold dear then you have a choice: you can be a thief and a sheister, or you can be worthy of trust.
