Communicating during a crisis – the dos and don’ts

Whatever your political sympathies, national crisis tend to highlight the great communicators and the tragically less so. We are seeing on our TV screens and in our social media feeds the best and worst of our nation’s leaders communicating important messages that are not always hitting the mark.

While our leaders are in an unprecedented and unenviable position, there are some basic dos and don’ts when it comes to comms that apply to any organisation or business faced with an issue or crisis.

Do respect your audience

Respect is about timeliness and transparency. Provide regular updates and let your stakeholders know when they can expect the next one. Be honest about what you know and don’t know. It’s better to say you don’t know something than to make up a response. Take it on notice, tell them you’ll investigate and get back to them.

Don’t dumb it down

While it’s important to use plain and simple language, don’t dumb down your messaging. Speak to people like adults and be open about the status of the situation. Use short sentences with one idea per sentence, dot points and sub headings in written communication and repeat key messages to aid recall. Avoid vague messaging. We saw this week how failing to define “essential” services immediately led to speculation and panic buying at bottle shops when our access to wine was secure the whole time.

Do apologise

It’s the hard pill to swallow sometimes but if your organisation or business caused the offence or issue, take responsibility for it. You might take a hit in the short term but you’ll come out the other side more quickly and stakeholders will respect you for it. Your apology needs to be public, genuine and shared on the same platform or to the same audience as where the offence took place.

Don’t blame shift

Sometimes in a crisis such as what the world is currently facing, there is no one to blame. A virus is not an entity or person, it has no face, or right of reply. It’s human to try and find someone to blame be they government advisers, supermarkets or profiteers, because the alternative is that life is just unfair sometimes. Avoid shifting the blame where no blame can be attributed. Acknowledge that a virus has no motive and move on. If your organisation is bearing the brunt of community outrage it means your stakeholders believe your organisation should be responsible for resolving the issue even if they know you didn’t cause it.

Do listen and respond

We don’t always get comms right the first go, especially when time is of the essence. Use social media and other pulse checks to gauge how your audience has received your message. If the messages are being misinterpreted, not cutting through or causing widespread panic, rethink your strategy, review your messages and try again. Flexibility is our greatest asset in times of turbulence and change.

For advice on preparing a crisis communication strategy for your business, contact the friendly team at Spectrum Comms.