Crises are the nightmare of any communicator. In a crisis, PR specialists become saviors who must promptly assess losses and minimize reputational damage to the business.
How to prepare scenarios for different levels of the crisis, whose number to dial as soon as the first negative mentions appear in the media, and when it is better to remain silent – Maryna Pukhova, BlaBlaCar’s communications coordinator in Central and Eastern Europe, talked about all this in her lecture for our agency. We were especially interested in inviting Maryna to share her knowledge because, at one time, she was our colleague at Newsfront. Having become a communicator of a large international business, she was able to evaluate approaches to work with crises from the other side.
We have summarized Maryna’s four primary crisis communications principles, which will help you navigate the whirlwind of events.
- Three levels of crises
Categorizing crisis cases helps assess the situation’s seriousness and determine further steps. The three levels to focus on are incident, emergency and crisis. This distribution may vary depending on the company and its operational activities.
- Team and stakeholders
To deal with a crisis as quickly as possible when it occurs, you need to organize a crisis response team in advance. Each of its members must clearly understand their responsibilities, role and action plan.
In addition, communicators must have the contact information of all internal and external stakeholders so they can contact them quickly.
- Preliminary preparation
You can’t be skeptical of crises: the better you prepare in advance, the easier it will be to cope with the process.
The most important thing is to draw up all possible emergency scenarios and prepare lists of essential contacts. Another tip is to run regular crisis simulations for employees as BlaBlaCar does. This way, the team will always be in good shape and know the algorithm of actions.
- Quick reaction
During a crisis, acting quickly and choosing the right words for communication is essential. But sometimes, it is better to wait and be silent. After all, silence gives us time to gather all the necessary information, analyze events and return with clear and thoughtful answers. It is also an opportunity to enter into a dialogue when the stormy discussions in social networks subside, directing communication in a calmer direction.
And here’s a small reminder from Maryna: even if the crisis feels like a terrible dream, you will soon realize everything is okay with you. No matter how stressful the situation, the main thing is to stay calm and not take responsibility for things out of your control.
