Concord airplane crash in July 2000

Basics of a Crisis
Communication Plan

The only people who don't need a crisis plan
are those already in the middle of a crisis

Watch the news tonight. You will see someone in a crisis - someone who never thought they'd be in a crisis.

They come in many forms, and that's the first step in developing your crisis communication plan. Make a list of what could happen. It doesn't have to be an extensive list, but it helps you to frame your thoughts and starts you on the path of thinking about what could happen. Be creative. After all, how many times do you hear someone say after a disaster, "Oh yeah, we knew that was going to happen."

Look at the picture above. You see a plane crash. The airline has a crisis. What else do you see?

• The owner of the nearby building has a crisis.

• The people who live or work in that building have a crisis.

• Did the crash knock out power, telephones, etc? If so, all those companies have a crisis.

• Who made the plane engines, who build the plane, who serviced the plane, etc? They all have a crisis.

One more- the one you probably didn't think about. What about the person who took the picture in the upper right? That person is now in a crisis - they just captured an unforgettable moment in time on film.

Just one more quick example, since I'm intimately familiar with the topic. August's east coast blackout created a crisis for millions of people and companies. In today's "all news is local" media environment, it also created a crisis for each and every electric utility in the country and many overseas.

The Plan

The first step in your plan is an official policy of openness. This is especially important in larger organizations in which you may find bureaucratic inertia holding up your response. It should be signed by the top person in the organization - but only after you explain to him or her what they are signing and what it means. Why? Because the first reaction in a crisis is called "bunker mentality." You want to crawl in a bunker and hide. Let's admit it - that makes sense. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. 60 Minutes has never said "We can't do that story, they won't talk to us."