Planning for a crisis must involve developing a strategy. Managers must build a step-by-step plan to mitigate the damage, inform the public and maintain business operations. The following are steps to include in any effective strategy.
Set Into Action
Planning is not enough when managing crisis management; it’s also essential to put the plan into plenty of action. Making fast yet rational decisions is recommended in every emergency. Each task should include an immediate action and the deadline to meet, whether it is releasing a public statement, recalling a defective product, or promoting a new leader.
Develop a PR Plan
A crisis manager should act as if the news is being broadcast on national television. This must include considering the amount of publicity that could come from handling a crisis. People will naturally be interested in a business scandal that appears in the news. One solution is to hire a public relations (PR) manager who will address any questions or concerns from the public. Overall, crisis managers need to reduce the amount of negative publicity generated about the company and make every attempt to maintain its good reputation.
Accept the Reality
Not every company recovers from the sudden trauma of being hit with a lawsuit, being shut down by a pandemic, or another type of emergency. Crisis managers need to be honest with the staff, the public, and themselves. They need to know how far they can go before refusing to waste additional resources on a lost cause.
Prevent Another Disaster
The final step is to prevent the buildup of another crisis. This must include reflecting on past mistakes and focusing on the consequences if they are repeated. Many companies rewrite their policies and procedures to reflect changes made to the way that they conduct business. They also develop new training programs to retrain their staff.
Crises that threaten to ruin important businesses continue to appear in the news. The most important factor is how a business handles and recovers from being defeated by a disaster. The most effective method is to build and apply a strategic plan that is designed for crisis management. This includes developing a risk management plan to identify and prevent risks that could lead to a crisis.