Recently, I partnered with Chevron's External Relations Advisor Mickey Driver for a lively discussion with Houston’s IABC around some good, some bad and a few distinctly ugly crisis communications experiences.
Some hard hitting points of the night included Mickey’s “What if the boss is wrong?” discussion, with Mickey speaking on how to effectively handle communication coming from your superiors. Other key takeaways included my conversation on “failing fast” – or being smart enough to know when your communications strategy isn’t working. We also engaged in a very bullish discussion on setting up and managing a “truth squad” to instantly correct inaccurate information.
This event also gave me a chance to give my Tough Tips for Communicators.
Here they are:
• Every crisis is different and you need to treat each as a separate situation. Playbooks, plans and drills are guides, but every crisis takes different twists and turns.
• What amount of confidence, respect and credibility does your management have in you? This is critical to your role when a crisis hits. You don’t want to be an order taker.
• Understanding your organization’s vulnerabilities and gathering intelligence before and during the crisis is mandatory. You need to make it part of your job now.
• Know when and where to talk publicly, what to say and who should say it. Are you in on making those decisions?
• Do you have all the facts? Is management telling you the complete truth? If you are in doubt, what do you do?
• Play devil’s advocate. Put yourself in the shoes of the other side. Anticipate what they may perceive and what they might do. Think like them and advise management accordingly.
• Stick to communications advice, not legal, operational or financial counsel. Advise your management on what their decisions might have on the publics’ perceptions of your organization.
• Know when to use alternative communication strategies beyond traditional and social media. Consider one-on-one discussions, meetings with key publics, Google AdWords, select cable, etc.
• Set up and manage the “truth squad” concept to instantly correct inaccurate information.
• Have the guts to “fail fast” — don’t keep going down a wrong road.
Can you remember that September day in 2008 when Hurricane Ike landed on the Texas coast? I can still picture the millions of people without power, the fallen trees, the empty grocery store shelves and the complete devastation of Galveston Island.
At this moment, we are at the height of storm season and although we have been fortunate so far this year, we all need to be aware of what happens to communications when a serious storm like Ike hits. TV, newspapers and in some cases phone service and internet access are hard to come by. These storms have the power to turn high-tech cities into third world countries overnight. So how do we communicate when one hits? The answer is old fashioned "Radio". Whether it’s an old battery powered radio or a car radio, this primitive technology can have a huge impact on how we prepare, react and stay informed when a major storm strikes. So dust off that old radio in the garage, pick up some batteries and tune in; it could save your life. What tips do you have for hurricane season?