Pre-Crisis:
This stage involves a deep dive into the inner workings of the client (company or person’s life). Understanding the client is one of the most important aspects of being able to plan for crises. The client’s exterior and interior facing aspects, vertical, personnel all have a role in what and how a crisis will affect the client. The written and unwritten rules and procedures of the client will dictate how they approach a crisis, including identifying, understanding, and actions are undertaken. From there, all those aspects are reviewed to determine likely crises to be experienced and plans are implemented by the client. These plans aren’t meant to just sit on the shelf but need to be reviewed, simulated, and revamped as necessary. Strategy and tactics to help clients protect their people, assets, and brand are the basis of all planning.
Intra-Crisis:
Although having a plan to deal with a crisis is important, a client can still come through to the other side of a crisis and flourish. It is not advised, all will make it more difficult to handle the crisis. That said, there are many ways to go about how to determine the right course of action and implementing a plan to follow. One rule to always follow is to not lie. Not to the public, not to the stakeholders, and most importantly, not to yourself. Navigating the crisis and following the implemented plan is tough, but pushing forward is the best course of action to allow the client to not only survive but thrive in the post-crisis reality.
Post-Crisis:
The post-crisis sector is divided into two sections. The first is the debrief and evaluation of everything that went down during the crisis and what lead to coming to that point. The second is the post-crisis clean up, and this only occurs if deemed necessary during the debrief. The debrief will include assembly of all communications, and data around the crisis. These will be analyzed by both the crisis team and people from outside that team, as they will have different perspectives to contribute. This is important to be able to learn from the crisis and be able to improve for the future.
The post-crisis clean up involves deciding if there are any unanswered questions that should be answered. A public response at this time can give both transparency and closure, while also giving time to thank heroes and advocates. The post-crisis section is not to be overlooked and provides an opportunity to grow and come out better than before the crisis.
To have SCS plan for the crises your brand and/or business faces, contact us today.