Have a Communication Strategy

Before you even get close to a crisis point, you need to have already thought out an external communication strategy: this forms part of your crisis response, which we talk about more widely in Chapter 10. The strategy doesn’t have to be complicated, but it needs to fit in with your business continuity plans and therefore be tested and exercised as part of them. Plan in advance details you want to tell the public during a disruption, such as whether your business is currently able to take on new orders and whether you’re offering any sort of compensation or discount as a result of the disruption.

If you have communications- or media-trained staff in your firm, use them; even if they don’t speak in front of the public, they can advise senior staff how to respond to questions and what they do and don’t need to say. The details of your communication strategy depend on the specific nature and severity of the incident, but think about how you’re going to get the message out and whether you have any contacts within the local media who you can call upon to help out.