Publicity: Keeping People Informed

In an emergency, you need to get information to the right people quickly, concisely and accurately. The following list provides some ideas relating to your business’s internal and external communications:

Warn and inform. Write a template for what you may want to communicate and tape it to the side of a megaphone or keep it in the boot of your car. You then don’t have to struggle to recall what to say when you’re briefing your staff.

Set up an all-staff text message so that you can send a text broadcast from your phone. Do the same with an email group so you can email everyone you want to notify; it saves wasting time selecting the group. Test this broadcast, so that recipients know what to expect and what action they need to take; for example, acknowledging by email or texting back that they’re safe.

Use a conference bridge facility. Many vendors offer this service for free. To discover the companies that do in your area, type ‘conference bridge facility’ into your Internet search engine. The service works by simply telling your staff to call into a pre-existing number with a personal identification number (PIN). All callers are then able to talk together on the same call, which can help avoid confusion with people passing messages on incorrectly (such as ‘everything is all right’ becoming ‘everything is alight’!).

Have a structured agenda ready for these calls because during tense times of disruption people forget the normally observed protocol that only one person can effectively speak at a time.

Rehearse these calls, if only to check that the number still works.

Appoint a single point of contact for the emergency services. This arrangement ensures that one person handles any questions and answers effectively and only once. Preferably, this person is level-headed and able to think rationally in a crisis. The person should be able to provide maps or floor plans of your premises that show hazards and the locations of stopcocks, mains switches, shut-off valves and so on. Also, appoint an informed deputy to cover when this person is out of the office.

Keep an eye on what’s going on in the world. Some people see 24-hour news as intrusive and/or boring, but for the small business, being able to see what’s going on in the world in near real time can be a plus. Check what’s happening internationally, regionally and locally, and assess the impact that these events may have on your business. For example, if a major road traffic accident affects one of your supply routes then early notice of this can give you the time to make alternative arrangements, such as using other routes or transport options.