Is your company prepared for a crisis?

A client recently contacted us during a mock-disaster drill, and the call got me to thinking about how prepared businesses are if an emergency were to arise?

Every business, big or small, should have a plan outlined in case of an emergency. It is much easier to handle a crisis with a plan already in place, than trying to work through it as it happens.

And a crisis can arise in many forms, from weather related disasters to product failures or even swift business closures. And as with anything in life, there are some situations that you simply can’t plan for, but having a basic plan in place before a crisis occurs can mean the difference between building a strong brand and just being another company that is criticized and looked upon negatively.

The design of an effective crisis communication plan will vary from company to company, but all good plans should contain a few basic components:

- A crisis communication team
- An internal communications plan
- A media strategy
- A list of potential crises/emergencies and plans to address them
- Updated information on the organization and its programs

These elements paired with a swift response to the media, public and customers can make all the difference when an unplanned emergency arises.

In the case of my client, they were holding the drill to ensure that in the event of a tornado all employees and vendors knew their role/duties within the crisis communication plan. And while the call caught me off-guard, we simply talked through our role and how we would help during an emergency. And at the end of the day I know I felt better prepared were an emergency to occur.

Does your business have a crisis communication plan? Have you reviewed it lately?

Seems better to take the time and resources now to establish or even update a plan, than to be frantically trying to establish one in the midst of a crisis.