Communicating in a Crisis
Joan Perkins, Principal, Gambit Group

The recent stories involving Ford and Bridgestone Firestone bring to mind the reasons why you should have a crisis communications plan – before you need one.

One look at Ford’s CEO standing stiffly in front of the cameras – speaking woodenly and winnowing his arms in such obvious discomfort – should have made a number of execs run, not walk, to their PR agencies. But most will not make that call. Why? Because those nightmares happen to the other guys.

Those of us old enough to remember the tainted Tylenol episodes of a few years back are blessed with a near-perfect example of how to handle a disaster of major proportions. What components made this memorable? Several things.

• The Thayer MacNeil brass were right there on the tube right away, not 48 hours later, not hiding behind desks or in front of imposing corporate settings.
• They made Eye Contact with reporters and cameras
• The talk was straight. Yes, there’s a problem. No, we don’t know who or why.
• To minimize the danger of injury, we are calling back every container of Tylenol in captivity – now.
• No ducking, despite the fact that the scare wasn’t of their doing. No pointing fingers. Just solutions.
• No Tylenol will hit the streets until we have been through every single inch of every manufacturing facility and pronounced them safe.
• Don’t take any Tylenol from a container that looks as though it’s been tampered with. (Where did you think those devilish bottle seals came from?)
• The execs stayed with the press until they had answered every question – yes, even the dumb ones

For any thinking person who had been wandering the planet for several seasons, it was pretty obvious that Tylenol’s tight, well-conceived display was not accidental. And that’s the whole idea behind crisis communication planning.

It is in the interest of every CEO, owner, or partner to explore the “what-ifs.” Chances are your firm will not suffer an unmitigated operations or PR disaster. And that statement, along with $2.50, will buy you a subway ride downtown.

But there’s merit in exploring the questions you don’t ever want to answer. The only way to lose that hunted animal look in a photograph is to have spent adequate time exploring your responses. The questions and answers are different for each company.

As an exercise, I often ask clients to go off and compile a list of scenarios that would be

• Uncomfortable – Being in the same room with someone as he or she is being fired or laid off
• Embarrassing – Walking out of the rest room with the back of a skirt caught inside the waistband of pantyhose
• Moronic – Massport’s boozed-up chief playing at sea with the ladies and the state’s money
• Anger provoking – Leaving the AC on in a building that will be vacant for a week or a weekend. Duh.
• Dumb – Leaving keys in a locked car (And you haven’t done that?)
• Horrific – Death or dismemberment on your property or as a result of equipment failure or safety circumvention; death related to your product; death as a result of sudden severe illness or act of nature, suicide or homicide for other reasons not related to your product, (but) on your property or within your company “family.”

The flip side is how to deal with success. Strange as that may seem, the same kinds of anxiety take over the brain during good times as in bad. It is equally important to preview your public self under those conditions. Many of the same scenarios apply. Try going through the list again.

This is a useful exercise for managers, owners, or principals – heck, all people in positions of responsibility in your organization – to do. Examine the questions separately as a first round. Then come together to compare notes and create a master list of questions and answers. Bear in mind that it’s okay for a group to have more than one set of responses to different issues. You have a style and a public comfort level different from your compatriots, but both can represent the company.

While the words may be very similar, trying to use another person’s gestures or tone will show and exacerbate your discomfort. And you’ll give the press a field day. Fear not, they will use that opportunity. For reasons that have to do with competition and one-up-manship, we all want to see the gaffs people make… Your job is not to be the lead sound bite on the 11 o’clock news. It is to be an appropriate, approachable representative of your firm.

 Your marketing/PR folks may well want to find a location to showcase you. Why is this important? Try this: In a Boston banking scandal some years ago, bank principals met the press seated at a big wooden desk or table in front of a wall of rich, wood paneling. How monolithic! The scene was made complete with their lawyers standing in a line behind them.

Forethought may bring the additional benefit of making your company a better, safer, more pleasant place to work. Taking the time to examine possible problems and barriers to success can help you eliminate them before they pop up to derail your business growth.

Oh, and by the way, Tylenol regained its market share not once, but twice – after a second tampering scare a few years later. Thayer MacNeil execs used the same game plan; it worked again. Make that call. ‘Nuff said.

© 2001, Gambit Group