Maybe it's the war-time mentality. Maybe it's post-Enron
thinking. Or maybe it's a lesson from Sept. 11: The worst can
happen, and companies must be prepared. Whatever the case, over the
past year, crisis managers have dramatically streamlined the way
they plan for a crisis, boiling it down to military-style drills,
well-equipped "war rooms" and good old-fashioned checklists.
The 100-page binders full of crisis strategies are fast becoming
dust-gathering paperweights (they sat on the shelf during most
crises, anyway, our sources say).
Don Kirchoffner, VP of corporate communications for Exelon, an
energy company based in Chicago that runs a fleet of nuclear power
plants, has the military mentality down pat. That's probably
because he served 26 years in the U.S. Army, during which he
conducted communications around three hostage releases, the L.A.
riots and Hurricane Andrew. He was also the first communications
officer on the ground in Saudi Arabia in 1991.
Kirchoffner says the days of paying big money for an elaborate
communications plan are - or should be - coming to an end. "People
made a lot of money building crisis communications plans. The plan
is the policies and procedures I have in place every day. What we
do every day is what we do in a crisis. We just do it faster in a
crisis," Kirchoffner says, explaining that his procedures foster
inter-departmental communication and cooperation on a daily basis,
which is the basis for sound management of a crisis.
The 'Dry Run'
Kirchoffner spent one day recently at what Exelon calls the
"displacement site," a fully-operational "war room" away from the
company's corporate headquarters for use in the event that the
communications team is forced to evacuate headquarters. At the
displacement site, he and his team ran routine checks on all the
equipment - phones, television, fax machine, computers. His
communicators in the nuclear business line routinely runs crisis
scenarios including role playing. And in March, he plans a similar
dry run for the utility side of Exelon's business, including the
corporate crisis management team.
These drills aren't just part of Kirchoffner's style - they're
the new standard in crisis communications excellence, says Lee
Duffey, of Duffey Communications in Atlanta. In fact, Duffey thinks
crisis drills are so important that his company recently formed
Hindsight, which conducts these scenarios for clients.
"When you put together a plan in a three-ring binder, people get
defensive and critique the plan," Duffey says. "With real-time
crisis communications programming that involves a number of
departments, you're able to show people what does happen in a
crisis."
Duffey and co. first uncover senior management's concerns about
a company's weaknesses, as they would in creating a crisis plan.
Instead of putting strategies in a binder, however, they then
create a "war room" situation with a senior crisis team monitoring
a "crisis" based on the company's weak spots. They drop a scenario
into one department of an organization to see how employees react
and how quickly and efficiently communications flow in to the
crisis team. As the "crisis" progresses, they continue to develop
new issues and problems, involving all departments in the
ramifications of the scenario.
"We advocate a drill annually," agrees Len Biegel, EVP with
Weber Shandwick's crisis management practice. Although he has seen
some extremely elaborate drills - off-site, lasting 18 hours - he
says four hours should suffice. Those four hours should include a
crisis scenario, as well as participation from senior executives,
especially the CEO, who will likely be involved in the response to
any crisis.
If you can't get the CEO for a full four hours, pull him or her
in for at least two hours, and after about half an hour of
strategizing with the crisis team, have the chief executive face a
mock press conference. "You'll see how good the CEO is on his feet
during a crisis, and you'll see how well your strategy is panning
out with the media," Biegel says.
The Caveats
No matter how many drills and dry runs you do, however, nothing
will fully prepare you for the impact of an actual crisis. "The
thing about crises, especially really horrible crises, is that they
drive out the capacity for rational thought," says Jon Austin, SVP
in Fleishman-Hillard's Minneapolis office. "You don't want this,
but there is no better test for a plan than having to go through a
real crisis with it. The intangible feeling of having done it is
hard to get from simulations."
That being said, however, Austin says the more you can gain
familiarity with the process in advance, the better you'll be. "It
really is a struggle thinking about, 'What will I do next?'"
That's where the latest version of the crisis manual comes in.
Kirchoffner's "plan," he says, fits on a laminated card he carries
in the pocket of his suit jacket. That card includes 15 names of
his key communicators, with their office numbers, home numbers,
pager numbers and cell phone numbers. On the back is the same
information for the chairman and all the presidents of Exelon's
various lines of business. He carries another card with the phone
and fax numbers for every radio, television station and newspaper
with which he has a relationship.
Our experts invariably advise that you compile such a list if
you don't already have one and carry it with you at all times.
Though Kirchoffner has other manuals at both his headquarters and
his displacement site, which include templates for press releases
and internal bulletins, it's those laminated cards that typically
help him - and his colleagues, who also carry them - through a
crisis.
When an intruder gained access to one of Exelon's nuclear sites
recently at about 11:30 p.m., for example, employees immediately
went into action.
Security at the site apprehended the intruder before he ever got
close to the fence surrounding the facility. Staff at the site
followed the protocol they had learned from many drills, and the
communications channel for the nuclear line of business was
alerted. Those communicators, using their contact lists, assembled
the president of the nuclear fleet, Kirchoffner and other senior
execs. By 7:30 a.m., the team had agreed to create a release to
preempt any false rumors or speculation of terrorism. Although
there was some media interest, "It was a non-story because we were
able to preempt it," Kirchoffner says.
(Contacts: Kirchoffner, 312/394-3001; Duffey, [email protected]; Biegel, [email protected];
Austin, 612/573-3192)
Crisis Plan? Check.
In addition to contact lists, our experts counsel corporate
communicators to compile checklists in place of the clunky old
manuals. After all, "We all have operations manuals for our
computers, but how frequently do you open those up when there's a
problem?" says Lee Duffey of Duffey Communications.
Have a checklist for everyone on the crisis response team, and
make those lists as detailed or as simple as you feel your team
needs. There are no set criteria for these lists, but they should
serve as a tool to help you think rationally in the midst of a
chaotic crisis situation. So, if all you need in order to do that
is a list of key audiences to address, make that your checklist. If
you need more details, including which employees to contact, when
to head to the "war room," which teams to mobilize, create a longer
list.
Tailor checklists to your organization and your understanding of
how your team operates under pressure, then distribute those lists
and be sure there are back-ups available in your war room.