Internal Crisis Communications Cheat Sheet

The Five Keys to Successful Workplace Crisis Communications
Whether an organization is confronting a difficult contract negotiation, planning a large-scale cutback in staff and managerial positions, or revamping its benefits programs, here are critical steps that should be taken in advance to ensure successful message management:

Communications pre-planning. At a time when news, rumor and falsehood spread 24/7, many organizations surprisingly don’t have crisis plans in place. A first step in rectifying this weak point is a thorough internal assessment of likely crisis hot points.
Contingency statement preparation. Once the internal assessment is completed, organizations should create, analyze and address a range of potential crisis scenarios with carefully crafted contingency messaging.
Stakeholder relations. Key audiences such as vendors, community leaders, legislators and others are often overlooked in crisis planning. They liked to be “clued in” on the latest developments and often can be relied upon to carry management’s key messages to their circles of contacts.
Employee trust. When a crisis happens, unaffected employees often are an organization’s most creditable sources of information—as long as they are in the loop. It is imperative that all employees (worldwide, if applicable) receive regular, useful information on what’s happening and why.
Sincere concern.