I started to work on a blog post about Truth a month ago, and then got sidetracked by a discussion about crisis communications plans. I haven’t written a crisis communications plan, yet have seen many crisis communications plans executed (and mishandled) in the real world. So, I figured I would read a book about the topic, to establish some framework for my real-world understanding of crisis comms best practices.
So, I found the book “Dealing with the Monster Under the Bed: A Crisis Communications Primer,” and was about to loll asleep at the phone-tree section when the book slapped me in the face with: “perception IS reality.” Further, the book, written by Jeffrey M. Peyton and Laura Stocker said: “If your customer thinks there is a monster under the bed, there might as well be. Because you’re going to have to deal with it.”
Now, this book was written in 2012, and a lot of water has passed the bridge since then, when it comes to the notion of “reality,” “truth,” and “perception.”
I agree that accounting for existing perceptions is key in developing a message. It's key that everyone involved in company operations – plus your crisis communications person – needs to be fully informed (or as fully informed as possible) about the facts – both positive and negative – as possible. Let's add a second crucial ingredient: Some of these "perceptions" need to be fact-checked by someone outside the echo chamber. Hiring an assertive, authoritative journalist as your crisis communications person is a good way to avoid operating in an alternative universe.
Now that you've cut through the smoke, you can go about introducing your comms person to the creepy variables that you don’t want to talk about. Anything and anybody that could go wrong.
The stuff under the bed could very well be a person employed by your company who goes rogue. I’ve seen it happen firsthand – I watched as local detectives escorted a coworker of mine out of the building. It made the paper (a tiny article).
Your content creation/media relations/communications person needs to be told about all those things. Especially those things/people.
Of course, in some dysfunctional businesses, even the highest-placed people don’t know everything that’s under the bed. But know this: The more your communications/content creator knows the intricacies of how your business and its people operate:
the better your comms person will be able to help you see complementary strategies and systems to adopt;
the less editing will be necessary because the writing will reflect a better understanding of company operations; and,
the better the writer/comms person will be able to develop communications plans for when those bad things reach up from under your bed and grab you by the … ankle.
I’m still learning about crisis communications plans, and probably will write more about them. I CAN say that whoever is doing your communications work needs be to someone who you can trust with all your secrets, aspirations and plans. Otherwise, your content won’t fully describe what goes into your business. And your plan won’t have contingencies for when things go horribly wrong.
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