It’s probably a fair assumption that until recently BP CEO Tony Hayward, Umpire Jim Joyce and Lake Local Schools Superintendent Jim Witt had little in common. Now all three share a common experience: they’ve unexpectedly been put in the public spotlight.

Although their experiences have been very different, and their exposure has come on varying levels for drastically different reasons, all three have likely learned very quickly what it feels like to have the media knocking at your door. Rather, they’ve learned the importance of crisis communications.

The phrase “crisis communications” is one of those things that PR professionals say all the time; we talk about it, write about it, counsel about it. We constantly advise clients to be prepared for it. But by the very nature of crisis communications, no one knows what it means until it happens. And how can you be prepared for something you don’t know?

That’s where a thorough crisis communications plan comes into play.

While you can’t plan the messages you’ll communicate, you can plan other critical details that will help the process run more smoothly and efficiently, and it’ll help you/your organization’s public image in the long run. So what are those details that you can plan?

• Who will make the decisions? When the crisis hits, who in your organization will be on the phone chain or sitting together to quickly determine the plan of action?
• How will you evaluate the situation? What questions do you need to answer (including those that might not come to mind amidst a crisis)? How will you gather information?
• Who will do the talking? Which person in your organization will be the spokesperson? Who should reporters be directed to? Does that person need media training?
• Who will you talk to? Will you contact the media? Which media? Which stakeholders will be directly contacted? What other audiences are important to be in the know?
• How will you get their attention? Will you make phone calls? Will you send letters? E-mails? Who will send the media advisory?

No organization is immune to a crisis situation. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking to the entire world, the nation or one small community, it’s important to expect the unexpected… and plan for it.

Photo courtesy of Knocked-Out Photography. Original photo.