Crisis Management Should Precede the Crisis

In a communications environment increasingly driven by social media, the traditional conflict between corporate communicators and lawyers during corporate crises has abated, with both camps embracing the idea that preparation is crucial and the most important decisions about handling crises should be made before crises occur.

Citing Weber Shandwick survey research, the author says that attorneys and communicators also realize that a broad strata of employees, from bloggers and sales people to C-suite executives, are now de facto actors in a typical corporate crisis. Preparation therefore needs to pervade the entire corporate structure, with relationships established and procedures nailed down in advance. Because the precise nature of crises can’t be anticipated, companies need to establish an organizational “architecture,” with flexible procedures that can adapt to any crisis.

Some companies prepare by setting up so-called devil’s advocate panels, where personnel from different parts of a company consider, for example, potential problems with a new product launch and how they might be addressed.

The writer suggests that personnel be encouraged to report crises in their incipient stages. This sometimes involves reversing a traditional corporate mind set, where reporting a potential problem to the C-suite is seen as a sign of weakness.

Attorneys and communicators need to work together, with attorneys taking into account the importance of reputation and the free flow of information, as well as potential liability. Details will vary, but the relationship should be established in advance.