Navigating the storm – a view of crisis communications
With 30 years experience, communications veteran Karen Davis knows what she's talking about when it comes to crisis management. In her opinion, the two most important factors in a crisis are clear accountability and a fast response time.
As a first year communications student, I was harbouring some misconceptions about crisis management and an interview with a specialist gave me a nuanced outlook on the subject.
At the core of any company, organisation or institution there needs to be a clear communications management plan and team, especially when it comes to crisis management. “Who gets the D” as Davis calls it, meaning who takes the lead on decision making in a crisis is the most important factor. And the other is response time - how quickly a decision can be made. The enemy of a crisis is time because the urgency of a crisis only grows as time passes. Davis explains, “perfect is the enemy of good, nothing is ever perfect, decisions have to be made very quickly, the more rumination, the more checking around and asking for permission, that’s a crisis gone bad.”
This makes scenario planning fundamental for a crisis management team (CMT), especially with the evolution of technology and social media which has broadened the stakeholder audience and divided the power. Technology, for all the good it does, comes with risks that can potentially damage a company's reputation. An example of this is the cyberattack on Optus (one of Australia’s largest telecommunications providers) in September 2022. Within a mere 48 hours, Optus took a significant hit to their reputation due to the manner in which they handled this crisis. In short, a hacker had accessed the records of anywhere between 2.5 million and 9.7 million current and former customers. The records in question included driver’s licences, passports and Medicare (health information) details, meaning these customers' most private details were leaked putting them at risk of fraud and all kinds of criminal activity . It took Optus 48 hours to release a statement concerning the hack and another 24 hours to hold a press conference. Much has been written about the handling of this crisis and most agree it was far from ideal. The Optus response illustrates the importance of scenario planning and timely communications with stakeholder groups.
As much as process, scenario planning and well written content are at the heart of crisis management, it is also important to have the right people. Davis comments on the desired characteristics of a crisis communicator. As a professional who has appointed and led multiple CMTs, the communications expert says, “the number one thing I always look for is people who are calm and have low anxiety levels, the last thing you need is someone to panic.” The issues she has encountered in her experience are not due to a bad decision, but rather to panic responses. A crisis can be handled effectively when the crisis management team convenes calmly and agrees that a decision will be made by a certain time. In order to remain sure-footed, Davis will always advise crisis communicators to keep chronological order of a crisis. There are, after all, two sides to a crisis and after it is resolved the blame game ensues. Reflecting on what happened and what can be done differently in the future is extremely beneficial for a company. This means, as a crisis communicator part of your role is playing detective and pointing out where mistakes were made. Keeping a chronological report of the incident can make this part of the job a lot easier, so even though there is no such thing as a good crisis there is an effective way to handle one.
Communication takes the cake when it comes to broad subject matter. In order to specialise in crisis management, Davis advises shadowing what is known as a subject-matter expert because crisis management is something you have to experience outside the pages of a textbook. It is not everyone's cup of tea, it is a multifaceted role, one that is exciting but can also be very dull at times. Not to mention, it is high stress and it requires being on call 24/7. The positives and negatives aside, Karen Davis shed some much needed light on this particular topic and reflects on her time as a crisis communicator in a very inspiring way. "As I became experienced in crisis communications I discovered a lot about myself. I could see patterns, manage stakeholders, connect information, and keep people calm as we worked to an outcome."