A crisis in today’s age ranges from data breaches, bad tweets and rumours, to false accusations and product failures. This wide range means you’ll need a response to whatever goes wrong, and you’ll need that response pronto.

If you think you won’t face a crisis with your company, think again. We are all human, we all make mistakes. Here are 5 tips to manage your next crisis.

Be Quick. Be Smart. 

You do not have the luxury to wait. News travels faster than a storm, and when something goes wrong, the storm speeds up. Shaping the narrative is crucial, even when you do not have all the facts, it is essential to acknowledge the crisis and indicate that the matter is being investigated or taken seriously.

Top Tip: While shaping the narrative is important; you will need to be cautious as to what your first statements are. You do not want to issue statements with unverified facts, that could be retracted once you understand the situation better.

Resist the urge to be defensive. Just be human instead. 

Sh*t happens. The best thing to do is to acknowledge feelings of concern and allow issues to be heard. Coming from a place of reactiveness and defensiveness makes you look cold, disconnected and makes you widely unpopular. In case you didn’t know, this adds major fuel to the fire.

Top Tip: Show empathy, let your guard down, explain your reasoning but don’t let it be an excuse.

Take Responsibility

Yes, the issue is not your fault. Yes, the issue is the fault of suppliers or unidentified third parties. Yes, you are not the villain. Boring. We’ve heard every excuse. You are responsible, so own up to the mistake. The court of public opinion is powerful, and you have to tread lightly when you refuse to take any responsibility.

Top Tip: Take responsibility for the actions but get counsel on how it can be framed on legal issues.

Communication needs channels. Set those up. 

In any situation, there needs to be a channel where people can provide information, ask questions or simply vent their frustrations (yes, people need this). To be seen as fully transparent and open, you will protect your company once the storm passes.

Top Tip: Consistency: always communicate on the same channels during a crisis, so your clients know where to find you.

Learn from your lessons. Ok, thanks, bye. 

Disasters can happen again, but the key is to know how you deal with them. Have a plan for every example you can think of, and if you can’t think of many, have a look through these examples here. Conduct vulnerability audits to see where problems could arise. Have a clear plan and a designated team that can jump into action, should the need arise.

Top Tip: When conducting your vulnerability audit, look for security breaches in company social media access, passwords or how your current PR and social teams monitor your social media for hits and negative mentions.