Companies and organisations are constantly exposed to potential crises. This makes professional crisis communication all the more important – communication that is well-prepared and can be implemented quickly in an emergency. Whether a crisis results in lasting damage or whether the company actually emerges stronger from it depends largely on crisis management and communication.
In this article, we explain how you can optimally prepare for crises in terms of communication, what content should be included in a professional crisis communication manual, and which factors are crucial for successful crisis communication.
What is crisis communication?
What is a corporate crisis?
What does crisis management and crisis communication involve?
Typical tools of crisis communication
Preparing for potential crises
Communication during a crisis: communications plan
The key factors for successful crisis communication
Examples of crisis communication
Crisis Communication Checklist
Evaluation of crisis management and crisis communication
FAQ: Crisis Communication
Crisis communication is the strategic and coordinated communication of a company or organisation during a crisis. It involves the planning, implementation and monitoring of communication measures with the aim of minimising damage and maintaining stakeholder trust. This makes it a central component of crisis management.
A corporate crisis arises from an unintended, problematic situation that threatens the company’s reputation or very existence. It can be triggered by internal factors (e.g. technical or human error) or external factors (e.g. natural disasters, crime). Corporate crises often go through three phases: emergence, peak and decline, with public attention fluctuating accordingly.
How a corporate crisis unfolds depends largely on crisis management and crisis communication. Crisis management is a long-term process that covers all areas of the organisation. Professional crisis management involves:
Communication plays a central role in crisis management. It makes a significant contribution to managing the crisis – or can have the opposite effect if it is not strategically planned.
Professional corporate crisis communication, also known as crisis PR, includes:
Effective crisis communication provides information on the causes, consequences and progression of the crisis. It answers questions about the incident with the aim of minimising damage and restoring confidence in the company.
The top priorities in crisis communication are therefore:
Further down in the article, we describe the key factors for successful crisis communication.
Crisis communication tools can be divided into internal and external categories. Below, we list the channels that are most effective for PR activities, particularly in crisis situations.
Reach during the crisis
In a crisis, companies need to reach relevant target groups quickly and reliably. With our ots distribution network, we deliver your information to key multipliers: daily and specialist media, social media channels and news partners – both nationally and globally.
Crisis prevention is one of the most important aspects of crisis management. Crisis prevention involves establishing early warning systems, defining clear rules, procedures and responsibilities in the crisis communication manual, and ensuring that everyone involved in crisis communication is fully prepared should a crisis arise.
Crisis prevention means identifying signs of potential conflicts as early as possible. That is why companies should engage in continuous issues management: it provides business-relevant information on the topics and concerns (issues) of stakeholders.
The analysis and assessment of these issues is carried out through systematic observation and with the aid of forecasting techniques and opinion analysis. The aim is to identify potential risks – but also opportunities – at an early stage and to actively influence the development of these issues through targeted communication measures.
A key tool in issues management is the continuous monitoring of the media and the internet. It helps to identify critical issues at an early stage and to better assess how they are developing. To this end, those responsible for crisis management and crisis communication define relevant keywords, as well as the topics and stakeholder groups to be monitored.
Critical issues can spread rapidly, particularly on social media. It is therefore essential to incorporate social media monitoring as a standard practice. In the event of an acute crisis, monitoring should be switched to real-time monitoring to enable the situation to be assessed as comprehensively as possible at all times and to respond quickly.
Key tools for issues management:
Issue management can be used to assess risks to the company. You should therefore anticipate all conceivable crisis scenarios that could affect your company. It is essential that you involve representatives from all departments to gain a comprehensive overview of your company.
All identified risks should be incorporated into the core of your crisis management system: the crisis communication plan or crisis communication handbook (also known as the crisis handbook).
Part of crisis preparedness also involves defining the target groups for each crisis scenario who would be directly or indirectly affected should the crisis in question occur. This is so important because it ensures that, later on during acute crisis communication, the right messages can be delivered in a way that is tailored to each target group.
In the crisis communication handbook, stakeholders can be assigned to the relevant crisis scenarios, target-group-specific text modules created, and channels defined.
The following target groups may be relevant for crisis communication:
The crisis communication plan (also known as a crisis communication handbook, crisis handbook or crisis communication guide) is at the heart of crisis management.
The following internal stakeholders should be involved in its development:
The crisis communication plan sets out how the company defines a crisis, what potential crisis scenarios exist, and what the processes, structures and communication measures will be in the event of a crisis.
To this end, the following questions must be answered:
Important details and specific features relevant to each individual case can be included in illustrations, sample documents, text modules and checklists.
The document should be written in plain language, have a clear structure, and be available to all members of the crisis team in both electronic and paper formats. Care must be taken to ensure that everyone always has access to the most up-to-date version of the document.
Even if not every crisis can be anticipated in advance, the crisis communication plan provides reassurance by setting out clear responsibilities, structures, procedures and prepared content. It is therefore an essential prerequisite for effective and rapid communication in the event of a crisis.
The crisis communication plan can be structured as follows:
1. Fundamentals
2. Crisis management
3. Crisis communication
4. Appendix
The Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) provides detailed checklists and a template for a crisis communication guide.
Critical issues can arise in any department of a company. To prevent them from escalating into a crisis, processes and responsibilities must be clearly defined and known to the entire staff.
All staff members need to know:
Internal procedures should be communicated regularly to raise awareness of potential crises as much as possible.
As a crisis always represents an extremely stressful situation for those directly involved – usually the crisis team and the crisis management unit – it also makes sense to practise such situations regularly. Crisis simulations provide greater confidence, highlight potential weaknesses in procedures and enable teams to fall back on processes they have already practised in the event of an actual crisis.
Crisis training can be used to review and practise not only processes but also prepared communication strategies, content and talking points. Particularly important:
The technical infrastructure must also be designed to cope with a crisis. Part of the preparation process therefore involves planning alternative communication channels for internal and external audiences. In the event of an acute crisis, a ‘dark site’ – which can be brought online at very short notice – also proves its worth. Information provided via the dark site includes, for example:
Reaching key media during a crisis
Crisis communication must be fast and reliable. With the media directory and the PR software zimpel, you have immediate access to your key media contacts and press distribution lists from anywhere. And that's 24/7. This means you can confidently reach your relevant target groups in the event of a crisis.
If an incident occurs that the company has defined as a crisis, quick action is required. In such cases, it pays to be able to rely on established structures and processes so that you can focus fully on crisis management and crisis communication. Below, we outline the procedures to follow during a crisis and how communication should ideally be managed during this time.
In the event of a crisis, the crisis management team and the crisis response team are convened in accordance with the procedures set out in the crisis communication plan, and real-time media monitoring is activated. Depending on the size of the company and the scale of the crisis, it may be advisable to establish a dedicated crisis communication team.
Potential members of the communication team:
The first task of the crisis management team and the crisis response team is to establish the facts. To do this, the key ‘W’ questions must be answered:
Key questions to ask when a crisis arises:
Once these questions have been answered, the situation should be assessed on the basis of the facts. The following questions should be asked for the purposes of this assessment:
Assessing the situation provides the basis for the crisis management team’s next steps. At the same time, it is an essential prerequisite for defining a communication strategy appropriate to the specific crisis and for developing an effective crisis communication plan based on that strategy. As the crisis unfolds, it may be necessary to reassess the situation, as new facts may emerge or new information may become available.
When assessing the situation, those responsible for communication within the crisis management team should always bear in mind the potential reactions of those affected, as well as the media and other relevant stakeholders, and factor these into the evaluation of the communication strategy and communication measures.
Based on the assessment of the situation, the crisis management team and crisis response team must review the stakeholder groups, communication strategy and communication measures already outlined in the crisis communication plan and adapt them to the specific crisis situation.
The key questions to consider at this stage are:
Key messages for crisis communication can be derived from the facts of the case and an assessment of the specific situation. Ideally, the crisis communication plan will already include templates for general or case-specific messages, which can then be adapted to the specific situation.
Key messages should be formulated in such a way that they can serve as a basis for all communication formats – from internal Q&As and press releases to customer mailings.
Key messages should:
Once the key messages have been finalised and all relevant target groups defined, it is time to move on to implementation. Speed is crucial in this phase to limit further damage. The key messages must be communicated consistently to all stakeholders (one-voice policy). It is essential to prioritise internal communication over external communication. The crisis management team and the communications team should establish a precise timeline in advance:
Ideally, the communication channels and tools to be used in the event of a crisis are already defined in the crisis manual and accessible to those responsible, or the login details are also recorded in the crisis manual.
Typical tools for internal crisis communication:
Typical tools for external crisis communication:
Reach in a crisis
In a crisis, speed is of the essence. With the ots distribution network, you can reach the relevant influencers exactly when it matters most: up-to-date, sector-specific media, social media channels and news partners – both nationally and globally. Fast, reliable and available 24/7.
Crisis communication aims to prevent potential damage to a company’s reputation and counteract a loss of trust. There are clear rules for successful crisis communication that must be followed in an acute crisis:
1. Communicate quickly, proactively and consistently.
Once a crisis has struck, you must act quickly (but please do not act rashly). Often, at the start of a crisis, the focus shifts to the question of blame. It is therefore important to communicate proactively so as not to be put on the defensive. Remaining silent or saying “no comment” is not a solution during an acute crisis, as this only leaves room for speculation or negative reporting and leads to you losing control of the situation.
You should also manage the communication by providing continuous updates on new developments or findings and outlining the next steps and actions. In any case, maintain the flow of information with the affected stakeholders.
2. Communicate consistently, clearly and comprehensibly.
Establish a consistent set of guidelines for crisis communication. Think carefully about the words and phrases you choose, and stick to them across all communication channels. It makes a difference if, for example, you refer to a merger in one instance and a takeover in another, or to restructuring in one instance and redundancies in another.
It is essential that everyone involved in crisis communication speaks with one voice (the ‘one-voice’ principle). Contradictory statements from the same company lead to uncertainty or misunderstandings among both media professionals and other target groups. They can fuel rumours and, in the worst case, result in inaccurate reporting.
Also ensure that you formulate clear, concise and therefore easily understandable messages that cannot be misinterpreted. Avoid jargon at all costs: if you are describing technical matters, do so in a way that can be understood by non-specialists.
3. Be honest, open and transparent.
Honest and open communication should really go without saying, but it is not always easy to put into practice during a crisis: in a crisis, people quickly slip (even unconsciously) into a sort of ‘defensive stance’. However, once you have lost the trust of the media and your other target groups, it can take a long time to repair the damage to your reputation.
Therefore, admit to any mistakes, and explain transparently and objectively how the crisis came about. If you cannot yet confirm something, say so. Allow for ‘gaps’ and proactively communicate what you do not know or the limits of your own capabilities.
Under no circumstances should you downplay potential or actual damage, or admit to it only bit by bit (the salami tactic). Also, ensure that your statements are consistent with your actions.
4. Communicate with empathy.
In your crisis communications, express empathy towards those affected and handle all target groups with sensitivity. To this end, make use of dialogue and consultation formats to identify the needs of those affected and respond to them.
Acknowledge feelings such as grief, anger or shock, and express your sympathy to the affected stakeholders. Through empathetic, personal (and sincere) communication with those affected, you can strengthen their loyalty to the company.
5. Get some support.
In a crisis, teamwork is essential. If your company has little or no experience with professional crisis communication, seek external help. There are specialists available to support you at every stage of a crisis – whether it’s crisis prevention, drawing up a crisis communication plan, or communicating during the crisis.
news aktuell can also support you with your crisis communication: with the ots distribution network, you can disseminate your information quickly and easily to a large target audience – at any time. With the zimpel media directory, you have round-the-clock access to your key media and press distribution lists from anywhere – even if access to your own IT systems is no longer possible.
6. Keep calm.
Easier said than done: stay calm during a crisis and don’t let yourself get caught up in a flurry of nervous activity. Acting hastily leads to mistakes that you’ll then have to rectify.
Try to imagine that there is always a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ the crisis, and that the vast majority of crises eventually subside or are resolved (just as media and public interest will wane). This perspective can help you to deal with the tasks at hand in a more composed yet focused manner during the acute crisis.
PR crises can be triggered by a wide variety of factors. These can be divided into internal causes (e.g. manufacturing defects, workplace accidents, compliance errors) and external causes (e.g. natural disasters, sabotage, cyberattacks). Below, we outline two common examples of crisis communication:
A product recall is one of the most challenging internal crisis scenarios in terms of communication. This is because it directly affects consumer safety and, consequently, trust in the brand. In the event of a product recall in Germany, clearly defined legal requirements must be met, such as the obligation to inform the authorities immediately.
Proactive, transparent communication is also crucial: the company should announce the recall itself (before third parties or the media do so), clearly state what the risk is, and outline the specific steps consumers can take.
Empathy towards those affected and consistently taking responsibility are crucial here for maintaining credibility. You can find out what communicators need to bear in mind legally during a product recall in our blog post on the subject of product recalls.
Presseportal.de also features examples of recent product recalls.
Cyberattacks are among the fastest-growing external crisis scenarios. They often catch companies off guard, can bring the entire business to a standstill, and require close coordination between IT, the legal department and communications. The particular challenge is that the full extent of the attack is often unclear at first – yet the public, customers and authorities expect information quickly.
Crisis communication must strike a balance between transparency and the necessary caution not to jeopardize ongoing investigations. Regular updates, clear points of contact and close coordination with technical experts are essential in this regard.
Read our blog post on cybersecurity and the role of communication to find out how companies can optimally structure their communication in the event of a cyberattack.
The following crisis communication checklist summarises the most important steps to take before, during and after a crisis – serving as a concise guide to your crisis communication.
Before the crisis:
During the crisis:
After the crisis:
Once the acute crisis has passed, a review and assessment should always be carried out. Only by evaluating the processes, strategies, measures and tools can the crisis management team and the crisis team draw important lessons from the situation and incorporate them into future processes.
When analysing the crisis you have weathered, you should ask yourself the following questions:
A thorough review of a crisis can improve all aspects of crisis management – whether it concerns prevention or an acute crisis. In this respect, evaluating a crisis in hindsight always presents an opportunity for dealing with future crises.
Crises cannot always be prevented – but their impact can be significantly reduced through strategic preparation and professional communication.
The key factors for success: a well-thought-out and continuously updated crisis communication plan with clear responsibilities and processes, ongoing issues management to identify potential risks at an early stage, and regular crisis training and simulations.
In an emergency, it is essential to communicate quickly, transparently, consistently and empathetically. After the crisis, a thorough evaluation ensures that you are even better prepared for future crisis situations.
Reaching all editorial teams during a crisis
Reaching all relevant media simultaneously is crucial for successful crisis communication. With the ots distribution network, you can easily disseminate your information at any time to daily and specialist media, social media channels and news partners – nationally and worldwide
A crisis communication plan (also known as a crisis manual) includes a definition of a crisis, potential crisis scenarios, the composition of the crisis management team and crisis response team along with their responsibilities, communication channels, reporting and information chains, key messages and messaging guidelines, relevant stakeholders, as well as contact lists, checklists and template documents.
Communication in crisis situations is guided by the following principles: speed, consistency, transparency and empathy. The ‘one-voice’ policy and the ‘internal before external’ principle apply. The crisis management team clarifies the facts, formulates key messages and informs all target groups via defined channels. The aim is to maintain trust and restore the organisation’s reputation.
The crisis management team is responsible for crisis communication. It comprises senior management, communications, IT, legal, HR and other relevant departments. The crisis management team oversees the crisis response. The communications department is responsible for implementing the defined communication measures.
Von Beatrix Ta
Dr. Beatrix Ta is news aktuell’s group communications project manager and an expert in content design and production, who particularly wishes nested sentences would disappear.