Be Quick and Clear: Reactive Communications

Once a crisis befalls your organization public relations strategists must reactively respond to the outside accusations and criticisms in order to rebuild trust, support, and reputation. It should be duly noted that crisis communication, or communicating with external stakeholders in a crisis, is an attempt to inform quickly to achieve some sort of objective. Reactive communication strategies should not crisis resolution, but rather a means to that end. “Response time is a tactical element of the crisis response, while resolving a crisis is a strategic element” (Coombs, 2015, p. 133).

There are two important aspects in responding to a crisis:

1.      You must be quick:

·         A quick response during a crisis establishes organizational competency, while a slow response tells the stakeholders that your organization is incapable of handling a crisis. No response at all demonstrates that your organization is not in control or is not trying to take control. AVOID using ‘no comment’ as a form of response – it just makes you look guilty.

·         Another benefit of the quick reactive response is that it gives you control of the dissemination of information. What we mean is that if you do not provide some sort of information to the public, someone else will. “If the crisis team does not supply the initial information…some other group will, and they may be ill-informed, misinformed, or motivated to harm the organization in some way” (Coombs, 2015, p. 131). People like to draw their own conclusions, especially when there is a lack of information. Be quick to inform to take control of the situation, even if not all of the information is available at the given time

2.      You must be clear:

·         It almost seems impossible to be quick and clear; by being clear, we mean that we provide the masses with as much information that is available. “A crisis team might have to appear before the media or post information online with an incomplete story. That is OK. There is no sin in telling the media the crisis team does not know something but will provide the information as soon as possible” (Coombs, 2015, p. 132). By establishing an immediate presence you demonstrate that you understand how to handle the situation. When misinformed claims do arise due to your initial lack of information, you have already established enough credibility to refute those claims.

·         Though it’s better to say that your organization does not have all of the information available at the time, make sure you promise that you will provide that information as soon as possible – then follow through with that promise. According to Coombs (2015) if information is promised, it had better be delivered in some way, otherwise you jeopardize the organization/stakeholder trust by losing credibility. If there is information, deliver it as soon as possible. Remember, by being quick to react, you are rewarded with a degree of control.