Teamwork Planning for an Emergency - David Bohrer
Large or small businesses should be prepared for the worst. Advance preparation is always the best strategy. Here are pointers to deal with a crisis.

Whether it’s an unexpected office fire, a business computer crash, a customer injury or other major office crisis, large or small businesses should always be prepared for the worst.
Here are helpful pointers to get through a business crisis.

Teamwork to Deal With A Crisis: Will a Lawyer Be Needed?
Create an internal crisis communications team of knowledgeable staff who are able to make decisions in a flash. Prepare a list of team member’s after-hours phone numbers and email addresses. Crises do not always happen in a 9 to 5 schedule. Crisis Communications Team members must be able to reach each other ASAP.

Identify the issues & “key message.” Keep it simple & in laypersons' language. For example: “Business X is actively dealing with the situation, and is in full operation, business as usual.”
Express confidence that the company’s many years of experience will stand out and ahead of all other competitors. Express sincere empathy for any affected parties in the crisis.

Communicate by Using a Holding Statement
This key message is communicated in a holding statement – short & to the point & sent out promptly to customers, media and key contacts. This gives a company time to put together a timeline of a longer detailed news release, letter to editor, human-interest stories, etc. Avoid "spinning" the message!

Crisis Communication with Integrity & Transparency
The message could express integrity, transparency of the process, openness, accountability, mission statement, community-based, long standing established partnerships, etc. Give as much relevant and accurate information as possible about how the company is responding. This builds public and media trust!

Crisis Management Solutions
Shift the focus by proactively bringing out the good news and positive developments of being thrown into this situation. Move away from a highly charged political, adversarial approach. Communicate solutions and use this opportunity to do more education about the company.
Read on

Crisis Management has to Tackle Varied Disasters
Planning Crisis Communications
Disaster Planning and Crisis Communications

Recent examples of industries having difficulty with handling a major crisis and bad public images include:

Gulf oil spill disaster
Seal industry
Vancouver 2010 Olympics
Calgary Rodeo Stampede
Communicate Company Honesty

Be reassuring by conveying control and confidence in an upfront & honest manner. No finger pointing or blaming! Use simple clear language, not vague words like: transgressions, uncertainty or dubious.
Use a Business Spokesperson

Appoint a crisis communications spokesperson who is now able to speak confidently & calmly to the important issues & key message. This may not necessarily be the CEO or senior executive. It should be someone who is a superior communicator able to speak to targeted audiences. Overly technical jargon can turn people off.

Keep All Stakeholders Informed
Staff, customers, media, membership and general public should be kept informed to avoid rumors or false information. Staff could become a company’s best ally in helping to get the true message out.

Use a Crisis Timeline
Prepare a timeline so that information is being released at appropriate timing, for example: to coincide with a bid closing date, company reviews, funding application or other important event.
Communicate Transparency

Aim for transparency of the process. Do not try to hide behind words or legal mumbo jumbo. “Lead by example! Raise the ethical bar.” Do not spin the message. It’s also important to get on board early with the use of social media to communicate in a time of crisis. A great book to check out on this topic is Friends With Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo (No Starch Press: 2009). This guide has a special chapter devoted to “damage control in the digital age.”

Outside Help for Business Emergencies
Call in outside PR professionals, financial staff and lawyers if things are too much to handle with the company’s own internal resources.

All businesses large or small at some point may experience an unexpected crisis situation. Accidents do happen. It’s important to be well prepared ahead of any incident.

Source: Bev Yaworski  link