The tragedy at the Sago Mine near Tallmansville, WV on January 3, 2006 and the rumors that followed once again highlight the criticality of communications in a business crisis communications plan.

It also points out that no matter what the news, timing can turn an event into a "lose-lose" situation.

TO TELL OR TO WAIT FOR CONFIRMATION

One of the lessons which can be learned is that rumors are a disaster waiting to happen. Negative rumors and positive rumors have the same effect.

As an old newspaper reporter and editor, I know very well that rumors - even
well-intentioned ones - can play havoc with peoples' lives. Smart journalists make certain they have, in the immortal words of Jack Webb's Detective Joe Friday, "just the facts, ma'am." (1)

Countering rumors is one of the Fourth Estate's primary functions. (2)

While business crisis communications planners don’t often have a journalistic background - they must share the journalist's awareness of the damage rumor can cause.

One of the sad lessons learned in West Virginia is that people need reassurance that something is being done. The old saw "no news is good news" is not acceptable in a crisis.
Business crisis communications plans lacking a communications ingredient are plans with a gaping hole.

There are many parts to the communications ingredient, including:
* Who talks to whom
* What can be said
* Scheduling release of information

WHO TALKS TO WHOM

This is not a question. Each organization has multiple audiences who want, need, or simply deserves to know what's happening in a crisis and what can be expected.
First and foremost, the organization's responders need to know how to respond.

Certainly in the business crisis communications plan there will be - should be - response plans for various scenarios. In a worst case scenario, the facility "goes away," the response plan may call for a determination of damage then a management decision to restore or walk away, perhaps starting over elsewhere or, perhaps, throwing in the towel - shutting down the organization.

All employees need this information, and they need it as quickly as possible.

That does not necessarily mean while the ashes still are hot, but "as soon as possible" and always within 24 hours. Not knowing if a job will be there tomorrow can be more traumatic than knowing a job has been lost.

If the decision is to walk away from the operation, there should be a policy and procedure known to all personnel from their employment day one so they will know what to expect as severance.

If the decision is to rebuild elsewhere, personnel need to be told what to
expect - everyone who wants to relocate will receive relocation assistance,
those who don't will receive severance, etc.

If the decision is to rebuild locally, policies and procedures known to all
personnel from employment day one will spell out compensation arrangements - overtime and compensatory time for responders, furlough pay for those told to stay at home.

For all the policies and procedures, management should reinforce the information with both verbal and written statements to personnel and their families. This must be done before any public statements are made which relate to personnel.

The community in which the organization operates also needs to know what to expect. Local media are the best tools for this. Since the media probably won't wait for a damage assessment, the organization should have a boilerplate (prepared) statement to the effect that "We must evaluate the damage before we can make any commitments; we expect to have the evaluation completed within (time frame)."

Make certain the deadline can be met. If the deadline is missed, tell the audience why it was missed and set a new deadline. The second deadline must be met.
When to talk to the media? That depends on the media. If there is a local
morning newspaper, talk to the media in the afternoon. If the paper hits the
streets in the afternoon, try to meet with reporters as early in the day as possible. The news will make the local TV evening and night news, but the
newspaper will still have a "first day" article. TV and radio can provide almost
instant sound bites and film clips, but the newspaper is still the only vehicle for in-depth coverage.

Vendors and major clients/customers should be notified that an event occurred and that the damage is being evaluated. As with the local media, tell the audience when it can expect a decision on the organization's future.

Lenders also have a right to know what happened and what will happen. Ideally, lenders will learn about the event from organization management rather than the media.

While it is possible to tell the same story to each audience, it is better to
tailor the story to each audience's interest. Likewise, it may be advisable for different people to deliver the story.

For example, the organization's chief financial officer (CFO) or other senior
executive involved with the organization's finances is the prime candidate to
talk to the financial community.

The chief executive officer (CEO) or chief operating officer (COO) should talk to the organization's staff. The task should not be delegated to HR or disseminated via mid-level managers; employee morale is important.

What about executive level spokespeople who lack the ability to speak to the
public? With the exception of the organization's personnel, professional
spokesmen and spokeswomen from the organization's communications department can speak for the organization. No matter how poorly a C*O's presentation skills, a trusted C*O should be the one to talk to the organization's personnel. The employees may already know public speaking is not the executive's forte.

WHAT CAN BE SAID

The first rule for spokespeople is NEVER LIE.

Lies always are discovered and the price to be paid for the fabrication will be
dear.

An organization must "speak with one voice" even if there actually are several "voices."

Everyone - personnel, media, lenders, and clients - need to understand that the only information they can depend upon comes from an "authorized spokesperson." As already discussed, rumors are one of an organization's worst enemies.

A good communications plan includes "fill-in-the-blanks" scripts for the most
common events and for serious incidents. Those events and incidents are
identified in the business crisis communications plan's business impact and risk analyses.

The scripts should include anticipated questions or be very clear that questions will not be entertained by the spokespeople.

Scripts should be developed as part of the organization's response plans and be vetted by Legal. It is advisable to have line managers review the scripts to assure they are technically accurate.

If pressed for information beyond the script, the spokespeople must hold firm. They may tell the interrogator they will check and get back to the person, but a time should be set for the next meeting. As with all deadlines, if it looks like a deadline will be missed, tell everyone before the deadline and set a new deadline which will be met "no matter what."

Did I mention NEVER LIE?

SCHEDULING RELEASE OF INFORMATION

The nature of the event determines the frequency of releases.

In an unfolding crisis such as the Sago Mine disaster, scheduled announcements should be frequent.
Once the crisis has passed, the frequency of announcements can be extended.

The loss of a facility may require multiple announcements on the first (crisis) day, and perhaps a once-a-day announcement for the first week.
The audience for progress reports helps determine the reports' frequency.

Organization personnel need daily updates. Clients may need weekly updates.

Regulators will demand updates on their own schedules.

Each release should include two things:

The time of the next release

A reminder that only releases from the organization are valid; rumors
should be considered baseless until they are investigated by the organization's personnel.

Rumors always will be with us; business crisis communications planners must work to assure counter-measures are included in the business crisis communications plan and that these measures are as exercised and maintained as every other part of the crisis communications plan.

Source: John Glenn link