Lately we have seen a lot of crisis moments around the world and I think we have seen that there has not been a real uniform way of dealing with the crises from a communication standpoint.
It seems that leadership in these instances has forgotten that in times of crisis and turmoil that people are afraid, desire stability, and crave information…even when they may have already heard it several times before.
That being said, here are 3 keys that can benefit you or your organization if faced with a crisis:
1. There Is No Such Thing As Over Communicating: As I said above, people desire knowledge in a crisis…and if you aren’t providing it, their worst fears will fester and morale will drop, creating an environment for distrust, paranoia, and lots of other negative things to grown. So as a leader, communicate in a regular and timely fashion, even if it is just to tell people that you haven’t really made any progress in resolving the crisis.
2. Don’t Be Afraid To Admit You Don’t Have All The Answers: This is one of those areas where I think lawyers do our society a great deal of disservice because we often have press conferences now where the person taking questions doesn’t say much of anything, won’t admit a mistake occurred, and won’t say that they don’t know something…all for fear of protecting the organization from some sort of fault or lawsuit. Don’t be cowed into this, be open and honest and if you don’t know something….just say so.
3. Be Humane: Along the lines of the unwillingness to admit an error, a lack of knowledge, and other things…too much of our communications in a crisis feels almost inhumane. So don’t be afraid of acting with empathy, compassion, anger, or whatever emotion is reasonable in the face of the challenge you are facing.