The New Year brings typical resolutions to eat healthy, get in shape, refresh and reboot – on both the personal and professional fronts. In true form, this year I have embarked upon the Whole30 Challenge.

The gist of this program involves eliminating virtually every pleasurable culinary element from your daily life for 30 days straight – sugar (later Specialties cookies, ketchup and pretty much every condiment), alcohol (so long Margarita Monday and Wine Wednesday), legumes (bye bye burritos and peanut butter), grains and dairy (ack, no aged gouda!).

When I announced this to my team, they had a look of panic on their faces. You see, I had gone down this unpleasurable path last summer and my officemates, well, they (kind of) suffered. Granted, I was just a weee bit cranky; that and I wanted to chew off my own arm I was so hungry.

Today is day 24 of 30 and I have to say that this same group is doing a happy dance because (thankfully) I learned from my experience and I applied those learnings to everyone’s benefit. As I was thinking about this new effort it became clear that takeaways from my first Whole30 challenge very much apply to preparing for and communicating in a crisis:

PLANNING AND PREPARATION ARE KEY

Better to be ready for a crisis and in a proactive position where you feel prepared, confident and armed with the tools to be successful than in a fire drill where it makes it more difficult to make informed/thoughtful choices. What are your organization’s vulnerabilities? What issues are hot buttons in your industry/within your company? Identifying potential scenarios – and creating a plan for these scenarios – puts you in a better position with a greater chance for a successful outcome. So, pack your bag with approved messaging (and compliant snacks), and you’ll be ready to face nearly any challenge.

GET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER

Assemble the facts. Gather as much information as possible to inform your approach. What is known and what happened (or when will this happen if issue brewing)? Who is involved (or who will be affected)? Damages or severity of issue/crisis so far? Imminent risk for further exposure or backlash against your organization/the individual? Cause(s)? Or, in the case of Whole30, clearing your house of tempting foods and being clear on the do’s and don’ts of the program.

RIP OFF THE BAND-AID

It may be painful, but getting all bad news out at once is more apt to get it over with in one fell swoop and, in most cases, eliminates a prolonged news cycle. In the case of Whole30 if you tried to eliminate foods one at a time it would be more like the Whole150, and who wants that? My team would run for the hills!

HATERS WILL BE HATERS — ESPECIALLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

There are true believers out there on any given subject who will never be satisfied no matter what you do or say. And they will be loud about it. Recognizing detractors for who they are, not trying to win a losing battle and moving on is often the best course.

STAY THE COURSE- BUT PLAN FOR CONTINGENCIES

Sticking with consistent messaging and approach will help avoid distractions and the temptation to get “into the weeds.” That doesn’t mean that if a situation seriously changes, and there are major new developments, that you cannot change the game plan. This happens often in crises. Preparing for multiple potential scenarios helps in addressing contingencies that arise – before they do. Another reason why I carry approved foods in my purse is that I never know when my son’s game will go into overtime, and that is most likely the time that the liquid cheese nachos from the snack bar start to look pretty darn good.

PROGRESS CAN REQUIRE PUSHING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE

While tempting to hide or think a crisis or issue will go away, facing it head on often helps get ahead of the curve. It may not always be comfortable, but better to be ahead of the issue versus taking a reactive or defensive position. Getting to where I am today required leaving my comforting food/drink rituals (a.k.a. unhealthy habits) at the door.

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

When the dust has settled, it’s time to take stock of what worked and what didn’t and to apply learnings and protocols to ensure the issue/crisis/situation will never happen again.  This is all part of the reputation recovery. I know I certainly used learnings from my last Whole30 go-around to ensure that my husband and I would be far more prepared and far less cranky. And, as of day 24, I can report we are feeling great with our eye toward the finish line.

Are you prepared for your next crisis? Take a look at the crisis check list to see how prepared you or your organization might be.

The post Crisis Communications Lessons from the Whole30 Challenge appeared first on Fineman PR.

The start of a New Year is typically a time of introspection. It’s time to look back at the past year’s challenges and achievements and then set resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. Hopefully, that includes an update of your crisis communications plan.

Instead of a system overhaul, I recommend pinpointing areas of your plan for updates throughout the year. In my experience, most crisis communications plans can be improved with more realistic scenario plans, robust measurement systems and training.

REALISTIC SCENARIO PLANS

Effective crisis communications plans are dynamic. The media landscape is ever-changing, technologies come and go, public attitudes shift, organizations adapt. A crisis communications plan should reflect the zeitgeist.

Are you ready for hot-button issues? Conduct a thorough and honest threat assessment. When you hear about the latest corporate scandal, ask yourself if your organization can find itself in that same situation. If the answer is yes, keep a close eye on the situation as it unfolds and integrate your learnings into a scenario plan.

In 2018, many organizations faced challenges related to sexual harassment and assault, diversity and inclusion and security breaches. These issues can arise in any organization. Do you know your organization’s record on these issues? Are your policies current, and can they withstand the glare of the media spotlight?

How quickly can your team mobilize? Most organizations understand, in theory, that they need to respond quickly to crises. But in practice, convening a team, fact-gathering and decision-making can be agonizingly slow. While I advise against knee-jerk responses, I also caution against leaving a void that can be filled by voices not your own. Have a good understanding of how quickly your team can make decisions and plan accordingly. Every minute counts in a crisis.

ROBUST MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

Does your crisis communications team have a system in place to monitor news and social media in real-time? Monitoring news and social media is an active role. It’s not enough just to follow coverage. The monitoring team is responsible for flagging inaccuracies in coverage and ensuring corrections are made before misinformation spreads. The monitoring team should work together with the measurement team to analyze if the messaging strategy is working and determine if adjustments are necessary.

If you’re facing a deluge of media coverage and social media posts, an automated measurement system is important. But it’s even more crucial to have a team to interpret and dimensionalize the data gathered.

Do you know what to measure? Tracking communications outputs such as volume of news articles, social shares and website hits is helpful. But in order to truly gauge impact, a measurement program needs to go deeper and measure outtakes and outcomes.

Output measures what’s been produced. It answers basic questions such as how many news outlets are reporting on the issue, how many times your video has been viewed, how many people visited your microsite.

Outtake measures who was reached and how. It answers questions such as did your communications reach your target audiences? Which communications vehicles are effective? Which messages are resonating with your audiences?

Outcome measures change in behavior and perception. Did your response to the crisis satisfy your stakeholders? Did you retain or recover customers and partners?

Does your measurement system provide perspective? Having perspective helps set realistic expectations. The best-case scenario is for a crisis to be quickly addressed then forgiven and forgotten by an organization’s audiences. But depending on an organization’s history and the severity of the situation, that may not be achievable in the short-term.

Some questions I ask to help clients gain perspective:

• How did other organizations weather similar situations? Use your measurement system to analyze crises outside of your organization. If you’re faced with a similar situation, you can set performance benchmarks for your crisis response.

• How much goodwill have you built among your audiences? Frequent offenses have a compounding effect, and it will be harder to bounce back after each subsequent crisis.

TRAINING

Crisis plans need to be updated, but so do the skills of the people in charge of executing the plan.

Are your spokespeople comfortable speaking with reporters? Speaking with media, especially during a crisis, can test anyone’s mettle. Media training teaches important skills such as staying on-message, steering conversations, avoiding missteps and effective interview techniques. Conduct mock interviews where your spokespeople practice handling tough questions. Study interviews to learn some Do’s and Don’ts.

Most importantly, study your team’s performance during the mock interviews. Do your spokespeople sound confident? Do they stay calm under pressure? Are they able to deliver messaging effectively?

Put your plan to the test. Don’t wait until a real crisis to test your crisis communications plan. Conduct a tabletop drill with your team to identify weaknesses in your plan. Are roles and responsibilities clearly delineated? Are your protocols efficient? Does your team know what information needs to be collected and shared in order to facilitate good decision-making?

Most importantly, a tabletop drill will test your team dynamics. Can your team work together effectively under duress? Can they stay organized and focused during intense situations? Are adjustments needed to your team structure so it’s more efficient and functional?

Crisis communications plans often languish in unopened folders on people’s hard drives. They’re onerous and intimidating. But facing a crisis with an outdated plan can be downright scary and costly.

Michael Fineman is President of Fineman PR.

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