5 crisis comms essentials

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the value of simplicity, consistency and honesty in communications.

Leaders who applied these values seem to be more effective than those who rushed into action and produced contradictory rules, orders and messages.

If you run a business and find yourself in a major crisis, simplicity, consistency and honesty in communications will help you navigate through the situation and ensure you keep your employees and stakeholders on board. But what exactly should you do?

It is neither easy nor obvious at first glance. In search of guidance, let’s look at an industry which has over a century long experience in dealing with life-threatening emergencies: aviation. I am a private pilot and a communications professional with 20+ years of experience. I will draw from these backgrounds to suggest an approach to crisis communications very similar to the one developed in aviation. Here is a simple checklist for managing successful communication during an unexpected crisis.

Step 1: Prepare for predictable trouble.