The First 24 Hours: Immediate Steps to Take When a Crisis Hits

When a crisis happens, it is easy to get distracted by things that may or may not be in your control. From a communications perspective, we advise our clients to take a deep breath and keep things simple when a crisis hits. Obviously, the best way to get ahead of any crisis is to have a plan in place beforehand so that your entire organization has a concrete set of steps to follow in the event something untoward happens. Novitas is always happy to help clients new and old work through this process – feel free to reach out to us today to start developing your crisis response strategy. 

During any crisis situation, the first step is always Notification: any on site team members must notify the corporate office/executives, legal representatives, and the communications team about the event and with as many details as possible. In the event of a catastrophic emergency, the on-site team must always notify and work with first responders before anything else, then notify the above corporate, legal and communications team members. 

Second, the designated single point of contact/corporate executive will work with the legal team and communications staff to develop a statement to release to the media, if needed. This step includes Briefing the media and any relevant interested parties – which could be residents in the community, neighbors, or corporate partners, among others. In many cases, this statement will be very simple, and often note that the company is working with local first responders and law enforcement to ensure public safety, and the most important thing is to show humanity and compassion. 

Third, the communications team will Notify/distribute the official statement to interested media as requested, or issue a press release with the statement as necessary, noting the official point of contact as approved by all parties. Most notably, under no circumstances should anyone other than the approved point of contact discuss the issue/incident with the media. 

Fourth & fifth, the communications team will work with executives and the legal team to Update the official statement as necessary, and Monitor both the situation on the ground as well as media reports to ensure any stories have the correct information on an ongoing basis, for days or weeks following the incident. 

In the case of a crisis being more cerebral rather than a physical incident, the process remains much the same. Fundamentally, in any crisis situation, junior employees should always notify their chain of command, and any public response should be coordinated between executives, legal representatives, and communications professionals.