What Your PR Team Should Do in the First 30 Minutes of a Crisis

Last week, I wrote about what organizations get wrong in the first 30 minutes of a crisis.

Here's what they should do instead.

1. Activate Your Crisis PR Plan and Assess the Situation

Is it a crisis or not? Hopefully, you've done the training and scenario planning to understand what is a crisis and what isn't. But the first thing you need to do is get your team together and decide whether to activate the crisis response plan. You can't afford to spend the first 30 minutes debating whether something is actually a crisis. When in doubt, activate.

2. Start Talking — Carefully

Too often, organizations feel like they need every single detail before they start communicating. You don't need to know everything, but you need to communicate, especially with your internal audiences. Let folks know that you are aware of the situation, that you're taking it seriously, and that you'll provide updates as you learn more. Don't overshare if you don't have all the information, but don't bunker down and go silent either.

3. Make Sure the Right People Have the Right Roles

Crisis plans are more about process, roles, responsibilities, and approvals than exact messaging. In the first 30 minutes of a crisis, you should refer to your crisis plan and make sure that your team understands their roles and place in the process.

All of this takes training. That's why we built Siege, a social media crisis training platform that helps your teams prepare for a crisis in a realistic scenario.

Reach out if you want to see it in action.

At Fitler Square Strategies, we help organizations navigate crises, build advocacy campaigns, and communicate when it matters most. If you're facing a challenge or just want to be better prepared for the ones ahead, we'd love to talk. Get in touch or learn more about what we do.