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25 Question PR Crisis Checklist

It can feel overwhelming at the best of times when a PR crisis hits. There are so

many aspects you need to consider and swift action you need to take. You won’t

know what type of PR crisis you might face in the future but you can do some

planning in advance to save yourself valuable time and hassle. If you have

processes set out, responsibilities defined and materials to hand then you can focus

on sorting out the issue and getting things back on track.

Your 25 question PR crisis communications checklist

It’s true, however, that many businesses and organisations won’t think about what

they will need in a crisis until something happens. If you are in the middle of a crisis,

then look at these 25 questions. Answering these will help you in handling the

situation:

1. Are you clear about what has happened or do you need more information to

clarify the situation?

2. Have you noted down a chronology of events?

3. Is there consensus from the key people about the chronology of events?

4. Have you assessed any immediate health and safety risk to people and taken

steps to protect further possible harm or damage?

5. Are you clear about who knows this has happened?

6. Have you identified how people might get to hear about this incident?

7. Are you clear about who has what responsibilities in relation to handling the

incident – operational, communications with key audiences, handling the

media and acting as spokesperson?

8. Have you got a communications plan i.e. do you know what you want to say,

to whom, when and how? So, have you:

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a) clarified what you can say (remember to stick to the facts) – for

some audiences you may need to advise them to take specific

action?

b) identified the key people you need to communicate with (and

prioritised them)?

c) decided when the best time is to communicate with them (much

better for them to hear about this from you than elsewhere)?

d) established a timeline for managing communications – do you

need to tackle specific aspects in an order?

e) identified the best way to communicate with your audiences

(mechanisms might well differ between audiences and will also

depend on the seriousness of the incident)?

f) drafted a holding statement for use should you receive calls

from the press and media?

9. Have you put an approval process in place for communications materials

(statements, letters, emails etc)?

10. Is your company backgrounder up-to-date? Have you checked all facts and

figures relevant to the business that you might need in briefing materials?

11. If other organisations/businesses are involved in the incident then do you

have clarity about who their key contact people are, where responsibilities lie

and lines of communication with them, process for agreeing actions?

12. If relevant, have the appropriate authorities been informed about the incident?

13. If an incident meeting is required involving a number of people then have

those people been identified, and notified, and a meeting scheduled?

14. Have you identified an alternative base should your premises be out of

action? Have you checked that this base gives you the facilities you need?

15. Are you monitoring any press and media for mentions of the incident and to

check balance of reporting?

16. Do you have social media monitoring in place so you can track what is being

discussed? Are you able to react quickly to misinformation and rumour?

17. Do you have a policy regarding staff speaking to the media?

18. Have staff been reminded about that policy and do they know how to field

calls and to whom?

19. If the media is already aware then do they know who the contact person is in

your business regarding information and queries and do they have contact

details for them for out of hours? Are they getting information direct from you

or are they being updated from elsewhere?

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20. Do you have easy access to the contact details for those people you will need

to communicate with (customers, suppliers, potential customers, past

customers, local networks, press and media)?

21. Have you identified any aspects of your business you need to change

immediately because of the incident?

22. Have you identified actions which may be necessary to prevent this incident

happening again, or to minimise its impact should it happen again?

23. Have you ensured that customers, potential customers or

partners/stakeholders are aware of any impact/change in your ability to

service their needs as a result of this incident?

24. Have you identified other actions which may be necessary to protect your

business immediately/in the future, such as: changing the security at your

premises; sourcing other suppliers; changing processes, systems, technology;

updating policies or protocols?

25. Do you need to stop or change any aspect of your ongoing marketing activity:

information on your website; suspending any advertising or other marketing

efforts?

After the PR crisis

It’s useful to have a thorough de-brief after the incident, including:

1. Assessing how you handled what happened and identification of areas where you

need to make changes to the business as a result.

2. Reviewing policies and procedures and making appropriate changes.

3. Reviewing how you handled your crisis communications and what you might do

differently in the future.

Have a look at http://www.prcoach.co.uk for more checklists and ideas to help you

with your PR.