Communication during a crisis

How an organisation communicates during a disruption shapes how the disruption is remembered, sometimes more than the disruption itself.

What good crisis communication looks like

• A clearly designated spokesperson or small group, so messaging is consistent rather than contradictory.
• Regular, honest updates to staff, customers, and other stakeholders, even when the update is "we don't have a full answer yet, here's what we do know."
• A plan for reaching people through more than one channel, in case the usual one, like a company email system, is itself affected.

Silence, or inconsistent messaging from different people, tends to get filled with rumour and speculation, which is almost always worse for trust than an honest, incomplete update delivered promptly.