• Home
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Community Involvement
    • Mission and Values
    • PRecision Curriculum
  • Services
    • Public Relations
    • Content
    • Chambers Law Firm Rankings
    • Crisis & Litigation PR
    • Supreme Court Litigation
    • Media Training
    • Digital
    • Video
    • Poston Programs and Webinars
    • Podcasts
    • Public Affairs
    • CEO and Executive Leadership Communications
    • Internal and Employee Communications
  • Industries
    • Legal
    • Financial Services
    • Real Estate
    • Health Care
    • Architecture, Engineering and Construction
    • Associations & Professional Societies
    • Other Professional Services
  • Results
  • Blog
  • Careers
    • Openings
    • PRecision Curriculum
  • Contact
  • Search
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
    • Community Involvement
    • Mission and Values
    • PRecision Curriculum
  • Services
    • Public Relations
    • Content
    • Chambers Law Firm Rankings
    • Crisis & Litigation PR
    • Supreme Court Litigation
    • Media Training
    • Digital
    • Video
    • Poston Programs and Webinars
    • Podcasts
    • Public Affairs
    • CEO and Executive Leadership Communications
    • Internal and Employee Communications
  • Industries
    • Legal
    • Financial Services
    • Real Estate
    • Health Care
    • Architecture, Engineering and Construction
    • Associations & Professional Societies
    • Other Professional Services
  • Results
  • Blog
  • Careers
    • Openings
    • PRecision Curriculum
  • Contact
  • Search

Battle Tested in 2020: Harvard School of Business Researchers’ Four Considerations for Your 2021 Crisis Plan

  • Posted by Megan Paquin
  • On December 16, 2020
  • crisis, crisis communications

Share This...

Megan Paquin

Megan Paquin

The recent rollout of a coronavirus vaccine is welcome news, even with the caveat that widespread distribution will take some time. For business leaders who have spent many months in crisis-mode, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. But there is still work left to do.

When crises are sustained over a long period of time, it is not uncommon and certainly understandable that leaders can become burnt out or over-assimilate themselves and overlook the detrimental effects of compounding challenges or, perhaps worse, cling to false hope. To overcome what remains of the COVID-19 crisis, business leaders will need to remain engaged and increase communications efforts to ensure their employees and other stakeholders not only withstand the next few months, but also emerge stronger as we work to rebuild our society.

Through our plan, respond, advocate model, we encourage business leaders and their legal counsel to consider crisis communication as a sequence. Authors from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Business emphasized this point in an article published back in April, which encouraged leaders to view each message communicated over time “as part of a larger fabric or pattern.”

This means being proactive rather than reactive. Taking a renewed look at organizational vulnerabilities through a risk assessment can help maintain focus on where your organization currently stands, and what could impact future success. Doing so often inspires critical action and can also serve as a starting point for developing credible and consistent communications.

In their article, the Harvard authors drew on the Stockdale Paradox named after Admiral James Stockdale, the senior American officer incarcerated in North Vietnam POW camps. He was responsible for and credited with helping many of his fellow inmates survive in the direst of circumstances. Stockdale said leaders must do two things: 1) they must be brutally honest about the reality and 2) they must offer a rational basis for hope.

Therefore, leaders should be measured in their celebration of announcements like a forthcoming vaccine. It is a good idea to express hope but not to speculate, make predictions or suggest control over the future. Instead, the Harvard authors state—and we agree—that leaders should aim to offer your stakeholders answers to these questions as the crisis evolves:

  • What is going on?
  • To whom is this happening?
  • Why should we care?
  • What should people similar to us, with values like ours, do in a situation like this?

Apply these questions to each risk in your risk assessment and draft responses, turning those notes into templated communications for use if and when circumstances require. This will be your starting point in a crisis, and you can plug and drop in essential information based on the issue. These templates ensure you aren’t starting from square one every time and will give you the confidence you need to communicate effectively.

While there is hope on the horizon, we aren’t out of the woods yet. Remaining vigilant and focused on crisis communications best practices will strengthen your organization’s resolve and solidify relationships with key stakeholders through the ongoing crisis.

Megan Paquin is vice president at Poston Communications and leads the crisis and litigation PR team. She has been trusted to lead communications strategies for some of the world’s most respected brands. As a communicator, Megan thrives in complex, high-stakes situations and her counsel has proven essential to bolster the reputations of her clients.

 

0 Comments

Recent Posts
  • In the Aftermath: Should Your Firm Take a Stand?
  • Megan Paquin Named Among Orlando Business Journal’s 2021 Women Who Mean Business
  • Happy New Year From Poston Communications!
  • Battle Tested in 2020: Harvard School of Business Researchers’ Four Considerations for Your 2021 Crisis Plan
  • Building Out a Video Studio in Your Law Firm
Archives
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016

Building Out a Video Studio in Your Law Firm

Previous thumb

Happy New Year From Poston Communications!

Next thumb
Scroll

What We Do

  • Services
  • Industries
  • Results
  • Blog

Who We Are

  • Our Team
  • Community Involvement
  • Mission and Values

Poston Communications is a public relations agency focused on professional services companies including law, accounting, architecture, associations, construction, engineering, financial services, health care, human resources, interior design, investment banking, management consulting, real estate, recruiting, technology and venture capital.

404-875-3400 | P.O. Box 79466 Atlanta, Georgia 30357 | [email protected]

  • Sitemap
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

©2021 Poston Communications LLC - All rights reserved