Control the Story, Control the Outcome

During a crisis or emergency, you need to stay in control of the story. You should always be pushing out critical information, and not waiting for someone to ask. Be proactive, not reactive. There is a saying within the crisis management field that states, “You need to feed the media, otherwise it will eat you.” If you are not providing information to those seeking it, they will often create their own based on faulty information that could damage your organization or cause a hiccup in your service delivery.

In addition to your external partners, keep your internal audience up-to-date as well. This is going to be your support system if things go south so keep them in the loop. Decision-makers need to understand emerging patterns communicated over time as opposed to the extreme details that emerge instantly. A constant conversation between you and your decision makers will help you immensely in these cases.

Keeping an eye on your internal and external audiences during an event is hard work, but worth the effort. You need to stay in control of the story and by doing so, you can control some of the outcomes.