A crisis rarely arrives on schedule. A negative news story, accident, emergency, or other critical situation can happen in the evening, at night, or over the weekend. At that moment, a communications team has very little time to think, which is why crisis preparedness needs to happen well in advance.
Crisis communications was the focus of the inaugural u.comms club meeting. The speaker was Viktor Zinchenko, a communications professional with 14 years of experience who, at the time of the meeting, headed the Communications Department at DTEK Energy.
Viktor shared his hands-on experience in crisis response and showed how to prepare for situations where every minute counts.
A Crisis Can Be Managed
Although crises often arise unexpectedly, the response process can and should be planned in advance.
The foundation is risk forecasting and a pre-prepared action plan. The communications team should have a clear sequence for informing stakeholders and responding to the situation: who receives the information first, who makes the decisions, when the company issues a statement, when the information is shared with the media, and what happens next.
For example, the company’s social media statement could be scheduled to go live within 30 minutes of receiving confirmed information.
Once an incident has occurred, there is no time to create this process from scratch.
The First Hour of a Crisis
The first few minutes determine who will shape the information landscape.
During this period, the team should:
- quickly establish the facts of the incident;
- assess the situation and plan the next steps;
- prepare the company’s official position;
- coordinate with relevant government authorities and emergency services, including, when necessary, the State Emergency Service, police, and trade unions;
- determine whether a proactive or reactive communication approach is needed;
- if a proactive response is chosen, issue the company’s position promptly.
The key principle is simple: if a company does not respond in time, others will shape the information landscape for it.
What Happens After the Initial Response
Crisis communication does not end with the first statement. The team continues to monitor the media and social media, handle journalists’ requests and comments, keep employees informed, and, when necessary, communicate with the families of those affected.
It is also important to regularly update information as new details emerge and change the understanding of what happened. In other words, crisis communication is not a single social media post, but an ongoing process that continues until the situation stabilizes.
Conclusion
The key principle of crisis communications is simple: anticipate the risks, have a plan, and act.
Preparation means the team does not have to waste valuable time identifying responsibilities, agreeing on procedures, or deciding which communication channels to use while the information landscape is already taking shape.
