Flight cancellations. Hospital surgeries put on hold. Workers unable to do their daily tasks. Chances are high that your Windows device or the device of a business you frequent, were one of the 8.5 million affected by the CrowdStrike IT global outage. 

In today’s increasingly global world, the reality is that unexpected events like this happen and unfortunately have an immediate domino effect on the way the world goes about its business. Despite testing software updates ahead of time, things inevitability can and do go wrong. What matters is what can be learned from these outages and how they can be applied to daily work. 

So, what can be done to make things a little easier? Here are three key things to keep in mind when organizations suddenly find themselves in uncharted waters:

Be Proactive

Communicators sometimes find themselves stuck in a hard place when unexpected things happen. It’s common to ask questions such as the following: Should we communicate now when we don’t have all the information? Should we apologize for what’s happened? The answer is a resounding yes. Take a moment and put yourselves in your customer’s shoes. What do they need to know right now? What are you doing to fix the situation for them? Where can they go for assistance? Apologize for whatever has happened, share what you know, and tell them you’ll communicate again when you have additional answers.

Have a Plan in Place

Don’t wait for a crisis to occur to create a crisis communications plan. First, establish a leadership team that can step up in times of crisis and help with the overall messaging. Ideally, members of this team should have a thorough understanding of the organizational structure and knowledge about common crisis issues and trends that may have happened in the past or could in the future. 

Next, create an overall process that includes the chain of command, including key stakeholder contact information. It should also include the name of the point person who will write the communications, obtain sign-off from leadership, and is responsible for sending out the communications. Ensure that training is provided to the point person and that they feel comfortable and confident in their role. Many organizations also put their crisis communications plan into a playbook for easy accessibility, structure, and the ability to update information in a central location on a regular basis. 

Not sure how to get started putting a plan together? Check out this NISM webinar on Crisis Management.

Keep Learning

Congratulations, you survived this crisis. That doesn’t mean that the work stops there. Take a moment to evaluate how your organization managed things: what worked well, what didn’t, and what you can improve upon for next time. 

Pay attention to how other organizations navigate unexpected challenges. Do they utilize social media to get their message out? How often are they communicating with stakeholders? There may be best practices that you can implement into your own organization’s crisis communications plans. 

The bottom line when it comes to unexpected situations is that although organizations cannot predict their occurrence, they can be prepared ahead of time. 

Are there any best practices your organization has implemented during a crisis that have worked well? Share them below.

Author: Amy Berger

Amy Berger is a communications consultant based in Minnesota. Throughout her career, she’s had the opportunity to partner with state legislators, United States Senators, community organizations and executive leaders on developing effective communications. She’s a writer at her core and is passionate about finding new ways to help clients tell their stories. 

Amy has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gustavus Adophus College and a Master’s in Business Administration from the College of Saint Scholastica. Connect with her through Linkedin, X @amykberger and Instagram @amykberger