What the Covid inquiry can teach PR about crisis comms

It has been shocking to hear about the level of confusion, panic, bravado, overconfidence and just plain incompetence that was in place at the heart of government at a time of significant crisis. Away from the elements that have made the headlines there is a worrying point that keeps reappearing in the answers over the past days. It is the obvious lack of diversity that existed within the government and decision making.

This failure to understand different views, different perspectives or even have mechanisms to listen to different voices had a huge impact on the decisions that were made and the actions put in place. Women and children were forgotten, ethnic groups were not considered, and there was no understanding of socio-economic factors and how people lived their lives.

One size does not fit all

Crisis communication is not, and should not be, about one size fits all. It has to consider the needs of others and the inclusivity which is a focus for all communication becomes even more important at a time of emergency. Organisations cannot hope for the best or rely on those in the room to remember all those who are outside of it. What it needs are systems and processes that are in place and can be used at speed during a crisis.

This is where many crisis management plans and crisis communication plans fall down. They are so focused on getting information out quickly in the first instance that they don’t consider the importance of listening to people, hearing different voices, and considering the impact of decisions on communities and individuals. That is what plans have to have if they are going to be ready to be effective.

Here are five steps to help improve your crisis communication plans:

1. Ensure inclusive communication is at the heart of the crisis communication plan
2. Use checklists to remind you what to consider, who to contact and where to approach for support
3. Have community groups and individuals you can call upon when a crisis emerges to assist in developing the communication
4. Ask questions about the organisation’s crisis management plans to ensure they are considering diverse groups and communities
5. Never assume that your approach is the only one. Recognise your ideas come from your background and cannot be placed upon everyone else.

I hope that the obvious failings being highlighted at the Covid inquiry in the past fortnight lead to some significant changes now to crisis approaches. In addition, if you are not sure where to start in looking at inclusivity I would encourage you to follow Advita Patel [CIPR's president-elect] and her updates on social media.

Amanda Coleman is a crisis communication expert and consultant, founder of Amanda Coleman Communication and the author of Crisis Communication Strategies.

This is an excerpt of a post titled Hearting Different Voices which was originally published on her Amandacomms blog. Read the original post.