As part of the portfolio I had to create for my master's programme, I had to create a poster as part of a visual element for the project. For this, I decided to create a flow chart for how an organisation or public figure could handle a crisis situation. With social media changing at a rapid pace, a strategy for how to handle a crisis needs to be in place. But regardless of if a strategy is in place or not when a crisis happens, it is incredibly important to carefully think out what is said and who will say it.
The chart mentions the importance of thinking about who will be the face of press release and any statements made, but what it did not elaborate is why it is so important to have someone of power be the spokesperson. Depending on the severity of the crisis, the public will have less trust in what is said on the issue. Having the right spokesperson will make the crisis communications strategy all the more successful, and maintain the organisations reputation. Yet it is not enough to only say the "right" things. Since the audience has already become distrustful, it is also important to actually implement what is being said. So if a crisis arises because of a flaw in the system, say how you are going to fix it, and then actually do that. And no matter what, transparency and honesty is always the best policy. See the document titled "crisis communications" under the portfolio section to see how I created and resolved a mock-crisis situation.
