“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, we’re telling you why…”

Even the big man in red has crises of his own every holiday season. He may be jolly old Saint Nick, but he doesn’t play games when it comes to his busiest day of the year.

Mr. Claus has a crisis communications plan of his own to ensure he still brings ‘joy to the world.’ The following highlights 10 tips to handle a crisis and exactly how Santa incorporates them into his own plan to guarantee ‘all is calm; all is bright.’

1.  Expect it. Even well-run businesses and organizations experience crises. There are things in life that you have no control over. If you expect it, you’ll be prepared, and you’ll be a step closer to surviving it.

Rudolf may have a glowing red nose, but sometimes the foggy night is too much. Santa expects this may be the case, so to combat the fog Santa always keeps his GPS in the sleigh’s glove compartment so he can tell South America from Africa.

2.  Plan for it. Have a crisis communication plan in place, practice it and update it. You wouldn’t go on a sales call unprepared or meet with a client unprepared. If you’re expecting a crisis, why would you face a crisis unprepared?

People celebrate Christmas in July for a reason. That’s when Santa and his reindeer do a practice run, of course! Sure, Santa has been doing this gig for hundreds of years, but practice makes perfect, right?

3.  Step up and act on it. Take control of the situation and the coverage it is generating before it takes control of you. Respond to media inquiries immediately, even if only to tell them you’ll be holding a press conference later in the day. Listen to conversations on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media channels. Be responsive. Be a part of the conversation. Don’t let the public wonder what you are doing about the situation.

‘He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake.’ He also knows what you’re saying about him on Twitter! Through @santa_claus, Santa is monitoring all inquiries to ensure he is responsive.

4.  Face the facts and tell the truth. While respecting confidentiality and legal restrictions, do your best to share pertinent information quickly and accurately. Never mislead. And remember, nature abhors a vacuum. If you don’t provide information, others will.

With more than 6,019,527,381 houses and apartments here on Earth, it would be a miracle if Santa hit all of them. So sometimes he misses one or two! Therefore, before leaving any continent, Santa’s head elf always calls Santa via the two-way radio (in Santa’s hat of course) to let him know if he missed any.

 5.  Care about it and own it.  Show compassion and concern. Don’t just talk about the issues or the facts. Express feelings and acknowledge feelings as appropriate. Own up to mistakes and express regret. Take care of the victims in the process.

Let’s be honest…the sleigh is pretty heavy and sometimes it damages roofs. Santa’s not the kind of guy to commit a hit-and-run. Santa admits the mistake and calls on the Elf Support Squad to repair any housing damage he may have caused.

6.  Personalize it. Carefully select your spokesperson. In most cases, a written statement cannot adequately tell your side of the story. (An exception would be when legalities prevent you from speaking, or if you strategically wish to distance yourself from a situation, such as a former employee who committed a crime.)

Santa is the face of the holiday season, but sometimes he’s a little busy for media inquiries. That’s why there is back-up! Who’s a better spokesperson than the Mrs.? Mrs. Claus, that is. She knows all key messages to communicate effectively.

7.  Look inward. Don’t neglect your internal audiences and other key stakeholders. Remember employees, board members and vendors, as well as customers and the public. You should make special efforts to keep them informed. Don’t let them get all the details from the newspaper or television. Talk to them directly.

At the North Pole, everyone works hard all year long to ensure Christmas is a special time. That’s why, when any news breaks, Santa’s staff hears it first! Mrs. Claus, the elves and reindeer—without them, Santa would be in trouble.

8.  Include your friends. Especially in a protracted situation, call on your allies to back you up. Are there citizen groups, affinity organizations, customers, clients, vendors, etc., that would be willing to show support for you in a genuine way? Will it ring true with the public?

Children are Santa’s biggest supporters, but Santa has friends all over. In fact, his biggest allies are retailers and parents. If Santa hits a snag at the North Pole, he knows he can count on his friends to cover for him.

9.  Stick with it. Don’t assume you can make only one statement when a crisis breaks. Watch the coverage and the questions and continue to be responsive if the crisis is prolonged. If inaccuracies are reported in the media coverage or through social media, correct them.

Did you know there is a media center at the North Pole? Believe it! Where do you think Santa and his elves monitor @santa_claus? Santa’s too busy for an iPhone, so elves monitor coverage and other events to confirm Santa is receptive.

10.  Learn from it. Evaluate and plan for the future so that your organization can grow from it. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Santa’s been doing this gig for a LONG time. To say he has learned a thing or two is an understatement. Learning is a lifelong experience. Some tips Santa will always remember are the following:

• Eat all the cookies and drink all the milk, or the children take offense.
• Santa’s suit is dry clean only! It also helps if it is flame retardant.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest technology. No more cassette players in the sleigh…ever.
• Regardless the age, everyone has the ability to believe.

By Susan Matthews, APR, principal

No one enjoys dealing with a crisis, but they’re a part of life. Sometimes, coming through a crisis means coming out the good guy. Other times, all we can hope for is survival. To survive and even thrive during and after a crisis, clear communication is key.

1.  Expect it. Even well-run businesses and organizations experience crises. There are things in life that you have no control over. If you expect it, you’ll be prepared, and you’ll be a step closer to surviving it.

2.  Plan for it. Have a crisis communication plan in place, practice it and update it. You wouldn’t go on a sales call unprepared or meet with a client unprepared. If you’re expecting a crisis, why would you face a crisis unprepared?

3.  Step up and act on it. Take control of the situation and the coverage it is generating before it takes control of you. Respond to media inquiries immediately, even if only to tell them you’ll be holding a press conference later in the day. Listen to conversations on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and other social media channels. Be responsive. Be a part of the conversation. Don’t let the public wonder what you are doing about the situation.

4.  Face the facts and tell the truth. While respecting confidentiality and legal restrictions, do your best to share pertinent information quickly and accurately. Never mislead. And remember, nature abhors a vacuum. If you don’t provide information, others will.

5.  Care about it and own it.  Show compassion and concern. Don’t just talk about the issues or the facts. Express feelings and acknowledge feelings as appropriate. Own up to mistakes and express regret. Take care of the victims in the process.

6.  Personalize it. Carefully select your spokesperson. In most cases, a written statement cannot adequately tell your side of the story. (An exception would be when legalities prevent you from speaking, or if you strategically wish to distance yourself from a situation, such as a former employee who committed a crime.)

7.  Look inward. Don’t neglect your internal audiences and other key stakeholders. Remember employees, board members and vendors, as well as customers and the public. You should make special efforts to keep them informed. Don’t let them get all the details from the newspaper or television. Talk to them directly.

8.  Include your friends. Especially in a protracted situation, call on your allies to back you up. Are there citizen groups, affinity organizations, customers, clients, vendors, etc., that would be willing to show support for you in a genuine way? Will it ring true with the public?

9.  Stick with it. Don’t assume you can make only one statement when a crisis breaks. Watch the coverage and the questions and continue to be responsive if the crisis is prolonged. If inaccuracies are reported in the media coverage or through social media, correct them.

10.  Learn from it. Evaluate and plan for the future so that your organization can grow from it. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Tomorrow night marks the fifth anniversary of the “tower crisis,” when straight line winds in excess of 80 mph ripped through downtown Indianapolis, tearing off outer walls of the upper stories of One Indiana Square.

The building’s owners called us the next morning, and we immediately mobilized a team of crisis communication pros to drive a comprehensive communications effort.

We provided regular updates to some 40 businesses that were displaced from the City’s third largest skyscraper. We also served as the key media spokesperson, interfaced with the mayor’s office and public safety officials, and managed myriad logistics when 1,000 employees couldn’t work in their offices for a minimum of three weeks. (Some tenants couldn’t return for months.)

We learned a lot from that crisis. A few highlights:

1.    Hungry for information. During the first 24 hours, much of our communication was one-on-one with tenants. We found they were glad to take our calls any time – even at 11 at night.

2.    There are no blueprints. Deconstructing a badly damaged building presents a set of challenges very different from erecting a new one.

3.    Take good care of your crisis team. We brought in healthy meals and secured hotel rooms so our employees would not have to drive home in the wee hours after several nights of four hours of sleep.

4.    Take good care of your other employees. When a number of employees are suddenly diverted from their regular work, other employees must jump in to pick up their load. Value and appreciate the heavy lifting these pros are taking on as well.

5.    Consider the broader impact. Due to the dangers of falling debris – including a protruding, tangled steel beam – streets surrounding the tower were closed off. Several small businesses in the vicinity felt the impact of the street closures. We were sure to patronize affected restaurants when buying our lunches and dinners.

6.    Missing your zzzzzzz’s. Until you’ve experienced it yourself, you don’t really understand sleep deprivation. We could feel what it was doing to us, and took extra care to think through our strategies and check our work for accuracy. Working as a team was essential.

7.    The best and the worst in people. Stress affects different people differently. Some tenants cursed us out due to their high frustration levels because of very limited access to their offices. Some sent us flowers, and others sent us warm notes in appreciation for our hard work.

Deal with problems quickly, using smart communications

A tornado rips off the roof of your distribution center. One of your key employees is arrested for domestic abuse. An angry customer has started a viral campaign to damage your reputation.

What defines a crisis? It’s something that seriously interrupts or shuts down your business or negatively affects your reputation.

Simple or complex, it has the same damaging effect.

Moving quickly and decisively in the first few minutes or hours of a situation can have a significant impact on your ability to minimize the damage. That may involve emergency, fire or police officials. And it most always involves your lawyer. I would argue that an experienced communicator should be part of your core team as early in the process as possible.

Unfortunately, business owners or executives may inadvertently flame the crisis fires by not handling it properly from the start.

For example, if they ignore the crisis, wait until the public finds out or treat the media like the enemy, the situation can become more complicated and problematic in short order. Sometimes, in an effort to explain things, they might use language that no one can understand. Or they may choose to keep the message limited to the issues, ignoring the emotional aspects. These are all very typical responses that can make a difficult situation even tougher.

Conversely, when executives work to keep critical stakeholders informed (don’t forget the employees) and respond to the media, even when they can’t answer every question, the results often can minimize the damage, and in some cases, make things better.

There are never many absolutes, but if executives have been trained to deal with the media and how to use communications tools to reach their audiences with messages and keep them updated, chances are things will be much smoother, even in rocky waters.

More than two decades after its Tylenol-tampering issue, Johnson & Johnson is still the best example of crisis communications done right. It moved quickly and deliberately with actions that boldly communicated its commitment to its customers.

Now, following the accounting scandals that brought down Enron and other major companies, Sarbanes-Oxley requires transparency. Recognizing that you can’t, nor should you, reveal every aspect of your business, take the time to determine what you can say and communicate it proactively. You are always much better off if you’ve been communicating on a regular basis to your constituencies.

Just as you work to get ahead of the curve in your business dealings, your best approach is to prepare yourselves for the crisis – large or small – before it happens. Make sure your operational crisis plan includes a communications plan for internal and external audiences. Develop a fact sheet about your business that can serve as a snapshot when a reporter wants to know about you. Keep your Web site refreshed. Make sure you have sufficient information to reach employees when they are away from work and a system to do that quickly.

Better to have a plan for the crisis and never use it than to add to the problem by not properly communicating. Your choice!

*Please note, this article was published in the Winter 2009 – 2010 issue of Catalyst, a publication by the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.