6. Assume that there are no secrets and share public information in a uniform manner. While getting blasted in the media is no fun, if you are proactive and seek out public forums for telling people about the crisis and what you intend to do to address it, you will help manage the message instead of it controlling you.

7. Take Responsibility. When appropriate, apologize quickly and broadly. You don’t need to snivel or grovel, but if you had a part in this crisis tell people that – and tell them what you’re doing to fix it.

8. Conversely, do not blame others. The crisis at hand may be something not caused by you or your organization, but defensively (or worse, offensively) placing blame on others is a very risky strategy. Do your best to remain neutral and helpful, regardless of the circumstances.

9. Be solutions-oriented and future-focused. Once you’ve dealt with the problem at hand, be immediately ready to tell people what your organization is doing to ensure this situation is not repeated (or if it’s an unavoidable or uncontrollable external situation, how you’ll handle it even better next time).

10. Post-crisis, as appropriate, continue to reach out to those affected by the crisis and involve them in developing your future strategy. Engaging with customers, donors or others who may have been “wronged” in some way is never easy or fun, but damage control from a crisis doesn’t end just because you’ve tentatively solved the problem. Rebuilding trust with stakeholders takes time, effort, dedication and humility, but even in the worst of crises, if you act with good intentions and an open mind, you may come out stronger.


In the end, handling a crisis should really be common sense human behavior:

• Don’t do wrong
• Don’t hurt others
• Don’t lie
• Don’t hide from the truth.

Sure, you can complicate it much more than that, but if you keep some simple ideas in mind, you’ll be just fine. And hopefully, even better than that!



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Diana L. Reid, Conscious Communications