Crisis Comms: What it Looks Like to Work With Me

Aug 18

When a crisis happens, you don’t have days to make a decision; you have seconds. Often, those decisions involve students, staff, and teachers that you know and love. One wrong move can mean loss of enrollment, loss of community support, loss of your job and bad press. Mishandling a crisis could cost your district years of progress.

So how can you be confident that, should a crisis arise, you will address the situation with fairness, alleviate concerns, garner community trust, and maintain good standing with the media?

You need a comprehensive crisis communications plan, a crisis communication consultant or a communications officer well-versed in media relations, and a reliable means of disseminating information quickly and clearly.

As a school communications expert and crisis communications consultant, I bring the perspective of more than twenty-five years of experience in crisis communications and strategy to help my clients handle the media and navigate urgent internal and external communications.

Keep reading to find out what it’s like to face a crisis with the support of a crisis communications consultant.

The role of a superintendent

As the superintendent of your district, everyone is looking to you for answers. When there is a fire in one of the school buildings, a wild animal on campus, a fight between students, a scandal, or even an active shooter situation, you’re expected to maintain a positive outlook, a consistent message and transparency. Everyone is looking to you for executive-level decisions and support.

Unfortunately, it can be lonely at the top. Many superintendents don’t have the training to handle a crisis or don’t have advisors well-versed in crisis scenarios or media relations. And when you have to make quick decisions on issues that feel very personal and hit very close to home, your judgment can be clouded.

You must be aware of how to communicate effectively with parents. Parents want to know that you’re handling the situation well; stakeholders and voters want to know that you are putting their interests and the safety of the community first. How well you respond to a crisis may very well determine your future as a superintendent.

So how can you demonstrate that you’re trustworthy and that you will do everything in your power to prevent crises from happening in the future?

A comprehensive crisis communications plan

The first step toward preventing and preparing for a crisis is to create a comprehensive crisis communications plan. This plan should include guidelines for who will send out communications, how they will be sent out or posted, and even what information you will share with the community and the media.

You’ll have to think through questions like:

Do you have a way to retrieve all of the parents’ contact information at the click of a button, or is that information stored only on a local computer?
Do you have an established social media presence where you can put the word out quickly in the event of an active crisis?
Do you have an internal communication channel for faculty and staff?
How can you ensure that everyone involved knows the plan and can take appropriate action when necessary?

Working with a crisis communications consultant is one way to ensure that your communications plan is thorough and adaptable to any situation. Your communications consultant or communications officer can identify various scenarios to help you prepare for any possibility.

They can also create a vault of email templates and press release templates so that you can get the word out quickly and calmly. And, an experienced consultant can even warn you of potential PR disasters coming down the pipeline based on what’s been coming to the forefront in other districts.

In general, having a plan in place ensures that everyone is on the same page and knows what to do when a crisis happens.

A consistent message

In the last several years, school leaders have witnessed a shift in community relations. Parents and stakeholders have higher expectations for school communications, especially during a crisis. COVID changed the way school leaders have to communicate. The proven methods we once used worked well before the pandemic, but they are obsolete now. These days, the stakes are higher. Mistakes are more public.

It’s important to develop key messages and ensure your team knows what those messages are so that all communications are loud and clear.

These days, our communities expect frequent updates on all platforms. And they want to have access to someone who will give them answers on demand as the crisis unfolds.

Mishandling communications during a crisis can affect not just the school but your personal brand as well. If you’re early in your career, it’s imperative that you stay consistent with your messaging and lead your team to be consistent as well. As we’ve seen in recent years, the media and the public have the power to erode your credibility with one mistake.

A reliable means of disseminating information quickly and clearly.

K12 Insight suggests that the first thing to do when planning your crisis communications plan is “Assemble your Crisis Response Team.” That team should include yourself, a lead communicator, and, if possible, a long list of other roles and departments as well. But not every district has the luxury of so many layers of communication.

For many schools and districts, the responsibility falls solely on the superintendent and principals. When you work with me, I ensure that you have the resources in place to communicate information quickly and clearly to every corner of your community. I help you fill in the gaps on your team so that all your bases are covered. And, I’m available to you as a 24/7 crisis support and a thought partner so that you can face any challenge with confidence and handle your crisis communications without fear.

Conclusion

Handling communications with media, law enforcement, parents, and the community while making executive decisions that have dire consequences attached to them is high risk. Expectations and visibility are higher than ever before.

When you work with me to provide crisis communications consulting, I can help you get a comprehensive plan in place before a crisis occurs. I can give you insight into the situation from an outside perspective based on 25 years of experience. I can take an objective look at an unfolding crisis and give you solid advice to mitigate the damages and recover from the loss of community trust.

Clients call me to provide clarity, write emails, advise them on executive decisions, and fill in the gaps on their team when resources are lacking.

If you feel underprepared to face a crisis, scandal, or emergency in your school district, you are. It’s not a question of if but when. Don’t let the next unforeseen event take you by surprise. Let’s face it head-on together.

Send me an email at veronica@veronicavsopher.com to ask about my monthly ad hoc communications support or to receive crisis communications support now.