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Crisis communication is a part of crisis management function
aimed at bringing normalcy back to the business situation
as early as possible and minimizing the impact of the crisis
under consideration. The forms and types of crisis can vary
from a natural disaster, which can harm the lives of the
employees to a lawsuit against the business to mention a
few, which can harm the reputation of the business. The
type and nature of crisis is very important in determining
the type of communication channels to be used. You cannot
send a press release when there is a fire and the first
thing is to evacuate the business premises as early as possible.
Let us understand crisis before we attempt to understand
crisis communication:
Crisis can be defined as a function of three closely related
variables— uncertainty, impact and audience. We can
say Crisis = f (U, I, A) where U = Uncertainty, I = Impact
and A = Audience. Crisis can be understood in terms of these
three variables. If we examine this function, we will find
that crisis will always be an element of uncertainty. It
is about attempting to define the unknown. Of course if
the business is doing something that is not lawful then
it is like inviting a crisis, which is known to the business
but not to the people around.
Next, crisis will always have an impact. If something does
not impact the business, why shall we bother about it? If
the stock markets are closed for a week, this will not impact
a company that is not listed nor has any plans to be listed
in future. So understanding the likely impact is a crucial
element in handling crisis.
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