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Is your school ready to communicate effectively in a crisis?

"For many bursars creating a crisis communications plan only reaches the top of the To do list when another school is in the news with a major issue," says Julian Hunt, Bursar of Somerhill school in Kent. "Don’t wait until it is too late."

Crisis communications audits services

“While we were recently auditing our communications preparations, a crisis occured then that brought home to us clearly the importance of keeping the manual and preparations up to date.”

The disruption caused to the day-to-day management of the school is immense. After a crisis that attracted national media attention, one establishment calculated that almost 100 hours of senior management time was redirected over a week to deal with the issue.

In this series of articles, we will discuss what is a crisis and the importance of the initial response and preparation. We’ll then look at auditing for strengths and weaknesses, looking in closer detail at all the audiences and media that must be considered and monitored, the importance of tailoring messages, managing databases and out of hours cover. 

The need for and benefit of a crisis communications plan

So, why should a school have a well prepared, up to date crisis communications plan?  

First, communicating calmly and appropriately in a crisis is vital in alleviating concern, even panic, especially when there is a lack of information, misinformation and rumour. Maintaining control of the story is crucial.

Second, in emergency response, the first 60 minutes are the ‘golden hour.’ Issues that are assessed quickly and handled well create a good start. The way the fire brigade respond demonstrates the value of preparation.

Third, poorly prepared crisis communications can seriously damage a school’s reputation while good, well timed, well-presented communications can not only maintain but enhance it.

What is a well-prepared school?

When we audit a school, the overall questions we explore in detail are; 

  • Does the school have a well-defined plan for leadership and key roles in a crisis? For instance, what if the head was unavailable – who is the designated deputy and do they know their role? Who will draft or approve a press release? Who will record when actions are taken if there’s an insurance claim or legal defence?
  • Does the school have a crisis manual? How thorough and up to date it is? Is there a hard copy offsite or one remotely stored in case a cybersecurity breach or corruption has disabled all online access to the server or cloud storage?
  • Is the school ready and resourced to cope with a flood of incoming enquiries and to communicate promptly and efficiently to each of its audiences?  For example, are contact details of everyone that might need to be contacted up to date? Easily accessible? Are there enough phone lines in and out? How quickly will the switchboard responders be briefed with the official response to callers? 
  • Has the school identified key potential scenarios and prepared for them?
  • Has the crisis plan been tested in a desk-top ‘fire drill’?

What and who defines a crisis?

From IT crashes to catering problems, a school quite often experiences significant disruptive issues; but none of these are crises, just incidents.

As a simple rule, a crisis is a serious incident that may generate incoming questions from the media, parents or the neighbourhood. However, incidents can escalate into crises. An injury can deteriorate to life threatening.

Most important is that one senior member of the leadership takes responsibility for deciding whether the issue should be defined as a crisis and if the crisis plan is enacted by all those with designated roles.

This article has been published in ISBA Review