Heard a VP say 'we don't need a crisis comms plan' and I almost choked

I was sitting in a quarterly planning meeting last week for a mid-size healthcare company, and the VP of operations goes, 'We don't really need a crisis comms plan because nothing bad has happened in 10 years.' I just stared at my notebook. The thing is, our last data breach was in 2016 and it took us 6 months to get a clear message out to patients. I ended up pulling him aside after the meeting and showed him a quick example of what could go wrong if a complaint went viral on social media. He finally agreed to let me draft a one-page quick response guide, but I don't think he really gets it yet. Has anyone else had to convince leadership that crisis prep is worth the time, even when everything feels fine? What worked for you?

2 comments

2 Comments

holly8989d ago

But doesn't having a plan make you look at worst-case stuff all the time and take focus away from just running the business well? @zarapalmer I get your point but sometimes over-planning for a big crisis just creates unnecessary panic when odds are nothing happens.

zarapalmer9d ago

Honestly I read a study last year that said companies without a crisis plan take 3 times longer to recover from a PR hit compared to ones that prep. Your VP is basically gambling the company's reputation on luck. I had a boss once who said the same thing until I showed him that one viral tweet can cost a healthcare company millions in lost trust. Maybe try pulling up a quick stat from a real industry case next time, that finally got through to my guy.