Egypt, Crisis Management, and Communications

Companies and organizations of all shapes and sizes are confronting myriad business and communications challenges in the wake of the crisis in Egypt. Securing employees, assets and operations in multinational settings can be challenging in the best of times. The current unrest, along with the unprecedented cut-off of Internet and cellular communications, have created an environment as-of-yet unseen in this modern, media-driven age (click here for an interesting CNN piece on the Egyptian shutdown -- and whether such a shutdown could happen in the U.S.).

Employees, of course, are priority number one, and it's not just companies with large operations in Egypt who are at risk. Given the size of Egypt's economy, consider business travelers dispatched to Egypt around the time of the crisis (click here, for example, for an interesting take on issues related to securing employees). While energy company Apache Corporation is by far the largest U.S. investor in Egypt, others -- such as ConAgra, AD, Cargill, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, General Dynamics and Raytheon -- all have major business connections in the country (for a recent Fortune story on companies at risk in Egypt, click here).

From a communications standpoint, some of the major elements of effective crisis response include the following:

• Have a crisis plan and a crisis team in place well before a crisis ever occurs. And make sure it is updated regularly to ensure you are prepared for current realities, technologies and communication needs.

• Alert and assemble the crisis team at the earliest possible moment, so that the crisis plan can be put into effect at the outset of the event.

• Secure access points for communication flowing from your organization to prevent unwanted leaks or other unauthorized communication.

• Assemble all the facts, to ensure that accurate information is flowing to the media, to employees and their families, to stakeholders and to interested third parties. Don’t speculate about what you don’t know… and assume initial reports may be inaccurate or only capture half the picture.

• Have designated, well-trained spokespeople ready to communicate. In extreme crises, the CEO should be the public face of the company, to show the level of concern and the importance with which the company is taking the matter.

• Harness the power of modern communication – including the Internet, Facebook, and Twitter feeds – to effectively communicate with affected audiences through their platforms, not just yours.
  

• Liaise effectively with third parties to ensure your flow of information is accurate, and to otherwise coordinate a comprehensive, cohesive response. In the Egyptian crisis, such third parties would likely include the State Department, legislators and other governmental “influentials,” business partners, airlines and outside security consultants.

• Review, refine and adapt quickly and effectively as the crisis progresses.
  

In the end, I fall back on the Boy Scouts' motto: Be Prepared. It may cost an organization a bit more at the front end, but in the heat of a crisis you don’t not want to be making it up as you go along (and believe me, all too often, that’s when the first call comes my way). When crisis strikes, effectively communications risk planning usually proves itself to be among the best investments a company can make.