Holiday challenges: tips to prepare

Under Pressure 1 December 2023

Holiday challenges: tips to prepare

December has arrived and with it the realisation that the holiday period and time off work are looming. It is often a time for many to relax and recharge themselves ready for the coming year. But being ready for a crisis or emerging problem doesn’t stop during the holidays.

For the vast part of my working life I have had to deal with on call over the holiday period and was often in the office for everything but the main holiday days. It is second nature for me now to make sure that there are systems, processes and plans in place that will run right the way through the end of December and beginning of January.

If you are working in-house or supporting clients there are a few simple tips to help you prepare and make sure you are not leaving yourself vulnerable during the holidays.

• Ensure you have a rota with enough cover during the holiday period and that people understand things will work. Share the pressure so that everyone gets time away from work.

• Remind the team about the crisis communication plan and how it should be implemented in the first few hours.

• Have monitoring systems in place that will continue to operate throughout the holiday period and act as an early warning systems to problems that may be brewing.

• Revise the risk register and consider if there are any issues that may emerge during the holiday period, and are there any risks people need to be aware of.

• Have all the information you need for if the worst happens. This means having plans, contact details and any agreed message available all the time. Have details of specialist support that you might need to call in which could be a photographer, crisis communication expert, translator etc.

• Be clear about how the rest of the business is operating during the holidays. Internal communication is still important even when holidays are happening so be clear what channels are applicable.

Now is the time to put the steps in place if you haven’t already because we have only a few weeks before a lot of businesses and organisations will be closing for a few days or possibly two weeks.

If you need any advice about how to prepare for the holiday period and ensure you are still crisis ready get in touch at amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk

Learning to provide a better response

The UK College of Policing recently published a report into Lancashire Police’s handling of the case of the missing person Nicola Bulley from the start of 2023. The response was criticised and particularly the decision to release personal medical information about Nicola. The report has important information for all communicators and Amanda provided some details of the key points in a recent blog. Read the blog here.

Independent Public Advocate in Disasters

There has been an announcement by the UK Government about the role of the independent public advocate. The role is being created to support those affected by disasters but will no longer be a group of people ready to deploy to incidents, but will be one permanent role. What does this mean and what are the challenges? Find out more in a blog by Amanda with links to the announcement. Read it here.

Crisis and Internal Communication

The latest 10 Minutes With discussion saw Amanda talking to internal communication expert Rachel Miller. Rachel is the Founder of All Things IC and is due to publish a book in 2024 based on her years of experience. View her thoughts on crisis and internal communication here.

Looming crisis from AI

It has long been thought that artificial intelligence is going to impact on jobs and employment. There are a couple of reports out that seem to point to the same potential issue that we will face in the future. In one from Harvard Business School it showed employees completed more tasks when they used AI. Find the report here. In the second researchers at Open AI and the University of Pennsylvania it points to those earning more than $100,000 being more at risk from AI. Find it here. This may be one crisis that we will need to start to plan for. There is also an interesting article on the Medical Economics website that highlights the challenges AI poses to the medical profession and the problems in using it for diagnosis. Read more here. Finally, the UK government has just published a report on the impact of AI on jobs and training. Read it here.

December crisis communication events

Amanda has a series of crisis communication themed updates throughout December that will be shared on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn. Find Amanda on X @amandacomms . There will be a book giveaway and it starts today with the Holiday Think Through Brews. Amanda will be available for a chat for between now and 20 December. Keep an eye out in the coming days.

In Brief:

• Many in crisis communication will be aware of the problems hitting Optus in Australia. The communication with customers and others has been heavily criticised and commentators are pointing to the fact there has been little improvement after the data breach. So the communication around the outage drew extensive criticism and calls for the CEO to resign. Find out more here.

• A report from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction has published a report that highlights the importance of small and medium size businesses being ready with disaster recovery plans. Read the report here.

• For any PR and comms person looking at shock tactics to try and help with a campaign the recent study carried out for the RAC Foundation may be of interest. It found that ‘shock and tell’ tactics about driver safety does little to improve safety and can make things worse. Read more here.

• An article in The Hindu points to the importance of teaching crisis communication to college students. There are some practical steps included which focus on what matters now including empathy and transparency. Find out more here.

• A test of sirens and warning systems in Latvia has shown the need to have alternative alert systems in place due to problems that have been highlighted. Find out more here.

Diary Dates:

• On 31 January 2024 Amanda is running the first two hour training session of the year. This first session is focused on Influencing in a crisis. For more information email amanda@amandacolemancomms.co.uk