Building your crisis comms playbook in 5 steps

When the world changed three years ago, businesses without an internal crisis comms strategy realized that being prepared and proactive was not a luxury, but a requirement to mitigate risk and protect reputation.

During last fall’s Strategic Communications Conference at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA, Microsoft Image and Culture Communications Director Alyssa Samuelson walked us through the five steps you should take to build your crisis comms playbook.

With changing employee and consumer expectations, the potential issues and looming crises that are on your radar should change, too.

Samuelson reminded that expectations for leadership involvement have changed, as the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 86% of respondents expect CEOs to speak publicly about societal issues and 68% think CEOs should actively step in when the government fails to do so. Meanwhile, the same study found that 8 in 10 Gen Z consumers consider how brands treat employees before making a purchase, and 70% of U.S. millennials agreed that “employees can make an even greater impact on our world than leaders who run organizations.”