1. Communicating with Integrity During Challenging Times Joe Donovan, Donovan Group Handouts:

2. Today, I want to cover crisis communication and how to thrive.
In the same way that the absence of sickness does not necessarily mean good health, the absence of a crisis in your district is not the same as thriving.
Today, I want to cover crisis communication and how to thrive.

3. What does it mean to thrive?
Think about district communications and engagement.
What does it mean to thrive in this context?

4. Thrive
The simplest and best way to truly thrive in terms of your communications and engagement efforts is to create and advance a vision for your district.

5. Thrive
The vision should be simple but engaging.
It should be bold.
It should capture the imagination of your stakeholders.
It should be something that others can embrace and own.

6. There is no downside to communicating a compelling vision.

7. Advancing a vision will allow you to thrive.
It will also make you better able to deal with crisis situations.

8. What is a Crisis?
Now, I am going to speak very generally about crisis situations in schools because, for the most part, the communications during and after any of these situations are very similar.

9. Crisis Communications
General Best Practices

10. General Best Practices
#1: The time you feel like communicating the least is likely the time you should be communicating the most.

11. General Best Practices
#2: The apology is a great communications invention. Do not be afraid to use it.

12. General Best Practices
#3: Create “frequently asked questions” documents, even if you do not intend to publish them.

13. General Best Practices
#4: Avoid surprises.

14. General Best Practices
#5: We live in bubbles.

15. General Best Practices
#5: Respect is often won during crisis situations.

16. General Best Practices
#6: Seek integrity first.

17. Crisis Communications
Handling Crisis Situations

18. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 1: Get as many facts as quickly as you can.
Get the who, what, where, when, and how. Be as specific as possible.

19. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 2: Get help if you need it.

20. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 3: Determine your communications responsibilities.
• The local police
• Involved parents
• Involved staff
• The school district’s attorney
• School board members
• Parents in the school
• School staff
• Other district parents
• Other district staff
• Other community members
• The media
• The Department of Public Instruction
• Your key communicators network

21. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 4: Answer the critical questions to determine first- and second-tier communications.
Who do we need to contact this minute?
Who do we need to contact in the next 10 minutes?
Who do we need to contact in the next half hour?
Who do we need to contact in the next hour?
Who do we need to contact in the morning or later during the day?
Who do we need to contact in the next two days?

22. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 5: Line up your team.
If the situation is severe, designate someone to be in charge of second-tier communications.

23. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 6: Create a public key-facts document.
I find that having a simple fact sheet containing all of the facts that were recorded earlier is often helpful.

24. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 7: Restrict media access to the building.
Keep the disruptions that come from the crisis to a minimum. Do not allow reporters into your school after a crisis, and do not allow them onto your property.

25. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 8: Stay connected with your attorney, your administrative team, and your board members.
Provide frequent updates.

26. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 9: Counsel students and staff.
Inform staff and students that while they have the right to speak with the media, they also have the right to refuse.

27. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 10: Determine who are the various stakeholders you will connect with in crisis situations.
This should be done in advance.

28. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 11: As soon as possible, begin writing parent letters, website copy, talking points, and other documents.

29. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 12: Staff members are your largest and most credible group of spokespeople.
Keep them informed.

30. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 13: Return media calls as soon as possible.

31. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 14: When working with the media, remember that…
On the record means everything you say can be quoted.
On background means you are providing information that can be attributed to you, but you will not be quoted directly.

32. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 15: If necessary, schedule a news conference.
A news conference can be used to clear the air during a major crisis situation.

33. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 16: Monitor the news.
Always correct misinformation, even if it is a minor error.

34. Handling Crisis Situations
Step 17: Continue communicating.
After the initial dust settles, remember to continue communicating to ensure that your messages connect.

35. But… what if no one will find out?
Question…
But… what if no one will find out?

36. Communicate more than you need to.
Tip
Communicate more than you need to.

37. When it involves the authorities, the answer is often not you.
Question…
Who owns your news?
When it involves the authorities, the answer is often not you.

38. Get to know your local police chief and county sheriff.
Tip
Get to know your local police chief and county sheriff.

39. Have a crisis call list. Save it to the cloud.
Tip
Have a crisis call list. Save it to the cloud.

40. Tip
Keep a list of all of your communications tools, along with relevant login information and who can administer the tool in your absence. Store this in the cloud.

41. Practice responses to various mock scenarios.
Tip
Practice responses to various mock scenarios.

42. Stress-test your communications.
Tip
Stress-test your communications.

43. Tip
You are more likely to be in trouble by saying too little rather than too much.

44. Tip
Remember that the time you feel like hiding from the media is probably the time you should be speaking to them.

45. Handling Crisis Situations
You must own your district’s media coverage.

46. Handling Crisis Situations
Well in advance of a crisis situation and on a regular basis, tell your champions that some things cannot be said in public in the name of student confidentiality.

47. Final Tip Take care of yourself.
A crisis brings enormous stress. Be mindful of this, and be good to yourself after the situation.

48. Joe Donovan, Donovan Group Office: Mobile: Handouts: