Crisis Communications Training Toolkit. Module 2: Foundations of effective crisis communications

Describe your business persona 

This is about the personality of your business — your story, values, and what you’re proud of.
Think of it as how you want people to see and remember you.

Use this “persona” to add human element or key messages about your business ethics, core values and place in the local community.

Example:

We’re a third-generation family business. 

My family and my brother’s family still live on the property our grandparents built. Our business supports the local sporting community — the cricket ground even bears our father’s name. I serve on my industry’s peak body board, my wife volunteers with the local Neighbourhood Centre, and my brother leads innovation on-farm. Together, we invest in staff training, adopt new technology, and maintain strong, respectful relationships with our suppliers and customers.

Task:

Use the know yourself table here to help you identify the personality of your business and key spokespersons.  

Consider who you’re talking to and what you need them to comprehend or action.

• Are you trying to convince government to intervene or provide emergency funding?
• Are you trying to win the sympathy of the community and consumers?
• How do you want people to feel when they read/hear/watch your story?
• Why should people care about you and your message?

Put yourself in their shoes:

• What do they look like?
• How do they behave?
• Who do they associate with?
• What values are important to them?
• What will motivate them to try your product?
• Who do they listen to?
• Are there other voices / characters who can influence your audience for you?

Task:

Use the know your audience table here to describe the characteristics and values of your audiences

Use language appropriate for the audience for your key messages, with examples of suggested phrases and scope to add your own to the communications plan.

Agriculture has a language all its own, and some words can be misunderstood by people outside the industry. Choosing the right words helps protect your reputation and makes your message easier to understand.  

For example, instead of:

• the imagery associated with the phrase, ‘slaughterhouse’, perhaps refer to a ‘meat processing facility’.
• ‘unsold produce’, say ‘surplus stock’.

Task:

Read the terms and phrases listed in the farm language guide – suggested phrases and definitions. 

Identify words and phrases you use in your business that might need simpler or clearer alternatives. 

Having a clear, quick way to update people saves time and confusion. 

An internal communications briefing note – this template is a handy guide to writing the ‘one pager’, a quick and concise document summarising the critical information your staff and stakeholders need to know: 

• what has happened
• what you’re doing about it
• what you need others to do, how you plan to respond and what you are asking them to do to support you.

Task:

Write an internal comms briefing note suitable for sharing information to key stakeholders, industry groups or inter-company communications.

A communications plan helps you stay focused and consistent — especially during a stressful time.

Task:

Use the preparing your own strategic communications plan worksheet in this toolkit to guide you through the components needed for an effective long-term communications strategy:

• identify the issue at the core of your crisis (for example, the core issue behind a disease outbreak may be the need for enhanced biosecurity systems)
• develop key messages to convey the most important issues affecting you and your community or industry
• define your target audiences
• determine which communication tools and channels you will use to deliver messages to your audiences.

Download the know yourself first table

Download the know your audience table.

Download the farm language guide.

Download the preparing your own strategic communications plan worksheet 

A scenario exercise is a commonly used discussion-based activity, using a relevant situation that may occur within a designated timeframe. 

Participants are expected to have some familiarity with the situation being tested or the plans being exercised. Participants may include farm owners, key personnel, stakeholders, external facilitator, industry association contacts or extension officers. 

Here we nominate a hypothetical scenario based on a common agricultural threat or risk. We use the Toolkit worksheets to test, exercise and improve the response to the situation. 

Preparation for the exercise is as important as the exercise itself, as participants need to be aware of what is required of them before, during and after the exercise. To set the stage, topics for a pre-exercise briefing may include:

• Aims, purpose and objectives
• Roles and responsibilities of each participant during the exercise
• Information, communication tools and technology to be used
• Action in the event of unforeseen circumstances
• Post-exercise de-brief and actions arising from the exercise.

Use the scenario exercise to integrate lessons into the worksheets. For example, refining your key messages, adding names to the key contacts list or using the risk matrix to identify the likelihood and consequence of this specific hypothetical situation occurring in your farm business.

Source: Good Practice Guidelines, The Business Continuity Institute/The BCI Forum Limited. Published 2017.

Your horticulture farm requires seasonal labour for peak periods; you usually use a labour hire company to employ backpackers from overseas. 

During picking season, there has been recent heavy rainfall, and the local black soils are very greasy, boggy and slippery. For a period of time that morning, you are short-staffed, while the farm manager goes into town to pick up equipment from the local rural supplies store, as the store owner says they are unable to deliver until tomorrow due to a rush of customers. 

A backpacker labourer, new to site, tells you he has experience with using heavy machinery and you ask him to operate an excavator to clear a blocked irrigation channel. You leave him to clear the channel while you return to the shed to supervise other staff. 

However, the labourer is not accustomed to these soil conditions. The excavator he is driving starts slipping down the contour bank – he over-corrects and the machine tips. You hear a scream and from a distance you see the excavator tip. The worker has not been wearing a seatbelt, falls out of the cabin and is instantly crushed to death by the vehicle. 

In any workplace accident, always follow the required protocols:

• call emergency services immediately
• report the incident to Workplace Health and Safety Queensland. 

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/safety-and-prevention/incidents-and-notifications/notify-us-of-an-incident

Task

Use the crisis response action plan worksheet to record your response and think through the following questions:

• What is your first response when you discover an injury or fatality?
• List all relevant people who you will need to inform and why.

Use the internal communications briefing note to outline the situation to your business partners and key staff.

• How do you monitor your staff’s safety?
  • What are the implications of this accident?
  • What are your proposed next steps?
• Your lawyer advises against speaking with the media, but saying nothing could damage your business reputation. Refer to the simple tips for social media to develop a key message that to communicate the accident to the public. Consider:
  • What is your message?
  • What channel will you use?
  • How will you respond to comments and questions from the public? 

We are deeply saddened to confirm that a tragic accident occurred on our property earlier this week, resulting in the death of a valued worker.

Emergency services attended the scene immediately, and we are cooperating fully with the authorities as they investigate the incident.

Our thoughts are with the worker’s family, friends and colleagues during this difficult time. Out of respect for those affected and the ongoing investigation, we will not be making further comment at this stage.

Review the following articles for real-life examples:

SafeWork lays charges against major cotton growing operation over farm worker's death - ABC News

A vehicle touted as safer than quad bikes is now leading killer on Australian farms

Sharp rise in farm injuries sparks urgent safety warning