Mega Events / Conditions

Communication when something goes wrong

Silence is filled with speculation within minutes.

During an incident or a delay, an audience will construct an explanation from whatever is available, and social media accelerates it. An organisation that says nothing for twenty minutes has allowed a version to form that it will then be arguing against.

The workable position is to say something early and honestly, even where the something is that a situation is being assessed and more will follow at a stated time. Committing to a next update is what prevents the vacuum.

Channels have to be established beforehand: announcements, screens, staff briefed with a consistent message, and social accounts with somebody authorised to post. Staff giving different answers is worse than staff giving none.

Where the incident is serious, communication becomes a matter with legal and welfare dimensions, and it should follow a plan prepared with proper advice rather than being improvised by whoever has the password.

There is a specific communication failure worth planning against, which is a message that reaches the audience through unofficial channels first. Attendees are on their phones and information circulates faster than any announcement system, so the useful target is not to be first but to be the source people check.