Preparedness Is Key as the Crisis ‘Golden Hour’ Disappears

It’s been long-held in crisis communications that the actions taken in the first 60 minutes are crucial for managing how an incident will be perceived, reported and managed. And despite this, it’s incredible how many organizations seemingly fall at this first hurdle.

Those first decisions made as an incident unfolds — what has become known as the “golden hour” — can often determine whether one maintains some control over the reporting of an incident or finds oneself constantly chasing a narrative dictated by others.

During my career with roles in government, regulation and aviation, I have dealt with many challenging incidents as part of a communications team. There have been times when one may feel like they’re not in control of the story and, gradually, the control of the narrative slips away.

With the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, digital communications and social media, coupled with the demand for instant reporting, the golden hour is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Crisis Communication Before Social Media

I remember dealing with a potential public relations crisis near the beginning of my career in communications, years before Facebook and Twitter.

As a team, we knew that a story was due to break at a certain time, through a certain media title, and we had time to plan.

This allowed us to take control of the golden hour, to craft a robust response and to prepare our media spokespeople for the onslaught of inquiries and requests for interview.

In the end, having this time to plan and align our teams and messaging meant that we controlled the narrative from the start. While we endured a round of challenging interviews and calls, our messages and responses were integrated into all coverage and the story only lasted one news cycle.

Has the Golden Hour become the Golden 5 Minutes?

As head of communications at London Gatwick Airport, the dwindling concept of the golden hour was brought home to me one ordinary day during the peak of summer. We monitored a tweet from Sky News presenter Kay Burley, which appeared out of the blue — “Gatwick Airport evacuated, more to come.”

This was news to us in the communications team. We were sitting in our office overlooking the airfield and were certainly not being evacuated!

A journalist of such high profile tweeting a blunt message like this immediately prompted follow-up tweets, messages and phone calls from the media seeking information and clarity on what could potentially be a huge story. There was no golden hour in this situation — let alone five minutes — so we needed to swing into action to gather the facts and address the situation.

Preparedness in the Post-golden Hour Age

To get to grips with an issue that’s already playing out in the media, you need to be able to rely on the plans and procedures you have put in place to guide your response.

The real story is that, on this day at Gatwick, a single fire alarm had been triggered in a part of one of the departure lounges. While there was no actual fire, a small number of passengers were moved to the next departure lounge. It resulted in no interruption to operations and, as an incident, it was quickly resolved.

It had come to Kay Burley’s attention when she read a tweet from one of the small number of passengers that had been temporarily evacuated. In response, Burley posted a tweet of her own.

The Gatwick communications team was able to ascertain the facts of the case, approve and issue a media line and post communications on social media within nine minutes of Burley’s tweet.

The team was able to do this because it was well-drilled, had prepared for and practiced dealing with issues like this, and had systems and controls in place to ensure the fast transfer of information and the swift approval of media and social media lines.

It’s crucial for all communications teams to spend time anticipating the kinds of issues that an organization might face, planning how the team will respond to them, including preparing pre-approved holding lines and crucially, practicing and testing these plans to hone skills.

Have a Solid Plan and a Flexible Approach

In the end, the success or failure to manage a crisis involves many factors, not just communications. The perception of the public, governments and regulators on how an organization manages an incident is heavily influenced by media coverage and the reaction of stakeholders that may have been affected by it.

It has been said that “no plan survives first contact with the enemy.” But you must have a robust and tested plan to manage those initial communications in a crisis — to clear that first hurdle — and then remain flexible and agile to stay in control as the incident unfolds.

David Whitely will led the interactive workshop titled “Falling at the First Hurdle: Why Business Often Fail Fast in a Crisis” at IABC World Coference 2024 in Chicago. Learn more about World Conference online here. 

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