When a crisis hits, establishing communication channels to keep concerned stakeholders informed is essential. Crisis managers are in a difficult position. They know that it’s important to share information as soon as possible, to show that they are taking meaningful action on the crisis, and that they care about the consequences. However, sharing partial and potentially inaccurate information publicly is extremely risky and can exacerbate the damage caused by such crises.
Mediation offers a channel enabling crisis managers to communicate as transparently as possible with representatives of concerned stakeholders. By applying temporary confidentially agreements to the mediation, facts and actions to tackle the crisis can be shared at a very early stage, even partial and unverified information. Those affected by the crisis can also feedback ways to manage the crisis to attain the best outcome.
The focus of everyone in the mediation can be on managing the crisis first, rather managing media, reputations or brand damage.