Severe weather warnings have been in place this weekend across Scotland. People were urged to stay at home and public bodies were on extreme alert. Events were called off and the trains were cancelled. When you view some of the photographs being shared on social media it is clear that this response was vital. Business continuity is an often ignored but critical part of crisis communication and the close relationship was clear in the responses this weekend.
The response from Network Rail in Scotland who provided updates via their X (formerly Twitter) feed has to be commended. It was clear and gave updates about the action that was being taken. The photographs helped people to understand not only the scale of the problem but the reasons why it may take a long time to get services back up and running. In addition they were replying to comments and messages that people made on the timeline. A credible response and one that other organisations should look at for inspiration about what they should have in their communication plans.
This can be contrasted with the response from Avanti who cancelled all trains north of Preston. This left people unable to reach Cumbria which was not under the severe weather warning and left football fans from Carlisle struggling to get to Bolton to see their team play. The unfortunate social media team were left trying to explain the decision and faced a lot of complaints. The Avanti West Coast team respond quickly to questions on social media but sadly they often have to taken a defensive position.
Business continuity is essential to every business. We learnt this through the Covid-19 pandemic when to survive many businesses had to resort to remote working overnight. Being able to continue working means still being able to make money or help people access vital services. This make the decision to terminate trains at Preston difficult to understand. It may be over cautiousness by those making the decisions but what do we need to do to learn from this experience?
Being able to respond to severe weather conditions is critical for us all. As individuals we need to know what to do with heatwaves, flooding and other issues. As businesses we have to be able to function safely through these testing experiences. But organisations also have to see these situations through the eyes of their customers or service users. What does it look like? What do they need? How can we ensure that they are supported throughout these events?
Crisis communication is not about posting some comments on social media, or sending out a media release. It is about using communication to support the operational response, to challenge the decision-making where necessary, and to ensure that those in charge are hearing the voices of those caught up in what is happening. This is why business continuity plans, approaches and decision-making need to be closely linked to communication and the crisis response.
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