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COVID-19 and Your Response: 5 Lessons From Our Crisis Communications Playbook

I hope you are reading this post from a place of health and safety. In these uncertain times, we’re all feeling anxious and wondering how to communicate (or even whether to communicate) with stakeholders. By now, we’ve all heard the news about businesses around the world shutting their doors, volatile markets, social distancing, and flattening the curve.

The threat from the new Coronavirus is really three threats in one: the threat of the disease spreading, the threat from a looming oil price war, and the threat of a global recession. While no one can claim to have all of the answers right now, it’s fair to say that investors, clients, and your team are expecting you to keep the lines of communication open.

In light of this crisis, it makes sense to revisit our previous blog articles about crisis communications and the lessons we learned when cooler heads prevailed.

1. Stick to your crisis communications strategy.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know how often we discuss developing a crisis communications strategy for moments like these. Hopefully, you have a strategy in place. It may not be adequate, since no one predicted a crisis of this magnitude and we still don’t know how deeply it will cut. Nonetheless, use what you have, evolve as necessary (and it will be necessary), and note the weak points for future work.

Get comfortable with the idea that you’ll be in crisis mode for weeks or months at a minimum. Prepare your team to continue to iterate your strategy as new information becomes available. When you need to keep on walking through the fire, here are some tips:

Focus on transparency and the truth.
Work closely with your team to identify solutions.
Do NOT stop communicating both internally and externally.
Share your 360-degree strategy as it evolves.

2. Make sure to communicate with your internal team.

In addition to falling back on your strategy, focus on communicating with your team. First, approach all internal communications with a sense of empathy. Keep in mind that as concerned as you are about your firm and what this crisis means for future operations, your team is as worried about the firm, their families, and their own livelihoods. They need your strong leadership now more than ever.

Follow the 5 G’s of walking through fire without getting burned:

Get to ground truth: You don’t know all the relevant facts, but be transparent about what you do know. Your team will appreciate you leveling with them, even if the truth is painful to hear.
Gather your team: Huddle together (over Zoom, of course) and listen to what your team has to say. Remember, you’re all in this together.
Give employees the support they need: Your employees on the frontlines of dealing with customers, clients, or investors during this crisis need to know you have their backs. Answer their questions, give them some talking points, and don’t say anything you wouldn’t want people outside of the firm to hear.
Go on the offensive: Now is not the time to hide. Be accessible and proactive in a way that feels authentic to your brand.
Grant trust: You’ve trained your team well. Now, trust their instincts and work with them to come up with solutions one challenge at a time.

3. Assess the damage and keep the data close.

The ultimate goal of crisis communication is to control your narrative and provide honest, transparent updates about your organization. Work with those within the firm who can analyze the data and provide you with a clear(er) picture. This way, your communications will be informed by what you know. Once you have a clear picture of the damage, you can tell your story.

Now is also the time to consider your extended community. Consider every resource you can think of that may help you get through this crisis:

Reach out to traditional media outlets: If you have contacts in the news media, and if appropriate, reach out to let them know you are available for a conversation or interview.
Talk to your PR team: PR teams are designed to offer language for crisis communications. It may be tempting to be reactive and fire off a tweet storm, but you must resist this urge.
Seek legal counsel: Make a point of engaging with those who know your industry and can offer an outside perspective.
Identify and speak to key stakeholders: Ensure that your message is consistent and cognizant of what your stakeholders are hearing from public outlets. Be ready to combat any misinformation in a prudent manner.

4. Get through this crisis, yes, but take note of the lessons along the way.

After the economic crisis of 2008, many companies in the financial sector, especially, were motivated to develop crisis communications strategies. Since then, however, many have become complacent and they’re paying the price now.

All we can do is take an honest look at where we are now, hunker down, and get through this crisis. But along the way, make sure you take note of big lessons learned. On the other side of this, you want to be able to take a long hard look at your crisis response and come up with a solid plan for dealing with the next one. Remember, if you don’t figure out how to control the crisis, the crisis will control you.

Consider the following tips for the future:

If you’re having supply chain issues, think about how to diversify your supply chain.
If you’re scrambling to help your employees figure out how to work from home, make sure a training program is included in the employee onboarding process.
If clients are canceling contracts, consider whether you can add a postponement clause into those contracts.

5. Do NOT over-promise.

When we’re not in crisis mode, we understand one principle of successful business is to under-promise and over-deliver. But during a crisis, we can go into fight or flight mode and in this heightened state of anxiety, it’s all too easy to make promises we can’t keep. Again, you’ll want to avoid this mistake at all costs.

For example, the travel industry has been hit especially hard at this time. But over-promising would only increase anger and anxiety for customers. Here’s a quote from an email from Tucker Moodey, President of Expedia,

“For those traveling now and with upcoming travel bookings, our teams are working around the clock to provide everyone the support they need. We are rapidly increasing the availability of travel advisors, enhancing our self-service options, and developing new automated ways for travelers to better manage their reservations. Our focus is helping travelers with immediate trips, and these improvements will allow all our customers to travel more confidently in the future.”

Notice how this paragraph focuses on what actions Expedia is taking, their strategy, and where their focus is in trying to make things as right as possible for their customers. Were they instead to promise that everything will be fine by the busy summer travel season—a promise they certainly can’t guarantee now—they would likely do more damage to their brand in these already turbulent times.

Our team at Audacia Strategies wishes you, your family, and your firm all the best. We are with you in weathering this period, holding our loved ones close, and looking out for our community. These are tough times and we wish a crisis communications plan weren’t a necessity for so many U.S. businesses and firms. We are here to answer any of your questions about corporate communications and investor relations. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Photo credit: langstrup

Taking Bold Steps is Scary—Saddle Up Anyway

February 10, 2020/0 Comments/in About Us, Business Values /by audacia_editor

“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.”

― John Wayne

This quote from America’s favorite cowboy resonates with me right now. In a previous blog article, I mentioned that one of my 2020 goals for Audacia Strategies is to continue to scale. As a team, we’re ready to take ourselves to the next level.

Okay, you might be thinking, so if the team is ready…what’s with this talk about being “scared to death?” Well, taking bold steps can be scary—even for us! And even when you’re confident about your next best move, you may have doubts about the execution. So, let’s talk about what I’m doing to push ahead and lean into my strengths.

What does scaling Audacia mean for you?

Before we get to the business lessons for taking bold steps, it makes sense to talk about what scaling looks like for Audacia and how this will benefit our stakeholders. This will give us some context for discussing our plan and key takeaways.

As with everything we do, we’re always thinking about how we can serve our clients better. Here’s what scaling will allow us to do for our clients:

1. Replicate Successful Client Engagements

Scaling means having the ability to measure and then replicate successful client engagements more easily. Of course, each client is unique, but we bring an approach based on best practices and our experience that works.

Individual wins are worthy of celebrating. But if we also take the time to examine what really works with an eye toward replicating that success, everyone wins.

2. Contribute Diversity, Experience, and Transparency

Key to scaling is mindfully building a team that not only works seamlessly together, but also brings more diverse perspectives, outstanding experience, and radical transparency to the table.

Audacia’s clients appreciate our unique philosophy of tough love, diplomacy, and truth-telling because taking bold steps means going in with your eyes wide open.

3. Go Broader and Deeper

As we scale, we are looking for ways to help our clients take their transformations to the next level. You have asked for expanded offerings and we’re ready to deliver. We’re adding to our current service offerings in transformation, investor relations, and strategic communications.

Scaling our team will allow us to expand our offerings to include, for example:

Corporate Responsibility Strategy
Voice of the Customer and Voice of the Employee
Market and Competitive Analysis

We’ll also be able to provide deeper expert support on more complex projects and engage seamlessly across multiple stakeholder sets. Stay tuned for a future blog post about the key actions and attributes to consider when building a team.

4. Stay Accountable and Follow Through

Sharing our plans for scaling in this way means we’ll make it happen. Audacia Strategies—the name itself—inspires us to make bold moves and help our clients do the same. Just because we take bold steps, though, doesn’t mean we have no fear.

Taking bold steps can be scary, fear of failure is real! But fear is not a reason to stand still. It’s a sign that we’re on the cusp of something big.

What’s the plan?

Get Katy out of the way: It’s time to focus on engaging with the right support teams to identify and develop repeatable work processes. This way I can focus more fully on my role as CEO and my most valuable work with clients.
Use technology to our advantage: We’ll explore project management tools, communication tools, calendaring tools, etc. that will help our team work better together. The trick here is not to add tech just to add it, but to add the tech that adds value. Strategic use of technology will keep us on track and connected.
Establish regular feedback systems: Timely, useful feedback is the only way to make improvements and move forward. We’ll develop feedback systems both for working with clients and within the team.
Keep bringing on board the smartest, most interesting, and most candid team members! Got ideas for project managers, communications experts, and amazing business strategists? Send ‘em our way.

Lessons for Taking Bold Steps

How can you take these lessons and apply them to your business? Any transformation or transition phase can be a challenge because you are “operating without a net.” Still, there are steps you can take to make these times feel less chaotic.

Whether you’re considering how to best scale your team or what bold moves will help you increase your market share, you can learn from what I’m doing to keep myself on track.

Here are the things that I’m working on that may help:

Focusing on high-value activities. As CEO, it’s imperative that I use my time most efficiently for the health of the business and that means making the high-value tasks my #1 priority.
Eliminating distractions. Related to the first point, I will separate the actions and activities that are mere distractions from those that actually facilitate accomplishing more for my clients (e.g., what can I delegate? Can I find a better workflow here?).
Looking for the right qualities. My vision for Audacia Strategies is building a team of people who are more than simply co-workers. So, I’ll be getting very clear on what makes a great teammate, not just a good employee.
Setting clear expectations for teammates…and for myself. 99% of business issues stem from a mismatch of expectations. I’m focused on being clear about my expectations and holding us all accountable.
Drawing clear boundaries in the business. Boundaries are respectful—with only 24 hours in a day, it’s important to acknowledge that we all have priorities beyond work and that should be respected and celebrated. As an example, technology enables us to do a lot, but it can also enable stressful behaviors such as feeling like we need to be always “on,” like we have to respond instantaneously, and that we have to work at 2am to “keep up”. Technology “off hours” are good!
Remembering that we are all more than our work. Personally, I know that I’m more creative, focused, and patient when I have had more sleep (questionable with 10-month-old twins, but #goals), more time with my family and friends, and more time for working out/reading/resting my brain.

We all know we need to take bold steps if we want to grow. So, the next time you start to feel that fear creeping up, have the courage to sit with it. Talk about it. (Maybe blog about it?) Seriously. What if instead of running away from that uneasy feeling, we decided to let it wash over us and really listened to what it was saying?

I’d love to hear your stories about taking bold steps. What’s the single best thing that you have done to make these transformative moments feel less chaotic? Leave a reply below.

Photo credit: nd3000

How to Crush Your 2020 Goals: The Lessons I Learned from a Chaotic 2019

January 16, 2020/0 Comments/in About Us, Corporate Communications, Strategic Planning /by audacia_editor

If there’s one thing I learned about myself and my business in 2019, it’s that strategic planning saves lives. Really! 2019 might go down in history as being one of the most chaotic years for my family and my business. And yet, we’re all still here and thriving and business is better than ever.

Much of our success at Audacia Strategies is due to strategic planning. So as I look at the year ahead, I’m considering once again what investments I can double-down on and what needs to change. The challenge is how to build a plan that strikes the right balance between ambition and practicality. Read on for my 2020 insights!

Business Successes in 2019

We added a certification for the state of Maryland as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE): In addition to receiving our CBE certification in D.C. in 2018, we filed for and received certification from the state of Maryland last year. Passing Maryland’s comprehensive and rigorous certification program makes us eligible to win state-funded contracts. We are also nationally certified by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).
We supported our clients through big transformations: This past year, we saw many clients navigate executive transitions and corporate restructuring plans. While we tend to focus on how these transformations impact business, we often forget about the emotional impact of change. We witnessed both the vulnerability and the generosity of the human mind during the pivotal moments of 2019. Audacia was honored to be a part of ushering so many new clients into a bright future.
We saw the value of “radical candor” playing out: When it comes to client relationships and crisis management, what you say is often less important than how you say it. Okay, perhaps both are equally important. But my point is that communications is about more than the words you use. If a situation calls for you to speak truth to power, you’ve got to find the courage to speak your truth. Otherwise, you could be letting down your client or your team or yourself.

At Audacia, we pride ourselves on walking the fine line between diplomacy and radical candor.
This is one of our guiding values and I’m proud to look back and see how many times we chose this value over the “easier” path.

Audacia’s Strategic Plan for 2020

We will become certified as a women-owned enterprise (WBE) in Virginia: We have built a reputation for being a firm that supports our clients’ diversity initiatives and we are happy to qualify as a supplier for larger-scale projects with diversity thresholds. As we expand our reach and grow with our clients, we are excited to see what new opportunities arise. Our arsenal of certifications will continue to multiply in 2020.
I will be scaling Audacia by continuing to invest in my team: I’ve been strategically growing my team throughout the years and I have awesome people backing me up. Now, as a team, we’re ready to take ourselves to the next level and take on even bigger and bolder client challenges (I’ll talk more specifically about scaling my team in a future blog article). This means, among other things, investing in replicable processes and investing in the right systems to keep us in synch. This is not just the “Katy Show” anymore!
I will be better at managing technology and its impact on my life: I bet we all could benefit from making this one of our New Year’s resolutions (here’s a resource to help you think about implementing your own “digital diet”). Technology is wonderful in so many ways, but it can be a distraction if we don’t use it to support our intentions. So, I’ll be looking for ways to be more focused at work and more focused during family time. As the twins grow, I know how important it is to set these boundaries. For starters, I’ll be creating defined “lights out” and “offline” times at home. What about you? Are you with me?
More of the above: 2020 will bring more clients facing big shifts in need of Audacia’s special blend of tough love, enthusiasm for getting sh*t done, and honest, candid feedback. Stay tuned for all that we’ll be cooking up for you throughout the year!

Here are 3 tips for crushing your 2020 business goals:

Include your senior team in your strategic planning process by sitting down with your team to discuss the following three practical ideas.

1. Be ruthless about your successes and failures.

It’s tempting to leave Q4 2019 in the dust and let everything that happened in those last three months fall by the wayside in our excitement to look ahead. Don’t give yourself a pass, though. Instead, focus on the 3-5 biggest successes, so you can double-down on them in the next 90 days and capture the 3-5 biggest lessons learned, so you can strategize about fixing whatever went wrong.

2. Back up your 2020 vision with strategic initiatives.

All successful leaders have this in common: they have a strong vision that they can communicate with others. The second part is really key: no matter how clear your vision for your organization is in your own mind, if others don’t see what you see, that vision won’t come to fruition. Make sure others know how to implement your vision by tying it back to specific strategic initiatives. To do this, divide your team into groups and have them brainstorm 3-5 strategic initiatives (i.e., focused projects) that will bring you closer to each of your annual goals. If they execute on their initiatives, then you’ll likely achieve your goals.

3. Build your communications plan.

The final step in strategic planning is communicating the plan to everyone in your organization. Get your team together and agree on some communications ground rules. Agree together as a group on what needs to be communicated throughout the organization and when. It’s great to kickoff the year with a town-hall type meeting to discuss your strategic plan. But what happens after the dust settles? Do you have a plan for managers and leaders to meet with their smaller teams to talk about how their units fit into the bigger picture? Do employees understand how their work fits within the broader strategic plan?

Looking at your year, what are the biggest shifts you anticipate making? Can you start planning for those shifts now? Would enlisting the help of Audacia’s team of experts help you attain any of those audacious goals?

Schedule a consultation and let’s start brainstorming your transformation strategic plan today!

Photo credit: http://www.monkeybusinessimages.com/

Reading, Listening, and Watching—It’s That Time of Year Again

December 19, 2019/0 Comments/in About Us, Weekend Reading /by audacia_editor

2019 has been a YEAR. There as been so much good to celebrate. In March, we welcomed twin girls, Mila and Fiona. This is also (coincidentally?) about the time that we stopped sleeping, reading books, or being able to focus for long periods of time. Lol. So you might wonder what I could possibly offer in the way of recommendations for reading, listening, and watching.

But as a result of my new normal, I’ve learned that audiobooks are amazing, rekindled my love of podcasts, and enjoyed long(er)-form articles that can be read on my phone, one-handed at previously unknown hours of the morning/night. Yep. This is my new normal and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I love a good fresh start—new school year, birthdays, new calendar year. As we head into a new year and a new decade, it feels like the right time to consider the bigger picture. I’m thinking about setting boundaries, creating systems, and being present in my life. I’m asking how I can show up as my best self for myself, my family, my clients, and my community.

Here are some recommendations from my reading, listening, and watching lists in 2019:

Reading

1. This article: You Don’t Need More Motivation—You Need a System is a great quick read with tips you can implement immediately.

Staying productive is a challenge for all of us. Whether you consider yourself to be a “procrastinator” or not, the key to sticking to your priorities and getting the important tasks done each day is finding a routine that works for you.

Of course, before you can create the systems that will help you to accomplish your goals, you’ve got to take the time to set those goals. Here’s a set of worksheets I discovered.

I’m going to work through these over the holidays. Also, vision and goal setting via Lululemon—who knew?

2. This op-ed: The Inevitable Takedown of the Female CEO has me thinking about the importance of setting corporate culture, our expectations of leaders, and the insidious nature of bias.

As Audacia Strategies enters its 5th year (Stay tuned for anniversary/birthday celebrations next year!), I’m focused on doing the hard work of building a company where people want to work. We are growing and I’m spending a lot of time thinking about scaling, company culture, and client success.

I’m also thinking a lot about how to understand what clients need, Audacia’s values and the value our team provides from the client’s perspective.

3. This manifesto of a company’s “Why” in memo form: We Don’t Sell Saddles Here was sent to the team at Tiny Speck, the makers of Slack, on July 31, 2013—two weeks before the launch of Slack’s ‘Preview Release’.

Here’s a great quote from the article: “Sell the innovation, not the product. The best—maybe the only?—real, direct measure of “innovation” is change in human behaviour.”

4. This LinkedIn article: After 25 years studying innovation, here is what I have learned reminds us that innovation isn’t one-size-fits-all.

In the article, the inimitable Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, offers us 5 key findings from his time studying innovation, management, and people. I found #4 particularly compelling. How often do we forget that we are more than our careers and our businesses? Christensen reminds us, it’s easy for high-achievers to “underinvest in their families and overinvest in their careers.”

Listening

1. Click Here to Apply podcast. I’ve been listening to and loving Tony Sheng’s podcast. Each week, Tony interviews interesting people as he tries to figure out what he really wants to do with his own career.

In one especially interesting episode, Erik Torenberg discusses how we should build career moats. I think this analogy is spot on. If we don’t defend the castle that is our growing business or our career, we risk losing ourselves every time we come under siege.

2. The Startup podcast. I’m that person who learned about the Startup from an episode of This American Life way back in 2014. I’ve been along for the ride with the Startup team ever since and love their (sometimes cringe-worthy) candor in sharing their experiences. So I’m passing on the recommendation.

The final season of the Startup podcast is available on whatever platform you prefer to get your podcasts. This last season charting their path to acquisition by Spotify was really fascinating.

3. Dan Doran’s interview with yours truly. Speaking of fascinating recommendations (and with apologies for the shameless self-promotion), the episode of Dan Doran’s podcast where he interviews me was his most listened to episode of the year. If you missed it, you can find it here or listen on the Quantive website.

Do you know of a great podcast looking for a guest like me? Let me know (katy@audaciastrategies.com)!

Watching

1. The Irishman (Netflix film). I haven’t been as good about watching television lately. BUT we did watch The Irishman the other week. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it was compelling. I’d expect nothing less from an all-star cast of De Niro, Pesci, and Pacino. Special thanks to my husband, Chris, for making me put down my phone to watch it!

2. One Nation Under Stress (HBO documentary). I watched this one during a solo night at home. It’s thought-provoking and resonant for its personal appeal and also the implications for our community at large.

3. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (again). We just started Season 3 and I am literally giddy to queue up Amazon and reconnect with Midge and friends after we put the twins down. This show is a breath of fresh air and dialogue #goals. Someday, I’ll have comebacks as snappy as Midge!

As we wind down another year (and the decade, what?), I hope you’ll take some time to reflect on your year. In the rush to think about our business goals for 2020 and the wonderful, but distracting holiday chaos, it’s easy to forget to really take stock of everything we’ve accomplished. But it’s so important to take the time to look back.

What were your biggest accomplishments in 2019? What are you considering as we head into 2020? What are your recommendations for reading, listening, and watching?

From our family to yours, we wish you a happy and relaxing holiday season and a healthy new year (new decade!).

Photo credit: Jetstream4wd (Getty Images Pro)

The 5 G’s for Walking Through Fire Without Getting Burned–Your Internal Crisis Response Strategy

October 3, 2019/0 Comments/in Corporate Communications, Crisis Communications, Strategic Communications /by audacia_editor

We’ve all had those days. You know, the days where you are forced to pull your IPO and your CEO gets fired, or Congress launches an official investigation into your safety procedures, or your company is the target of whistleblower claims.

No? You’ve never experienced a business crisis like this? Then, you’re one of the lucky ones. But keep reading because even if it’s not to the scale of the situations above, you may someday find yourself in a sticky business credibility situation.

We’ve talked before about preparing a crisis response strategy from a PR perspective. Now I’d like to take a look at what to do inside a business. How do you handle your response with employees and customers?

How to Respond to a Business Crisis

When a challenge to your firm’s reputation arises, it’s important that you meet the challenge with a crisis response strategy not only for rebuilding your brand’s outward facing reputation, but also for addressing the crisis internally. You can’t expect your team or customers to read between the lines of your external messaging. Plus, you owe it to them to communicate beyond the “party line.”

As always, I recommend creating your crisis response strategy well before you find yourself walking into the chaos of a crisis. Consider the following 5 G’s as you build your framework:

1. Get to ground truth.

When a crisis happens, it’s important to keep two things in mind: you need to respond promptly and you need to respond truthfully. Surviving the crisis is all about how you balance these two factors. There can be a tendency to sacrifice truth for the sake of speed and vice versa. Ideally, you will avoid both pitfalls.

DO NOT SPECULATE. Your internal crisis response strategy should be informed by what you know, but you cannot wait to respond until you have absolutely all of the facts in front of you. So what can you do? Be transparent about what you know, where you are in the process and what you are doing. It’s important to acknowledge the credibility challenges (all of them), allow any legal processes to proceed, and identify and explain the steps you are taking.

2. Gather your team.

Even if you are the only person in your particular department, you will need a team. Whether you’re in finance, legal, communications, HR—as the saying goes, “look for the helpers.” Remember, it takes time to gather your team. So plan ahead and notify the relevant parties that you may call on them and what roles they will play in the crisis response strategy.

Once you’ve gathered your team, listen to them. It can be tempting to be reactive, but try to get a well rounded perspective before making any big decisions. Otherwise, you run the risk of overpromising in the hopes that you can make the whole thing go away.

Instead, get a baseline. Get perspective. And give context.

Did your numbers tank this quarter? Focus on the data, not drama. Look at firm-wide numbers, the market, and get a line on how competitors are faring. You need a clear baseline before you can respond realistically.
Is there a government investigation? Get to ground truth (see above). Work closely with your legal department, but also encourage as much transparency as possible. The appearance of concealing or stonewalling is not a good look either inside or outside the firm.
Is someone accused of misconduct? Again, get to ground truth (see above). Also, consider re-emphasizing policies, values, and company culture within the firm (assuming they are not the cause of the misconduct).

3. Give employees the support they need.

Employees are most likely to end up on the frontlines during a crisis. They will be communicating with customers, other employees, regulators, etc. Do not leave them “swinging in the wind” as they try to clean up the mess they didn’t create.

Arm them with the facts and engage them in an ongoing and transparent conversation about what the firm is doing to repair or recover its reputation. Use the channels appropriate for your organization—email, text, newsletter, video, Slack, person-to-person meetings, etc.

Meet employees where they are—during a crisis they should not have to search for answers. Part of your crisis response strategy should include resources for employees on the frontlines. Communicate with employees early and often.

Whenever possible keep the touch personal. For example, answer questions during a town hall, Zoom meeting, or video conference.
Create manager talking points ahead of time and distribute them as soon as you’re ready after a crisis hits.
Don’t say anything to employees that you wouldn’t say outside the company. This can be controversial, but it’s reality. Memos leak. Video and audio recordings can be shared. Screenshots can end up in the wrong hands. Be transparent and be prepared for what that means inside and outside the company.

4. Go on the offensive with customers.

If the crisis impacts customers directly or has been/will be in the press, go on the offensive and own the issue. Rather than trying to totally control the crisis, though, let your mindset be one of getting your version of the facts out first. Again, make sure you explain to employees what your crisis response strategy looks like with regard to customers.

Keep in mind, this doesn’t mean sugarcoating anything. Be transparent about next steps and honest about the potential impact (if any) on clients. Also, be sure that your customer communications are consistent with employee communications. As you consider these messages, your tone may differ, but the overall message should be consistent. The same goes for investors.

5. Grant trust.

Follow the above 4 G’s and this last G should come naturally. When you create your crisis response strategy ahead of time, you’ll have the luxury of being able to fallback on your process. In the midst of a crisis situation, when it feels like everything is burning all around you, don’t underestimate the power of being able to trust in your people to execute on your process.

How can you be so confident? Well, the confidence comes from having a strategy, knowing your audience, and believing in the human response to truth-telling. There’s a lot to be said for a company that owns up to mistakes and expertly pivots when crises arise.

Whether you’re facing a small-scale crisis or a crisis of epic proportions like those recently faced by WeWork, Boeing, or GE, it’s helpful to remember other leaders have walked through the fire of chaos themselves. As Abraham Lincoln—no stranger to facing a crisis—once said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”

At Audacia Strategies, we’re no strangers to facing a crisis either. We’ve walked with our clients through the fire using the 5 G’s and we can help your firm develop the crisis response strategy that works for you as well. Schedule a consultation so we can talk about your needs.

Photo credit: Rawpixel

M&A Best Practices (Part 2): Ensure a Successful Integration After an Acquisition

August 6, 2019/0 Comments/in Corporate Communications, M&A, Transformative Change /by audacia_editor

This is part two of our series on M&A Best Practices. If you haven’t yet read part one, you will want to read it first: M&A Best Practices for before and during an acquisition. And, don’t forget to check out our handy M&A checklist at the end of this article!

In our previous article, we discussed M&A best practices for before and during an acquisition. The entire process can be very dynamic and exciting. For this reason, it’s important to prepare and plan well when things are relatively calm, before you find yourself in the thick of things.

Okay, so you’ve acquired an organization and the communications around the acquisition have gone according to plan. Awesome! Now what? If you’re hoping integration will simply run itself, it’s time to recalibrate your expectations. Just as planning is important before and during an acquisition, establishing timelines and procedures and opening lines for effective communications ensures that integration runs smoothly.

Now, let’s talk about M&A best practices for the weeks and months after an acquisition.

The Work Really Begins: Integrating Legacy Organizations

Effective communications surrounding an acquisition assures your workforce that business will proceed as usual and your clients that delivery is not impacted by this change. Managers are an essential link in the communications chain, both internally and externally.

When announcing an acquisition, the information will spread quickly. And, as we know, false information spreads more quickly than the truth. So you will want to have a strategy to manage your message. Carefully choreograph your communications so that internal audiences hear from you first. Ensure that your communications cascade is timely, coordinated, and that your supporting materials and spokespersons are on point.

Here’s a sample timeline:

Day -1, 8pm: A transaction is agreed to and the paperwork is executed.
Day 0, 7:30am: The CEO of the acquiring company emails her managers to make them aware of the transaction. The message includes a cover note with action items, timelines, and proofs of concept (POCs). Attachments include a courtesy copy of the all-employee announcement, manager talking points, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and a description of the acquired company.
Day 0, 7:30am: Similarly (and ideally simultaneously), the CEO of the acquired company emails his managers to make them aware of the transaction. Like the communication described above, the message includes a cover note with action items, timelines, and POCs. Attachments include a courtesy copy of the all-employee announcement, manager talking points, FAQs, and a description of the acquiring company.
Day 0, 8:00am: The transaction press release clears the wire service and then designated communications team members reach out individually to key members of the press.
Day 0, 8:00am: The acquiring company distributes a message to the employees of both organizations, announcing the transaction, welcoming the acquired organization to the team, and providing a vision for the future.
Day 0, 8:00am: Likewise, the acquired company distributes a message to employees of both organizations, explaining why this decision was made, thanking legacy employees for their service and dedication, and reinforcing the strategy for the combination.
Day 0, 8:00am: IT posts all employee communications related to the acquisition on a dedicated intranet page.
Day 0, 8:30am: The leadership team holds an all-employee call, reiterating the talking points and allowing for questions.
Day 0: 9:30am: Managers hold a huddle with their teams, using provided talking points, then report to corporate communications via email that the meeting took place. This email should also include any questions from employees, which can be rolled into an FAQ document as needed. Track the status of these meetings to identify teams that may require additional communications support.
Day 0+: Designated company personnel notify key clients that the acquisition has taken place highlighting the potential benefits to the customer and addressing customer concerns. This can include the heads of associations on whose boards company leadership serve.
Day 0+: Leadership calls and all-employee communications provide regular updates on the integration.

Throughout this process, the project team (see Part 1) meets to ensure deadlines are continuing to be met, issues are raised, and questions are answered. The project manager and assistant/deputy remain engaged with the collective plan, as well as with each department lead. As the combined organization achieves milestones, large or small, celebrate those!

Culture is a critical influencer in any acquisition. If employees within the acquired organization feel that things are changing radically early on, they may not buy into the change, and they may seek opportunities elsewhere. Rely on project leads to provide “temperature checks” and suggest ways to unify the group, if needed.

Take time to take stock. There are always lessons to be learned following a significant transaction. As the dust settles, be sure to complete an after-action review to garner feedback on what went well, what could have gone better, and what should be taken into account in the future. This is also a good time to review templates and procedures that worked well and will be helpful to future activities.

There you have it, your complete Audacia Strategies blueprint for M&A best practices before, during, and after. When you combine these tips for integrating a newly acquired organization with the tips for preparing and announcing the acquisition in the early stages, you have a recipe for M&A success.

Here’s a handy checklist we use when working with our clients throughout the process. Are you ready to see us in action? Schedule your consultation and let’s get you on the books. We’re ready to help your organization transform and grow!

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M&A Best Practices (Part 1): Are You Prepared for Your Next Acquisition? Our Checklist for Success

August 5, 2019/1 Comment/in Corporate Communications, M&A, Transformative Change /by audacia_editor

This is part one of our series on M&A Best Practices. Tune in for the exciting conclusion: M&A Best Practices for after an acquisition.

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activities present exciting opportunities to grow companies, bolster brands, and capitalize on synergies between acquiring and acquired organizations. However, the process is complicated and there are important steps to take to protect this significant investment.

The stakes are high. One article by Harvard Business Review reports that more than 70 percent of all M&A activities fail. While preparation and planning makes a difference at any stage, following M&A best practices are especially helpful in easing the strain of the due diligence and announcement processes.

In the following article, we recommend M&A best practices to apply before and during an M&A activity to ensure positive outcomes for all parties.

Calm before the Storm: Preparing for an Acquisition

Proper planning and forethought in the months and weeks prior to your company acquiring another organization will save you time during the announcement and integration periods and avoid role confusion. It will also assist your workforce in managing change.

In the weeks prior to an acquisition:

Come up with a project name. Once you select a company you plan to acquire, e-mail exchanges will increase dramatically and a significant number of meetings will appear on calendars. To ensure confidentiality surrounding the acquisition, select a project name and use it in all communications and scheduling requests. This small step will help a lot when it comes to organization.
Form a project team. Prior to the acquisition, select:

> A project manager who will have the internal relationships and executive respect to enforce plans and deadlines, press leadership for decisions, etc.

> A project lead from each department. This is a great opportunity to elevate high-potential employees. Tap the talent within your organization to work on a project that will have a huge impact.

> An assistant or deputy whose sole responsibility is to manage the overall project plan and support the team through upcoming deadlines/outstanding actions. Do not leave this role vacant. While it may seem that everyone can keep track of their own deadlines, that is a recipe for disaster. For the sake of accountability, it’s best to have someone else managing the timeline.

Establish project spaces (both virtual and physical). Establish a site within a secure shared space online (aka a virtual data room) where teams can house acquisition-related resources and easily communicate. Every department/lead should have a defined space to house documents and review, edit, comment. Additionally, if you have a cohort of team members in one place, consider the physical location(s) where meetings will take place. Is it possible to reserve a private war room for the team’s exclusive use?
Develop and share project plans. Create a project plan template with a tab for each department/project lead. This could look similar in format to a Transformation Management Office (TMO) plan. This is helpful for keeping track of all of the moving pieces and identifying interdependencies.
Inventory your non-monetary assets. As you consider the potential value of a merger or acquisition. Don’t forget about some of your less obvious assets. What BD, HR, IT, finance, legal, recruiting, training, and other systems do you own or lease? What subscriptions do you hold? What memberships are committed and paid? What marketing equipment do you own? During the very busy integration process, you’ll want to understand where there are potential synergies and potential conflicts. Ask the same of the acquired organization in order to realize savings and achieve synergies. Save time on your end by coming up with this list now.

In the Thick of Things: Conducting Due Diligence and Pre-Announcement Activities

Once you have a target acquisition, have your banking/equity partners in place, and read-in your project team, you can prepare in earnest for the announcement.

This begins with due diligence, during which time you will have an opportunity to review the target firm’s operations including financial and sales pipeline information and ask questions of the acquired organization’s leadership. Time is precious and planning should run concurrent to the due diligence process.
Once the project team is in place, determine the frequency with which the team will meet. Likely, this will be daily during the pre-announcement period, then weekly during the integration.
The planning document is a living one and will change often in this phase. During team meetings, assess where tasks stand in relation to deadlines, what hot spots might flare, and what decisions are needed.
Governance becomes a frequent topic during this period. What role will the leadership of the acquired company play following the transaction? How will their titles, physical location, and direct reporting relationships change? It’s important to think this through instead of making assumptions. If employees don’t see a clear hierarchy and know to whom they are expected to report, chaos will be the likely outcome.

Additionally, consider naming conventions for the combined organization, as well as its business units or lines. Does the company name change? Does the acquired organization become a business unit, a subsidiary, or a portion of an existing business line? The answers to these questions will impact everything from the website(s) and corporate signage to stationary and e-mail signatures. Consider how you can engage employees and even customers in the re-branding process. For the best results, engage a professional as well!

One note of caution: Often, the creation, review, and approval of announcements, manager talking points, FAQs, press releases, and online content will reveal decisions that haven’t yet been finalized or information that has not yet been disseminated to the entire project team. Be conscientious about version control as you may need to do a significant amount of coordination within your team and with your external advisors (legal, banking, etc.) during this phase.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Most importantly, be patient during this process. Acquisitions can be highly emotional transactions for owners and employees. It’s necessary for the acquiring organization to be sensitive during this delicate dance, since 1) everyone wants to close the deal and 2) any rips in the culture or workforce could become red flags for your clients. This is especially true for professional services firms, in which the value of the sale lies in the company’s employees and their customer relationships.

At Audacia Strategies, we help organizations prepare for and communicate during mergers and acquisitions. We never shy away from a challenge, in fact we thrive and hit our stride working with teams to communicate during times of transformation. If you need an M&A best practices communications strategy, let’s chat!

In our next blog article, we discuss M&A best practices in relation to running a smooth integration after an acquisition and we’ll summarize everything with a checklist you can put to use. Stay tuned!

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Reading, Listening, and Watching—What I’m Loving Right Now

June 19, 2019/0 Comments/in About Us, Weekend Reading /by audacia_editor

It’s beach season. If you’re lucky enough to get some R&R this summer, I bet you’re reaching for something inspiring like a good book, your favorite podcast, or a binge-worthy T.V. show to watch. Me too! So I thought it would be a great time for me to dust off this occasional blog feature.

reading listening watching Here’s what I’m up to in between (and sometimes simultaneous with) feedings and snuggle time with my favorite twin babies: