In 2015, we were commissioned by Hanover to help them deliver pre-event crisis communications training to their client, Expo 2020.

Our longest-running project to date, we delivered nine crisis simulation exercises interspersed with crisis response training and evaluation. Participants included the Expo 2020 communications and operations teams, Dubai Media Office and Dubai Police. In any one exercise, there were at least five external organisations involved. 

We had to continuously develop the training, based on the evaluation from the preceding simulation and the constant growth of Expo 2020. We used Social Simulator to bring to life some of the most potentially challenging scenarios Expo 2020 might face, including cultural and operational incidents. 

This program of simulations was different because:

• We had to raise awareness of potentially negative media coverage and social media commentary from international visitors.
• We needed to quickly adapt and develop training in response to internal changes and worldwide events.
• Expo 2020 is a mega-event, centred around a 438 hectare site.

Summary

• Preparatory training for one of the world’s largest mega-events, with more than 20 million visitors.
• Nine simulations with more than 50 participants in each one.
• Integrated external participants from organisations such as Dubai Police and Dubai Media Office.
• Content in English and Arabic.

Photo by Saj Shafique on Unsplash

Training for a confident, consistent crisis response across multiple countries

One of the world’s largest health and beauty brands wanted to ensure that their senior management teams could respond effectively to an escalating crisis. We already train their communications teams, but the purpose of this project is to give senior managers first hand experience of a crisis.

We developed a training course covering crisis response and media training, based on a realistic and challenging scenario. Six sessions were delivered remotely with participants able to take part from either their office or home.

The objectives of each session were:

• Ensure consistency of crisis response across different territories
• Practice responding in line with corporate plans and processes
• Test teams abilities to work together via video calls with colleagues based in a variety of locations
• Build capability among senior managers

We worked with a local partner agency, Gaisberg Consulting, to test the abilities of students on the Digitization, Politics and Communication Master’s course at the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna.

We helped to prepare and support delivery of a three-hour workshop using our Crisis90 platform. The session, which used our off-the-shelf cyber scenario, tested the students’ communications and strategic skills. Working in small teams, students ran the corporate communications function of a fictional business and managed the organisation’s response to an unfolding data leak. The exercise was conducted in German and our local agency partner delivered the session with our support.

The scenario challenged the students on a variety of tasks including:

• Providing statements for local and national media
• Rebutting fake news
• Managing a live social media feed
• Organising a press conference

The City of Redmond (Washington, USA) asked us to support in the delivery of the Cascadia Rising emergency planning exercise to enable Public Information Officers (PIOs) to rehearse how they would handle social media channels in the event of a high-impact earthquake impacting the region.

Natural hazards represent one of the oldest risks that businesses and government agencies have had to plan for, but the rise of social media has created challenges and opportunities that communicators need to be prepared for.

Our role in the exercise was to put the PIOs through their paces, with a specific focus on:

• The speed with which PIOs were able to engage with a range of audiences using social media
• The consistency with which Joint Information Center (JIC) members were able to communicate and coordinate their efforts amongst multiple PIO teams
• The information sharing capabilities of social media responders and wider incident decision-makers to inform interactions with the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the wider humanitarian response effort (e.g. triaging casualties and directing on-the ground medical teams) 

We used our Social Simulator platform to enable participating teams to:

• Engage with lifelike recreations of Twitter and Facebook, with our team of role-players recreating the fallout from the incident and interacting in real-time with PIO teams
• Post statements to mock-ups of their websites and monitor authentic-looking media feeds, including TV bulletins, radio broadcasts and traditional media articles 

Chicago O’Hare and Midway airports wanted to test their ability to harness social and traditional media channels as part of their emergency public information response to a high-impact incident impacting both airports simultaneously.

We were enlisted to take part in their triennial full-scale exercise in order to test Public Information Officers (PIOs) spread across two Joint Information Centers (JICs), including:

• Examining how two JICs coordinated their public information response by sharing information and harmonising messaging
• Testing how PIOs handled a high volume of passenger and other stakeholder queries across real-time social media feeds
• Testing how PIOs handled a high volume of phone queries from reporters

We used our Social Simulator platform and associated role-play service to enable the participants to:

• Engage with lifelike recreations of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, with our team of role-players recreating the fallout from the incident and interacting in real-time with PIOs
• Post statements to mock-ups of their websites and monitor authentic-looking media feeds, including TV bulletins, radio broadcasts and traditional media articles 
• Engage with role-played telephone queries from reporters looking for latest information in relation to the incident

As part of the reform prisons programme, Involve UK were looking for help supporting Kirklevington Grange and Holme House prisons to work more openly and transparently online.

The Tees-Wear reform prisons were seeking guidance on how best to use social media to help them to:

• develop more open and accountable forms of decision making
• support prison staff to be more confident in listening actively
• engage the local business community to identify opportunities

Researching conversations about Tees and Wear prisons, we quickly established that individual trusted voices would be more impactful than a corporate account in sharing prison communications. While staff working at the prison were enthusiastic and accommodating, there were some reservations about the impact of social media on their work. To allay these anxieties we ran several workshops with prison staff, including Ian Blakeman, Director of Tees & Wear Reform Prisons, to ensure they felt confident managing their own social media accounts.

Good to talk to trainee Prison Officers in Estonia – part way through their 9 month training and showing Art work from the 3 prisons. Interesting to hear about efforts to reduce their very high imprisonment rate pic.twitter.com/rCfhfB1oxS

— Ian Blakeman (@ianblakeman66) June 19, 2018

Our client has 400 communicators in 22 different countries. 

In addition to a tailored digital training program for every member of staff, they asked us to audit the activity of 3 specific teams. The ‘digital diagnostics’ are designed to provide in-country teams with advice and support; to help them understand their strengths and development areas. 

Our audits include:

• Audience mapping
• Channel growth
• Content analysis, including analysis of best performing posts and patterns for success
• Engagement analysis

To provide maximum insight and value, audits are data-led and provide practical recommendations that are feasible for a small team to deliver quickly. We also provided longer-term recommendations to help the central team plan their global strategy and support.

Within all large, complex organisations, social media grows organically. Before you know it, there are too many channels, which are difficult to navigate for users and hard for central teams to manage. The quality of content and evaluation varies considerably.

This was the case for one of the UK military services who asked for our advice on how they should manage the number of social media channels. 

We produced:

• an audit of their branded Facebook and Instagram accounts
• recommendations for reducing the number of organisational accounts from over 200 down to 50.
• criteria for accounts that should be kept or merged
• a guide to setting standards and processes for the remaining accounts

Since 2010, we’ve delivered crisis communications training for the Government Communication Service (GCS). 

We meet participants from different backgrounds and roles: experienced press officers, new social media managers or heads of strategic comms from the private sector.

These sessions are delivered entirely online using web conferencing, breakout rooms and our own simulation software. We encourage everyone to share their stories about crises they’ve had to work through.

We are constantly iterating an agenda that gives participants a clear overview of the “must-know” crisis communications topics and examines live issues and developments. 

Our training is interactive and uses our Crisis90 platform. Participants work in teams to share the pressure as they respond to an unfolding crisis affecting a hypothetical government department. 

The client, a national defence department, recognised the importance of good digital knowledge and skills within its 30-strong communications team based across the UK. 

As part of a wider digital review, the client wanted training for their corporate and embedded comms officers. The training would allow them to produce high-quality content for web and social and would complement the strategy development work happening at the same time. 

We began the project by looking at their user needs and identifying the key topics that would be most relevant and effective for their staff. 

Training topics included:

• How to stay safe and compliant online
• Where to find digital inspiration
• How to stay on top of the changing digital landscape
• How to create good content, including photo and video, on smartphones
• Understanding social media algorithms
• Handling social media channels in an emergency. 

With the training content identified we:

• Built and personalised a Digital Action Plan for their customised training content
• Facilitated a two-hour workshop for users to launch their training. Participants completed two of the modules, kickstarting their training. 
• Provided support and encouragement via the DAP discuss section and with regular emails. The team were on hand throughout the training for any questions participants might have. 

When organisations are merged, their social channels can be left behind. Purpose, tone and branding are confused. Social consumes disproportionate effort for little impact on the new organisation’s objectives.

Our client was created from several different housing organisations. With an ambitious digital strategy, a prominent media profile and some challenging tenants, their social media activity needed to get up to speed.

We worked with their digital and communications teams to:

• audit their channels and activity
• co-produce a social media plan that different teams could buy into
• recommend those channels that should be developed, stopped or started
• provide training for more consistent evaluation
• establish a process for sharing digital skills across different teams

Mergers are always hard for people, so we needed to deliver this work in a consultative, sensitive way. We ran pilot projects to get different teams working together and build contributions to a final plan. We identified success stories as much as we flagged problems. Wherever possible we encouraged people to continue using social to meet their objectives, rather than simple rationalising accounts.

The General Optical Council (GOC) wanted to understand how social media should fit with their exciting plans for a new intranet, CRM and more online consultation with the ophthalmic community.

Our ongoing work with regulators means that we have a keen sense of the challenges they face online. This includes managing the balance between promoting standards and promoting their sector.

Working with the senior leadership and communications team, we:

• produced an alpha digital communications strategy, using the GOC priorities as our starting point
• interviewed key staff and ran a workshop to understand what different people needed from social media
• ran a roadmap session, to determine what GOC needed to have tested on social, and by when
• produced a beta digital communications blueprint for them to follow, iterate and improve

Communications activity from regulators is often (understandably) cautious. We were able to convince GOC that

• the same social media channels could be used to consult their audience, as well as provide serious updates on investigations
• it’s always better to start digital projects small and then scale, using simple platforms and tools

An important part of this project was finding ways to get the whole organisation using digital channels, with the small communications team acting as a centre of excellence rather than having to take responsibility for all publishing.