One of the most important elements to any crisis situation is acheiving the right tone in your communications,with any audience, internal or external.

To help accomplish this, we advise our clients to always be mindful of what we call the Four R’s. Regret, Responsibility, Reform and Restitution.

Each element is described below.

Regret: Express genuine concern for those impacted by the situation, even if you are not the cause. The surest way to be blamed for a problem is declaring it wasn’t your fault.

Responsibility: A forward-looking organization will always position itself as a part of the solution. That said, actions must reinforce the words to ensure that the communication effort is sincere and meaningful.

Reform: In any situation where the credibility of an organization is challenged, it is imperative that the organization is perceived to be taking all steps to prevent the problem from re-emerging.

Restitution: When applicable, explain how the organization is working to “make it right” with those potentially impacted by the situation.

Now, in some cases you may not be able to accomplish all four but wherever possible, this is optimum.

For instance, you may feel that you cannot do much for those impacted by an event, but this is often more simple than it seems.

Sometimes, the only restitution they seek is being heard or even acknowledged. Many effective communications about COVID-19 achieve this objective when they say thank you to all of the first responders, delivery personnel or retail workers that risk their health to serve their customers. Such statements may not “make it right” for all of these people but they certainly are going out of their way to ensure that these folks are highlighted for their efforts.

In summary, follow the FOUR R’s and you will see better results in all of your crisis communication messaging.