Best Practices For Issuing Apologies

In this episode of the “Crisis Management Minute,” learn about some of the best practices that executives of companies and government agencies should follow when they have to apologize for something that they or their organizations did or said.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Do you know the guidelines for apologizing for something that
your company or a government agency did or said. Welcome
back to another Crisis Management Minute. I'm Edward Siegel, author
of Crisis Ahead and The Crisis Casebook. I'm also a
Leadership Strategies senior contributor for Forbes dot Com. There are
several best practices for preparing and delivering an apology. Here

(00:29):
are three of them. One, write down and organize what
you want to say before you say or do anything.
Make a list of why the apology is necessary and
include all relevant details. Two make it as easy as
possible for people to understand the apology. That includes avoiding
the use of buzzwords, jargon, and acronyms. And three, don't

(00:53):
wait to apologize. The longer you wait, the worst things
can get. Any delays will provide others's with a golden
opportunity to criticize you or your organization for staying quiet.
That's it for this edition of the Crisis Management Minute.
Be sure to come back next week for more advice
on how to prepare for and manage a crisis, or

(01:15):
subscribe to the Crisis Management minut wherever you get your podcasts.
Remember it's not a matter of if your organization will
have a crisis, but when, and the sooner you're prepared
for it, the better