The Reasonable Person Test
During a crisis, an organization and its stakeholders can see the same situation very differently.
Leadership understands the history, operational realities, legal considerations and other circumstances influencing the response. The public usually has a much simpler question:
What happened, and what are you doing about it?
That gap in perspective can create reputational risk.
One way to evaluate a crisis response is the Reasonable Person Test, a simple decision-making question for crisis communications:
What would an average, reasonable person reasonably expect the organization to do?
The answer depends on the situation. Stakeholders might reasonably expect an organization to investigate what happened, help those affected, provide accurate information, correct misinformation, accept responsibility when warranted or take corrective action to prevent the problem from happening again.
Importantly, reasonable expectations and legal requirements are not always the same.
An organization may not be legally required to take a particular action, but that doesn't automatically mean stakeholders will view inaction as responsible. When the gap between what an organization is required to do and what people reasonably expect becomes too wide, the response itself can deepen the crisis and cause additional reputational damage.
The Reasonable Person Test isn't about satisfying every critic or allowing public opinion to dictate crisis strategy. It provides a practical way to evaluate decisions from the stakeholder's perspective before acting.
For crisis communications teams, that means looking beyond “What are we required to do?” and also asking “What would a responsible response look like to the people affected?”
That's a principle reinforced throughout PRESS POWER | SURGE, The Communications Group's Crisis Communications Readiness & Response Lab: People don't expect perfection. They do expect a responsible response.
Organizations that prepare for difficult decisions before a crisis are better positioned to protect trust, communicate effectively and manage reputational risk when pressure is highest.
Learn more about The Communications Group's crisis communications services, crisis planning and response support, and PRESS POWER | SURGE training.
