One of the world's biggest electronics companies was in trouble and they required substantial workforce reductions around the globe.

In the UK they planned to half their workforce axing 1000 jobs.

They came to us with a plan to make a major media announcement - telling the world about the staff redundancies and why they were necessary.

They left our office with a new crisis management plan - make no announcement and phase the redundancies over several months.

Our plan safeguarded the share price and the company's reputation.

Over a period of several months the workforce was reduced and the exercise attracted only one piece of coverage - a local newspaper article which pointed out that "a handful of jobs were being cut."

The lesson from the story – when managing a crisis, it's important to know when to keep your lips sealed.