Be Prepared: Crisis Communications Planning

Beyond the various big-picture risks and uncertainties in today’s business and economic climate, there are countless moments — large and small — that can create issues for your organization. They can trigger legal liability, regulatory scrutiny, reputational damage, or loss of customer trust. While a crisis situation may be unpredictable, one thing is certain: there’s no harm in being prepared for it.

In this first of a three-part series,  we outline the critical elements of a crisis communications plan.  Upcoming posts will explore the related topics of effective media training and crisis management.

What could go wrong?

It’s wise to assess your readiness to prevent or quickly resolve a crisis well before you need to take such action. A good first step is to create a list of situations that could lead to a crisis.

Consider operational risks like product failures, recalls, service outages, workplace accidents and incidents, or a major cybersecurity or data breach.

Think about leadership and governance risks like executive misconduct, regulatory violations, or accusations of bias, harassment, or inequity.

Don’t forget financial risks, which can loom particularly large for nonprofits, like mismanagement of funds or donor dollars, and the loss or misuse of government contracts or grants.

Reputational threats are just as real. Ask Anheuser-Busch about viral backlash to a marketing campaign, or Roblox about its current customer lawsuit. Even a rogue employee can derail a brand’s reputation.

Get your plan together

The risks are diverse — and so are the responses required. Crisis planning is essential. It begins with strong leadership and a commitment shared across the organization. The planning team should unite key leaders from every function, working within a structured, accountable process to ensure true readiness.

Here’s a topline crisis communications plan template we’ve successfully used with clients. The plan, and the vigilance it instills, will help you and your team rest easier at night.

Plan overview

It’s important to share with your entire organization why crisis communications planning is important. Explain that clear procedures are necessary to guide your collective response to and recovery from disruptive events. Detail how crisis communications supports your overall enterprise risk management program, including business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Clearly identify the owners of key responsibilities and summarize the process for plan maintenance and ongoing training and simulations.

Crisis communications team

Identify the essential roles and detailed responsibilities for critical functions, including

• situation assessment team members
• crisis leader – decision-making authority
• spokesperson – primary media contact
• communications lead – messaging
• HR lead – internal communications
• legal lead – legal counsel and reviews for compliance
• IT lead – information access and managing digital channels

Be sure to create a centralized contact list with backup contacts for each role. 

Crisis management process flow

At a high level, map the flow of crisis management from initial situation assessment through engagement of the command team and supporting team functions. It is helpful to create a schematic diagram, such as a decision tree, that captures this flow of communication and responsibilities. 

Detailed response and recovery procedures

Identify and enumerate the immediate response procedures, action steps, and deliverables for notifications and escalation at every phase. Include corresponding timelines, objectives, and contingency steps. This painstaking team exercise will take some time, but is essential to the success of your overall crisis management plan. 

Clear procedures ensure the integrity of information flow. It is critical that proper and accurate details, instructions, and requests are disseminated promptly and effectively. It’s also important that everyone is aware of where crisis communications materials and procedures are saved, and that file nomenclature is consistent. These details will eliminate confusion and save precious response time.

Scenario-specific procedures

In addition to generic procedures that may apply to any situation, you also need to develop customized plans for specific situations and scenarios. They will save time in the event of a real crisis, and also help with your periodic practice exercises. Focus on plans for scenarios that have a higher likelihood of becoming reality for your organization. 

Key Stakeholder audiences

To ensure all bases are covered and valuable time is not wasted when decisive outreach is needed, compile the contact information for internal and external groups that must be reached, including

• employees and volunteers
• board of directors
• clients and beneficiaries
• funders and donors
• media
• regulators and government agencies
• community and business partners

Key messaging framework

While the details of each situation will be different, core message pillars (safety, responsibility, transparency) can be developed and approved as part of the plan. This includes holding statements (pre-approved generic responses while details are confirmed), media protocols (press conferences, statements, Q&A prep), and social media guidelines (tone, approval process, monitoring conversations and hashtags). 

Communication channels

Identify the full range of potential communications channels and their respective owners within the organization. Any given situation may require internal email, text alerts, intranet posts, and staff meetings. External communications may entail press releases, website updates, social media, media briefings, phone trees, and SMS alerts.

Recovery and post-crisis review

It is critical to debrief after a crisis is resolved and to document lessons learned. Make note of opportunities for improvement in crisis management and response, and use those findings to update your plan. 

Don’t put off planning

Whether a situation becomes a full-blown crisis often depends on how it’s managed. Proper planning and thoughtful preparation will put you in a better position to keep true crises to a minimum. That’s why when we work with a client on their crisis communications plan, we call the process “situational preparedness planning.” Call us to discuss how we may customize a planning process for your organization.