How to build a crisis communications plan

Is your team ready when it hits the fan? You need a crisis communications plan.

People need to know what's expected of them. There are five simple steps to writing a great crisis communications plan. A concise plan will be picked up and understood by the people you need to mobilise. A concise plan will also allow communications teams to establish a shift pattern, which is essential when a crisis runs on for days or weeks at a time.

Five steps for building a crisis communications plan

1. Define what constitutes a crisis

This should summarise the most likely scenarios and an escalation process. Remember, not everything is a crisis. Many organisations operate successfully every day with a business-as-usual level of customer complaints, activist campaigns or even hostile cyber attacks. Read more on scenario planning.

2. Identify key roles and responsibilities

From social media monitoring to drafting key lines and managing stakeholders. Don't forget TikTok.

3. List all the necessary resources, templates and channels in one place

Make it easy to find graphics, explainers and access details for different channels. A long-running crisis may necessitate drafting in help from colleagues who won't know where to find these things.

4. Build your response: from monitoring to stakeholders and rotas

Establish priority actions and who is accountable for what. Don't try to boil the ocean. Start by publicly acknowledging what's happened, keep staff informed and go direct to impacted audiences.

Schedule regular catch-up meetings too, so everyone stays on the same page.

5. Draft messaging and identify spokespeople

Who do your audience really want to hear from? Start briefing technical experts or front line staff, who may be more suitable and relatable than your CEO.

Download our checklist to help you write an easy and concise crisis communications plan

Read our guide on How to write a good crisis management plan