Crisis levels and who leads, the crisis team and its roles, the first hour, audiences and channels, approvals, the spokesperson, social media and after the crisis. The copy written for you adds a register of your sector's main risks.
A working document for the communications team: filled in once, reviewed every six months, with a copy kept outside company systems so it is at hand if they go down.
This plan sets out how [Company name] communicates with employees, customers, regulators, the media and the community when a crisis threatens people's safety, business continuity or the company's reputation. It complements the business continuity and emergency plans and does not replace them.
A crisis: a sudden event that needs a fast decision from senior management and is likely to reach the public or a regulator.
| Level | Description | Examples | Who leads | First statement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Incident | Limited impact, handled within the department, unlikely to reach the media. | A single complaint, a short service glitch. | Department head with Communications | Only if asked |
| 2. Issue | Clear impact on customers or reputation; circulating or expected to within hours. | A viral complaint, a wide outage, a rumour. | Head of Communications, CEO informed | Within 2 hours |
| 3. Crisis | Risk to life, or material financial or regulatory impact, or wide media coverage. | Accident with injuries, data breach, product recall, regulatory action. | CEO and the full crisis team | Within 60 minutes |
When in doubt between two levels, start with the higher one: stepping down later is easier than catching up with a crisis.
And the news itself? The calendar tells you what is coming. The Ijaz brief tells you every morning what was published about your company, competitors and market.
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