Crisis Communication Plan

Organisation: [Organisation name] Plan owner: [Name / role] Version: [v1.0] Last reviewed: [Date] Next review: [Date]

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1. Scope and scenarios

[State what this plan covers and the kinds of crisis it is designed for. List the scenarios your organisation is realistically exposed to, so the team recognises one when it starts.]

• [Scenario 1 — e.g., major service outage]
• [Scenario 2 — e.g., data breach or security incident]
• [Scenario 3 — e.g., safety event]
• [Scenario 4 — e.g., reputational or media event]

2. Severity levels

Level	Name	Trigger (plain language)	Response
1	Minor	[Contained, no external impact]	[Duty owner handles; log it]
2	Significant	[Real customer impact or media plausible]	[Alert core team; prepare holding statement]
3	Major	[Wide impact, active media/regulator, or safety]	[Full activation; executive sign-off]

[Whoever spots the problem first classifies it using this table. When in doubt, escalate up a level.]

3. Crisis team and contacts

Role	Primary	Backup	Mobile	Backup channel
Crisis lead	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]
Communications lead	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]
Spokesperson	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]
Technical / ops lead	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]
Legal / compliance	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]
Coordinator / scribe	[Name]	[Name]	[Number]	[Channel]

[Keep an offline copy that does not depend on the system that might be down.]

4. Decision and escalation flow

[Describe, in prose, how a problem moves from detection to a public statement. For example: the first responder logs the issue and classifies its severity; at Level 2 or above they alert the crisis lead, who confirms the level and activates the team; the technical lead establishes the facts while the communications lead drafts a holding statement from the approved library; legal reviews for notification duties and liability; the crisis lead approves; the spokesperson delivers it through the channels in Section 6. State who can release a Level 1 message without full activation, and who must sign off at Level 3.]

5. Approved holding statements

[Pre-approved messages the communications lead can release within minutes, with blanks to fill. Keep them honest and short.]

• Acknowledgement: "We are aware of [issue] affecting [audience] and are looking into it. We will share an update by [time]."
• Service disruption: "[Service] is currently [unavailable / degraded]. Our team is working on it and we will post updates at [status page / link]."
• Investigating: "We are investigating reports of [issue]. We do not yet have all the facts; we will not speculate, and we will update you by [time]."
• Safety reassurance: "The safety of [people] is our priority. [What is being done]. Further information will follow at [time]."

6. Channel plan

Audience	Channel	Owner	How to publish
Customers	[Email / status page]	[Role]	[Method]
Staff	[Internal chat / call tree]	[Role]	[Method]
Partners	[Direct call / email]	[Role]	[Method]
Public	[Website / social]	[Role]	[Method]
Media	[Spokesperson only]	[Role]	[Method]

[Name your single source of truth — usually a status page — and point every channel back to it.]

7. Stakeholder matrix

Stakeholder	What they need to know	When	Owner
[Stakeholder 1]	[Key message]	[First hour / first day]	[Role]
[Stakeholder 2]	[Key message]	[Timing]	[Role]
[Stakeholder 3]	[Key message]	[Timing]	[Role]

8. Post-incident review

[Within [number] days of standing down, run a blameless review. Reconstruct the timeline from the coordinator's log and capture what worked, what stuck, and what to change. Record each action with an owner and a date, and feed material findings back into your risk register and operation manual.]

• What happened: [Summary]
• What worked: [Notes]
• What to improve: [Notes]
• Actions: [Action — owner — due date]