Pre-Crisis Communication Plan [Template]

      [DELETE AFTER READING: Here is a generic template that you can use to outline and share a template using Scribe. You can learn more about Scribe here and see how to duplicate and use this template here.]

      This checklist outlines actions that a business can take to prepare for a potential crisis. The template includes a "due date" column to track when each action should be completed and a "who's involved" column to track who is responsible for completing each action.

      The template includes several specific actions that a business can take to prepare for a crisis.

      General Risk Assessment

      Identify potential threats and vulnerabilities to the business and critical business functions and resources that need to be protected during a crisis. Ask the team:

      1. What are the top threats and vulnerabilities to your business?

      2. What business functions are critical to your operations?

      3. What resources are needed to protect the critical functions (people, processes, tech, etc)?

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Establishing a crisis communication team:

      This team coordinates the business's response to a crisis and communicates with internal and external stakeholders.

      Include any Scripts, outlines or walk throughs as links or text.

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Developing an emergency contact list

      This list includes the names and contact information for key employees, stakeholders, and emergency services that may need to be contacted during a crisis.

      Link or write the list here.

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Setting up crisis monitoring and alert systems

      This includes establishing systems to monitor for potential crises and alerting the appropriate people if a crisis occurs.

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Training employees to use multiple communication channels during a crisis

      This is important to ensure that employees can communicate with each other and with stakeholders even if one communication channel is down.

      Include any processes or training materials employees need by auto-generating step-by-step guides with Scribe. Here's how:

      How to create step-by-step guides with Scribe

      We recommend sectioning off each process into different tasks, and then giving those tasks descriptions. Like the following:

      Task 1 <Name>

      Write a description (often brief) of the task/function to accomplish.

      Prerequisites (if applicable): a brief description of the problem (if needed)/features/tiers/customers to the task does or doesn't apply to.

      • Phase 1: <Name>

      Here is a placeholder Scribe that you can replace with your own workflow.

      Click to replace with a Scribe
      • Phase 2: <Name>

      Here is a placeholder Scribe that you can replace with your own workflow.

      Click to replace with a Scribe

      Task 2: <Name>

      Write a brief overview here.

      • Phase 1: <Name>

      Click to replace with a Scribe

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Preparing crisis press release templates

      This ensures that the business can quickly and effectively communicate with the media during a crisis.

      Insert any Scripts or prompts into this text.

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      Setting up an emergency website/phone number

      This website or phone number can be used to provide information to stakeholders during a crisis.

      Creating a social media crisis communication plan template

      This is a plan for how the business will use social media to communicate during a crisis.

      For any digital processes, auto-generate step-by-step guides using Scribe. Here's a placeholder that you can replace with your own.

      Click to replace with a Scribe

      Due Date: X/X/20XX Who's Involved?: Name 1, Name 2, Name 3

      Status: Not Started/In Progress/Complete.

      Comments:

      ***It's important to note that the template provided is not exhaustive, and a business may need to add more items or adapt the template to its specific needs.