DISASTER RECOVERY

COMMUNICATION PLAN
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DISASTER RECOVERY
COMMUNICATION PLAN
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. IDENTIFY PEOPLE......................................................................................................... 3

A. CRISIS COMMUNICATION TEAM.........................................................................3

B. CRISIS SPOKESPERSONS..................................................................................3

C. STAKEHOLDERS...............................................................................................3

2. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL CRISES AND A PLAN..................................................................3

A. BRAINSTORM POTENTIAL CRISES IN ADVANCE...................................................3

 B. CRISIS COMMUNICATION RESPONSE PLAN.........................................................3

3. IDENTIFY SYSTEMS...................................................................................................... 3

A. ESTABLISH NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS..................................................................3

B. ESTABLISH MONITORING SYSTEMS...................................................................3

C. ESTABLISH CRISIS VERIFICATION SYSTEM.........................................................3

4. IDENTIFY MESSAGING.................................................................................................. 3

A. DEVELOP AND USE “HOLDING STATEMENTS”.....................................................3

B. KEY MESSAGES................................................................................................3

5. IDENTIFY KEY LEARNINGS........................................................................................... 3

A. POST-CRISIS REVIEW........................................................................................3
Crisis is inevitable for just about any type of organization, so identifying the necessary people, systems, messaging, and other
standards in advance makes good business sense. Here are steps you can take in advance of crises in order to take control:

1. IDENTIFY PEOPLE
A. CRISIS COMMUNICATION TEAM
Ideally, the organization’s CEO will head up the team, with the top public relations executive (or outside agency or consultant) and legal counsel
serving as chief advisers. You should identify senior executives, usually the heads of major divisions, to serve as your organization’s crisis
communication team.

CRISIS COMMUNICATION TEAM

NAME & TITLE ROLE PHONE EMAIL

 B. CRISIS SPOKESPERSONS
You should identify and train in advance the pool of potential spokespersons/subject matter experts, even though you will make the ultimate decision
about who will speak only when the crisis actually breaks. Consider all the different channels of communication, both internal and external, that you
may need to cover.

CRISIS SPOKESPERSONS

NAME & TITLE EXPERTISE PHONE EMAIL

 C. STAKEHOLDERS
Identify and know your stakeholders. Create a complete database of internal and external stakeholders to guarantee that they receive precisely the
messages you want them to. In this way, they will be equipped to repeat these messages to other individuals or media outlets. Use the Smartsheet
Stakeholder Communication Plan Template and update it frequently.

STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION PLAN

STAKEHOLDER POWER / INTEREST CONTACT METHOD FREQUENCY CONTACT INFO COMMENTS

2. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL CRISES AND A PLAN

A. BRAINSTORM POTENTIAL CRISES IN ADVANCE

The crisis communication team should identify every potential threat based on your known vulnerabilities. It
may become clear that you can prevent some crisis situations by shifting existing conditions or operational
methods. You should consider possible responses and best and worst-case scenarios. Organizations are often
aware of an upcoming event, like layoffs, a merger, or a move, so you can begin to plan well in advance of an
actual crisis event.

ADVANCE CRISIS PLANNING

POTENTIAL SCENARIOS
Security Breach, Product/Technology Failure, Natural Disaster, Financial Crisis, Workplace Violence, Environmental
Crisis

SCENARIO 1

SCENARIO 2

SCENARIO 3

UPCOMING EVENTS
Mergers, Acquisitions, Moves, Layoffs

SCENARIO 1

SCENARIO 2

SCENARIO 3
 B. CRISIS COMMUNICATION RESPONSE PLAN
Your brainstorming and assessment process should lead to the creation of a crisis response plan that is
tailored to your organization.

CRISIS COMMUNICATION RESPONSE PLAN TEMPLATE

EVENT NAME

COMMUNICATIO
N GOAL

TARGET AUDIENCES

ISSUE ANALYSIS AND VERIFICATION

WHAT
HAPPENED?

WHICH
CREDIBLE
INFORMATION
SOURCES
CONFIRMED?
WHAT
ADDITIONAL
FACTS ARE
NEEDED TO PUT
THE EVENT
INTO
PERSPECTIVE?

WHEN DID IT
HAPPEN?

WHO IS
INVOLVED?

HOW DID IT
HAPPEN?
WHAT IS
CURRENTLY
BEING DONE?
3. IDENTIFY SYSTEMS
A. ESTABLISH NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS
Set up notification systems to rapidly reach your stakeholders. Employing more than one type of
communication platform (email and text, for example) greatly increases the chances that a message will go
through. Using your stakeholder database, you can purchase or rent an emergency notification system to
automatically contact a pre-established database.

NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS DESCRIPTION

B. ESTABLISH MONITORING SYSTEMS

Monitoring what’s being said about you on traditional and social media can alert you to negative messages
that could instigate a crisis. Monitoring all stakeholder feedback during a crisis supports logical changes to
strategy and tactics. Free services include Google Alerts and Hootsuite, but you can also use paid monitoring
services to report results in various formats. Train personnel, such as customer service reps, who have front-
line contact with stakeholders, to immediately report to the crisis communication team.

MONITORING SYSTEMS DESCRIPTION

C. ESTABLISH CRISIS VERIFICATION SYSTEM

What, When, Who, How, and Why:
The first step is to determine what has happened. You do this so that you can immediately identify and
document as many facts as possible. Base these facts on essential questions: What happened and has the
situation been confirmed by credible information sources? What additional facts do you need to put the event
into perspective? When did it happen? Who is involved? How did it happen? What is currently being done?

CRISIS VERIFICATION SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

4. IDENTIFY MESSAGING
A. DEVELOP AND USE “HOLDING STATEMENTS”
You’ll need to develop full messages based on the facts, and that may take some time. Using pre-determined
“holding statements” immediately after a crisis gives you breathing room and communicates that you’re
aware and working on the matter. Here are some examples of holding statements: “Expect a statement from
our CEO within two hours” or “Check Twitter or our website for updates.” You should review holding
statements regularly.

HOLDING STATEMENT PLANNER Acknowledge the crisis | Give yourself some time | Show
commitment

STATEMENT SAMPLES DELIVERY MODALITY/MODALITIES

B. KEY MESSAGES
The crisis communication team should aim to develop three crisis-specific messages for all stakeholders. They
should base these messages on verified information. If necessary, the team should also create targeted
messaging for specific stakeholder groups, based on identified scenarios. You can modify these scenarios
according to the nature of the actual crisis. You will also need to adapt messaging to different forms of media.
For example, Twitter may require links because of its character limit.

KEY MESSAGE PLANNER

DELIVERY CHANNELS &
AUDIENCE TOP THREE KEY MESSAGES
SPOKESPERSON

ALL 1.
STAKEHOL 2.
ERS 3.

1.
AUDIENCE
2.
1
3.

1.
AUDIENCE
2.
2
3.

1.
AUDIENCE
2.
3
3.
5. IDENTIFY KEY LEARNINGS
A. POST-CRISIS REVIEW
Once the crisis has passed, a best practice is for all crisis communication team members to meet in order to conduct a formal analysis. Review what
worked, what failed, and what could be improved upon. Use the results to update the crisis communication response plan.

CRISIS REVIEW FORM

STRATEGY /
DESCRIPTION RESULT IMPROVEMENT POSSIBILITIES
TACTIC

SUCCESSFUL

SUCCESSFUL

PROBLEMATIC

PROBLEMATIC
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