Deciding before it happens.
WHAT THE PLAN SHOULD ESTABLISH
What constitutes a crisis Who is notified, immediately Who leads Who speaks externally Who contacts whom Where information is gathered What is said initially
WHY WHO SPEAKS MATTERS
Multiple voices produce contradiction.
WHAT TO PREPARE IN ADVANCE
Contact details for everyone needed, including out of hours Holding statements for foreseeable scenarios A list of who must be notified, including regulators
WHAT A HOLDING STATEMENT IS
A short prepared response acknowledging a situation before facts are established.
WHY IT HELPS
It buys time without silence.
WHAT SCENARIOS TO PREPARE FOR
Whatever is plausible in your business: accident, product failure, data breach, fire, fraud, allegations against a person.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT NOTIFICATION
Which authorities must be told, and within what period.
WHY
Notification deadlines are short and missing them compounds the problem.
WHAT TO ESTABLISH ABOUT STAFF
How they are informed and what they are told to say.
WHAT TO TELL THEM TO SAY
To direct enquiries to the named person.
WHY
It protects them and it keeps the message consistent.
WHAT TO TEST
The plan, at least by walking through a scenario.
WHAT THAT REVEALS
Missing contacts, unclear authority and gaps.
WHAT TO REVIEW
The plan, periodically and after any incident.
WHAT TO KEEP
The plan somewhere accessible outside normal systems.
WHY
The crisis may be that systems are unavailable.
