Communication Plans / Emergency Plans

Crisis Communication Plan for Small Businesses and Teams

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A crisis communication plan decides, before anything goes wrong, who makes the calls, who speaks, who you must tell and how. Build five parts: named roles with backups, up-to-date contact lists, at least two backup channels, pre-written message templates, and a drill schedule. After every incident or drill, review what worked and update the plan.

Ready.gov puts it plainly: “The need to communicate is immediate when an emergency occurs.” A fire, flood, power loss, data breach or injury on site all need fast, clear messages. A small business rarely has a communications department, so the plan has to be simple enough for a few people to run.

Step 1: Name who decides and who speaks

Confusion about who is in charge wastes the first critical minutes. Ready.gov notes that actions in the first minutes of an emergency are critical.

Assign these roles, each with a named backup:

Role What they do Example
Incident lead Makes decisions. Approves all outgoing messages Owner or general manager
Spokesperson The only person who speaks to media and the public Owner or senior manager
Staff contact lead Runs the staff contact tree and tracks who is safe Office or HR manager
Customer and supplier lead Updates customers, suppliers and partners Sales or operations lead
Channel manager Posts website notices, social media and voicemail updates Marketing or admin staff

In a team of five, one person may hold two roles. Write the roles down anyway, so everyone knows who to ask.

Choosing the spokesperson

Ready.gov says to choose the spokesperson in advance and prepare talking points in plain, easy terms. CDC’s Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) guidance adds three points:

  • Pick a respected leader who understands the situation.
  • Train them before an emergency, so they are ready for hard questions.
  • Everything they say must match the organization’s other messages.

Step 2: Know your audiences

Ready.gov lists five audiences a business must reach: employees, customers, suppliers, management, and government officials and regulators. Add any that apply to you, such as building owners, insurers or the families of staff.

For each audience, write down:

  • What they will need to know
  • Who on your team contacts them
  • Which channel you will use

Step 3: Build contact lists and a contact tree

Ready.gov advises gathering contact details for each audience ahead of time. You can often export them from your customer, supplier and payroll systems. Each entry should include the organization, contact name, business phone, cell number and email.

Ready.gov also says the lists “should be updated regularly and secured.” Store a copy where you can reach it if the office and main systems are down.

Setting up a staff contact tree

A contact tree spreads the work so no one person has to call everyone.

  1. The incident lead contacts the role leads.
  2. Each role lead contacts three to five named staff members.
  3. Each staff member replies “safe” or reports a problem.
  4. Leads report back to the incident lead with a count.
  5. Anyone not reached is followed up by a backup person.

Use text first. FEMA and state emergency agencies note that text messages often get through when voice calls do not.

Step 4: Set up backup channels

Your normal channels may fail. Email may be down, phones jammed, or the office closed.

Plan at least two backups for each audience:

Channel Good for Weak point
Group text or mass text tool Fast alerts to staff Needs current cell numbers
Phone tree (calls) Confirming each person is safe Slow, and lines may be busy
Email Longer updates, customers Fails if your server or power is down
Website banner or status page Customers and the public Someone needs remote access
Social media Fast public updates Easy to post errors; needs approval rules
Voicemail greeting Callers to your main line Must be changeable from off site
Printed notice on the door Walk-in customers Only reaches people on site

Ready.gov describes two supporting setups. A contact center answers questions from customers, suppliers and media, using scripts and an FAQ. An information center uses your website, call center and notice boards to push updates out.

Step 5: Write message templates now

Ready.gov says messages can be pre-written as templates with blanks to fill in later. It advises that management approve them and that they be stored on a server you can reach remotely.

CDC’s CERC guidance says a good emergency message covers three things:

  1. What is happening and who is at risk
  2. What people should do to stay safe
  3. What you are doing and when the next update will come

Keep messages short, simple and direct. People under stress cannot take in much at once.

Template: first staff alert

[Company] alert, [time]: [what happened] at [location]. Do not come to [site] until further notice. Reply SAFE to this text. Next update by [time]. Questions: [name, number].

Template: first customer notice

We are dealing with [short description] at [location]. Everyone on site is [status, if confirmed]. [Service/orders] are [delayed/paused] until [time or “further notice”]. We will post the next update at [time] on [website/page]. Contact: [email/phone].

Template: holding statement for media

At [time] today, [short factual description]. Our first concern is the safety of [staff/customers/neighbors]. We are working with [fire department/officials]. We will share more information by [time]. Contact: [spokesperson name, number].

Ready.gov notes that early facts may be limited and will change. Messages should shift from the incident toward recovery over the following days and weeks. You can draft those recovery messages in advance too.

Step 6: Follow the CDC’s six principles

CDC’s CERC program lists six principles for crisis messages:

  • Be first. The first source people hear from often becomes their preferred source.
  • Be right. Say what you know, what you do not know yet, and what you are doing to find out.
  • Be credible. Do not hide bad news. Trust depends on honesty.
  • Express empathy. Say plainly that people are affected and that it matters.
  • Promote action. Give people clear things to do. It reduces fear.
  • Show respect. People feel vulnerable in a crisis. Respect builds cooperation.

A simple test before any message goes out: is it true, is it clear, and does it tell the reader what to do?

Step 7: Train and drill

Ready.gov says training is essential so everyone knows what to do. It also recommends regular sheltering and lockdown drills, and keeping records of who was trained and when.

Add communication to every drill:

  1. Run the staff contact tree and time how long it takes to reach everyone.
  2. Send a test message on each backup channel.
  3. Have the spokesperson practice the holding statement out loud.
  4. Change the voicemail greeting and website banner from off site.
  5. Run a short tabletop exercise: walk through a scenario, such as a fire overnight, and talk through each step.

Ready.gov notes that drills should also check whether staff can carry out their assigned roles.

Step 8: Review after every incident and drill

CDC’s CERC guidance says the last phase of a crisis is about sharing lessons learned and revising your communication plans. Hold a short after-action review within a few days. Ask four questions:

  1. What did we plan to happen?
  2. What actually happened?
  3. What went well, and why?
  4. What will we change, who owns the change, and by when?

Update the contact lists, templates and roles right away. Then note the date of the next drill.

Common mistakes

  • Several people speak to the media and give different facts
  • Contact lists stored only on the office server
  • No one can change the website or voicemail from home
  • Waiting for every fact before saying anything
  • Forgetting staff families, who will call asking for news

Crisis communication plan checklist

Staff should also have their own family communication plan and family emergency plan. People focus on work better when they know their families are safe.

Related guides

Sources

Surviving Disasters
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