Not a Luxury, A Need: A Crisis Comms Plan

A crisis plan is often a neglected area of communications planning—until a crisis hits, leaving you scrambling. No organization–regardless of how outstanding its work–can escape reputational risk, and a poorly managed crisis can escalate quickly into a full-blown PR disaster.

No industry is immune. Consider the recent allegations in Hollywood involving Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni during the production of It Ends with Us. Have you been watching the volley of PR and crisis strategy happening in the last few weeks?

Or, on the corporate side, Boeing’s strategic communications team had a very busy 2024 managing crisis after crisis. (2025 isn’t starting much better.) The jury is still out on whether they will be able to earn back the trust of the public and their customers.

The Importance of Crisis Communications Planning

Both incidents above are examples of why you need a crisis plan in your front pocket.

A crisis can strike at any time and may come from within or externally. It may stem from poor employee decisions, operational disruptions, natural disasters, viral public accusations, or negative media attention.

Without a plan, you’re forced to respond reactively. This can lead to messaging that is inconsistent, too slow, or not well thought-out.

Every crisis is different, of course, but having a robust set of processes agreed upon by your leadership team and board in advance will save you valuable time and energy when you are in a situation that puts your organization’s reputation at risk. Your response can be the difference between permanent reputational damage or coming out stronger than before.

Get Started

At Clarity Channels Communications, the home of The EO Report, we have a detailed framework to ensure our clients are ready to respond when a crisis hits. This article provides some of the key consideration points to help start you on the path:

List your team and contacts (and make sure your team knows they’re on your crisis team). This will be your core group coordinating and ensuring accountability.

Educate your team about potential crises. Brainstorm your potential risk areas together and play out how they might unfold at each stage.

Integrate communication into your emergency response plans. Think through emergency areas for your organization. For example, if severe weather hits, what role does communication play in your response? What channel/s will you use to communicate to all audiences? Every organization has different emergency scenarios to consider.

Ensure your leadership team is prepared to quickly gather to assess and plan. How will decisions be made, and who will make them? How do you ensure decisions are aligned with your mission and values?

Prioritize goals. What is most important to your organization in times of emergencies? Maybe your organization has health and safety implications and that should be your number one goal. Maybe your goal is to maintain the trust of the public or protect your stakeholders. Know what is most important and plan accordingly.

Build strong relationships. Understand who your network of internal and external contacts is during a crisis.

A crisis plan is not a luxury; it’s a necessity.

While just an introduction, going through each of these steps will ensure you have some key details nailed down if disaster strikes.  

Next Steps Resources

• For more information, check out The EO Report’s Resources section and search “crisis” for articles like this one.  

• If you’re interested in an audit of your crisis communications plan and/or developing a full plan and need a partner, get in touch!

• Watch out for updates from The EO Report for an upcoming Crisis Communications Plan Workshop.

• Check out this recording of the University of Nebraska at Omaha Risk and Crisis Communication Practitioner Panel Workshop featuring:

  • Becky Kern – Warning Coordinator Meteorologist, NOAA/NWS

  • Todd Schmaderer, Chief of Police, Omaha Police Department

  • Bill O’Neill – Executive Director Strategic Communications, UNMC

  • Jay Martin– Director, School Safety and Security – Nebraska Department of Education

  • Erin Owen – President, Clarity Channels Communications

  • Dr. Tami Williams – College of Education, University of Nebraska at Omaha