How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan is a question organisations should answer before they face serious public scrutiny. When a crisis develops, there is rarely enough time to decide...
How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan is a question organisations should answer before they face serious public scrutiny. When a crisis develops, there is rarely enough time to decide from scratch who should speak, what should be said, which stakeholders need to hear from the organisation first, and who has authority to approve a response.
A crisis communication plan provides that structure in advance.
For Australian organisations, the objective is not to predict every event that might occur. It is to create a practical framework that helps leadership teams communicate quickly, accurately and consistently when normal decision-making becomes more difficult.
What Is a Crisis Communication Plan?
A crisis communication plan is a documented framework that explains how an organisation will manage information and communicate with stakeholders during a serious incident.
It should define:
- who is responsible for crisis communication
- who can approve public statements
- who is authorised to speak publicly
- which stakeholders need to be contacted
- which communication channels should be used
- how information will be verified
- when an issue should be escalated
- how updates will be coordinated
The plan should sit within the organisation’s broader reputation and crisis preparedness framework. Feur’s Reputation & Crisis Management Advisory helps organisations establish crisis preparedness frameworks, communication protocols, stakeholder maps and escalation paths before a serious incident occurs.
How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan Step by Step
Understanding how to create a crisis communication plan begins with identifying the risks most likely to place the organisation under pressure.
There is no universal crisis plan that works for every business.
A financial institution may need to prepare for data breaches, fraud or regulatory investigations. A manufacturer may be more exposed to product safety incidents. A consumer brand may need plans for product recalls, customer harm or rapid social media escalation.
The framework should reflect the organisation’s actual risk environment.
1. Identify Potential Crisis Scenarios
Begin with a crisis risk assessment.
List the events that could create significant operational, reputational, regulatory or stakeholder consequences.
Potential scenarios may include:
- cyber attacks and data breaches
- product recalls
- workplace incidents
- executive misconduct
- regulatory investigations
- major service outages
- customer safety incidents
- misinformation
- supply chain disruption
- serious social media controversies
Assess each scenario based on likelihood and potential impact.
The objective is not to create a script for every possible event. It is to understand the types of pressure the organisation may face and prepare decision-making frameworks accordingly.
2. Establish the Crisis Communication Team
One of the most important elements when considering how to create a crisis communication plan is defining who will make decisions.
A crisis communication team may include representatives from:
- executive leadership
- communications
- legal
- operations
- human resources
- customer service
- technology
- risk and compliance
Responsibilities should be established before an incident occurs.
Everyone involved should know who has final decision-making authority, who prepares messages, who verifies facts and who communicates with each stakeholder group.
Without clear ownership, valuable time can be lost while teams debate who is responsible.
3. Define Escalation Thresholds
Not every complaint or negative comment is a crisis.
Organisations need clear escalation criteria so employees know when an issue should move from normal operational management into formal crisis response.
Possible escalation indicators include:
- risk to public or employee safety
- significant customer impact
- regulatory involvement
- intense or growing media attention
- senior leadership involvement
- rapid social media amplification
- serious financial consequences
- risk of prolonged operational disruption
Feur’s guide to Reputation Management vs Crisis Management explains why distinguishing an everyday reputational issue from a genuine crisis is essential to choosing the right response.
Clear thresholds reduce both delayed responses and unnecessary escalation.
4. Map Your Stakeholders
A crisis affects different audiences in different ways.
Stakeholders may include:
- employees
- customers
- suppliers
- investors
- regulators
- business partners
- journalists
- local communities
- government bodies
The plan should identify who needs information, what they need to know and how they should receive it.
Employees may need operational instructions before customers receive a public announcement.
Regulators may require detailed factual information.
Journalists may need a verified statement and access to an authorised spokesperson.
Stakeholder mapping helps prevent situations where important audiences learn critical information through media reports before hearing directly from the organisation.
5. Create a Messaging Framework
Strong crisis communication requires consistency.
That does not mean every stakeholder receives exactly the same message. It means every communication should be based on the same verified facts and core position.
A crisis messaging framework should answer:
What happened?
What do we know?
Who has been affected?
What is the organisation doing?
What should stakeholders do now?
When will more information be available?
Where information remains uncertain, say so.
It is usually safer to acknowledge what is not yet known than to provide premature information that later needs to be corrected.
A broader Content & Communication Strategy can support this process by establishing messaging hierarchies, communication workflows and consistent organisational language before a crisis occurs.
6. Prepare Holding Statements and Templates
When an incident first becomes public, organisations may not yet have all the information required for a detailed response.
A holding statement allows the organisation to acknowledge the situation while facts are still being established.
Templates can be prepared for common scenarios, including:
- media statements
- customer emails
- employee updates
- website notices
- social media posts
- supplier communications
- executive messages
Templates should never become rigid scripts.
Their purpose is to reduce drafting time and ensure that essential information is not forgotten under pressure.
7. Define Your Media Response Process
Media attention can significantly increase pressure during a crisis.
Your plan should establish:
- who handles journalist enquiries
- who is authorised to give interviews
- how interview requests are assessed
- where approved statements are stored
- how media coverage is monitored
- how inaccurate information will be addressed
Strong PR & Media Relations before a crisis can make communication easier because relationships, spokesperson processes and media protocols are already established.
Trying to build those relationships for the first time during a high-pressure event creates an unnecessary disadvantage.
8. Decide Which Channels Will Be Used
Different crises require different communication channels.
Potential channels include:
- company website
- SMS
- social media
- internal messaging platforms
- media statements
- direct stakeholder calls
The crisis communication plan should specify which channels are appropriate for different stakeholder groups.
It should also include backup methods in case a primary communication channel becomes unavailable during the incident.
The objective is to avoid relying on a single platform for communication when stakeholders may need urgent information.
9. Create an Approval Process That Can Move Quickly
Normal approval processes are often too slow for crisis situations.
If every statement requires multiple rounds of review across numerous departments, the organisation may remain silent while speculation fills the information gap.
The plan should establish an accelerated approval pathway.
Legal, executive and communications teams should understand what they are responsible for reviewing and when final approval is required.
Speed matters, but accuracy matters more.
The objective is a process that achieves both.
10. Test the Crisis Communication Plan
A plan that has never been tested contains assumptions.
Scenario exercises allow organisations to discover weaknesses before a genuine crisis exposes them.
A simulation might test:
- whether the crisis team can be contacted quickly
- whether responsibilities are understood
- how rapidly a holding statement can be approved
- whether stakeholder contact information is current
- whether communication channels work as expected
- whether spokespersons are prepared for questioning
Testing is one of the most important stages of learning how to create a crisis communication plan that works in practice rather than only on paper.
The plan should also be reviewed after significant organisational changes and after any real incident.
How to Create a Crisis Communication Plan That Remains Effective
Creating the document is only the beginning.
Businesses change. Leadership teams change. Communication platforms evolve. Customer expectations shift and new risks emerge.
A crisis communication plan should therefore be reviewed regularly rather than stored away until an emergency occurs.
Contact lists should remain current, templates should reflect the organisation’s latest messaging, and new risks should be incorporated into scenario planning.
Organisations should also review their broader reputation management approach because crisis preparedness is most effective when it sits within an ongoing framework for monitoring and protecting stakeholder trust.
Build the Plan Before You Need It
Knowing how to create a crisis communication plan means recognising that many of the most important decisions should be made before a crisis begins. Clear roles, escalation protocols, stakeholder maps, messaging frameworks and tested response procedures give leadership teams a stronger foundation when time and information are limited.
Feur Media House helps Australian organisations build practical crisis preparedness frameworks that connect reputation strategy, stakeholder communication and response planning. If your organisation needs to understand how to create a crisis communication plan that can be activated confidently under pressure, start a conversation with Feur and build the framework before it is tested by a real event.