How to Set a Successful Corporate Crisis Management Plan

Unfortunately, crises can happen.

Disruptive events like data breaches, product recalls, and workplace issues can devastate an unprepared organization. That’s why business crisis management is essential for staying resilient when the unexpected hits.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that businesses need to be proactively prepared with crisis management messaging. When things go sideways, you need a crisis management plan to keep your people safe and your business moving forward.

Let’s dig into crisis management plans and how to build your own.

What is a corporate management crisis plan?

Simply defined, a corporate crisis management plan is a document that outlines how to respond to a situation that could negatively affect your organization’s profitability, reputation, or ability to operate.

What kind of crises are we talking about? Generally, you define what constitutes a crisis in your written plan.

It can be anything from a natural disaster to a security breach, or even a significant product defect. Some examples include:

• Natural disasters (hurricanes and earthquakes)
• Serious climatic events (floods and snowstorms)
• Biologic risks (foodborne illnesses and pandemics)
• Accidental events (fires or hazardous spills)
• Intentional events (violence or robberies)
• Technological events (such as cyberattacks)

People under stress tend to make poor decisions that could unintentionally worsen a crisis. While it’s impossible to predict every outcome, having a basic plan to prevent safety issues, protect your brand reputation, and resume business is vital.

What makes a corporate crisis response plan successful?

A successful crisis response plan:

• Outlines a quick and appropriate response
• Prepares crisis management messaging
• Prioritizes the safety of employees and the public
• Prevents further problems after the initial crisis
• Minimizes operational disruptions
• Facilitates a fast recovery back to reasonable work conditions

How to create your corporate management crisis plan

Follow these steps to build your own crisis response plan.

1. Gather a crisis team

Creating these types of plans usually involves a few people from a crisis management team, but it’s best to have representatives from all affected departments.

Here are some departments to consider:

• Business continuity team
• Emergency management
• Crisis management team
• Public relations
• Customer-facing departments

2. Define what constitutes a crisis

What kind of crisis will your plan cover? It’s not unusual to create multiple types of crisis management plans for different situations.

For example, tackling an intentional event like a fire will require a very different response than a viral video of someone on your team behaving badly.

Lay out what your plan does and does not cover, and what will trigger your crisis management plan of action.

3. Identify risks through a risk assesment

Identify the risks your business is likely to face. If you work with a mostly remote workforce, you’re much more likely to deal with data breaches and cyberattacks than physical accidents. Only once you figure out your business’s weaknesses can you plan to address them.

4. Predict the business impacts

Once you know the risks, you address how they will affect your business. Always put physical safety as your top priority, but also consider other problems, such as a damaged reputation, lost sales, and customer attrition.

5. Put together your contingency plans

The bulk of your document is likely filled with your contingency planning. This is where you lay out what to do when business is disrupted, you lose power, there’s an accident, etc. Keep it simple with “If X, then Y” statements so that it’s clear and easy to follow.

6. Develop a communications strategy

It’s important to protect your brand during a crisis to prevent long-term damage. You need both internal and public-facing communications strategies for times of crisis.

For internal communications, ensure there’s an easy way to connect with everyone instantly. SMS/text messaging is a great way to send out bulk messages without relying on internet services (which could be down in a crisis). Assign a point person to ensure there’s no miscommunication or misinformation.

For external communications, always set the record straight. Be upfront and honest, and correct misinformation immediately to temper rumors.

7. Ongoing training and testing

A crisis plan is only effective if your team knows how to use it. Schedule regular training sessions to ensure every stakeholder understands their responsibilities, communication protocols, and emergency procedures. Run drills or tabletop exercises to test how the plan performs in real-world scenarios, identify gaps, and refine your processes. Revisit and update the plan after each training cycle, or anytime your organization, team structure, or risk profile changes, to keep it accurate and actionable.

8. Be accessible

One of our most important tips? Don’t turn off messaging. The last thing you want to do in the event of a public-facing crisis is cut off communications. It’s as good as hiding from the problem. (Also, don’t deny a problem when there is one.)

In addition, if your team is flooded with more calls and messages than they can handle, bring in short-term hires, expand your team with temporary outsourcing, and add additional channels, like Apple Messages for Business and WhatsApp, for customers to contact customer service.

It’s also the time to lean into customer service automation. Program customer service AI agents with your business crisis messaging to help relieve the burden on your customer service agents.

9. Finalize your crisis plan

Compile everything into a readily accessible document so that everyone knows their role and can react accordingly. A clear business crisis management plan ensures no one is left guessing during high-stakes moments.

Here’s what you should include:

• A list of your crises team members
• The assessment process for what constitutes a crisis
• Systems for monitoring a crisis
• Spokesperson and their contact information
• Emergency contacts
• Emergency response process
  • Evacuation plan
  • Specific responses to different types of crises
• Crisis management messaging
• Customer messaging strategy
  • Social media, customer service, etc.

Even after completing your crisis management plan, treat it like a living document. Update it annually, or when team roles change, new technology is implemented, or you open a new location.

What makes a crisis management plan effective?

1.  It’s concise. People in a crisis won’t have time to swipe through hundreds of pages to find what they need. Keep it short, scannable, and easy to follow.
2. Action-oriented. Your crisis plan isn’t the place to go over the company goals and why you thought the technology you purchased was better in line with your values. The simpler, the better.
3. Mobile-enabled. There’s no excuse for having a physical book for a crisis response plan. At the very least, have a PDF that’s mobile-enabled and searchable. The best option? Find a crisis management plan solution with the latest features for the best accessibility.

Why a Corporate Management Crisis Plan is Critical

• Minimizes damages: A well-prepared crisis plan helps your team respond quickly and strategically, reducing financial loss, reputational harm, and operational disruption. By having clear procedures in place, you contain problems before they escalate.
• Maintains operations: Even when business is disrupted, a crisis plan outlines how to keep essential functions running. It helps you prioritize critical workflows, delegate responsibilities, and stabilize operations until the situation is resolved.
• Keeps everyone on the same page: Confusion is one of the biggest risks during a crisis. A documented plan ensures every department knows their role, communication channels are clear, and decisions happen consistently and not chaotically.
• Ensures safety: Above all, a crisis plan protects your people. It provides guidance on evacuation, communication, and emergency protocols so employees, customers, and partners remain safe, informed, and supported throughout the event.

Don’t fail to plan

While one crisis is passing, the possibility of another is always on the horizon. Now that we know what to expect when the worst happens, we’ll all be better equipped to handle smaller problems as they arise.

The best way to prepare for the worst is to have a crisis plan your team knows inside and out, and the right technology to support it. Explore how an AI-powered contact center can keep your team connected, informed, and ready for anything

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)