How to Develop Your Organization’s Incident Communication Strategy

Whether it's a minor incident or a full-blown catastrophe, one thing's for sure – clear and organized incident communication is imperative. While it may seem as simple as sending an email during downtime, it goes beyond that. Without a well-thought-out incident management communication plan, there's a high risk of providing incomplete or inaccurate information to your stakeholders and can potentially result in poor customer satisfaction. 

But before you put together an incident communication strategy, you need to ask yourself these questions. 

• What exactly should you say in your communications? 
• Who should be the communicator? 
• And who needs to be informed of the incident?

Once you have answers for the above, read on to know how to formulate a successful incident communication strategy (we have some ready-to-use templates for you, too!).

Developing Your Incident Communication Strategy

While every organization is unique, fundamentals do not change and these are the key steps to creating a robust incident communication strategy:

1. Identify Key Stakeholders: Determine who needs to be informed during an incident. This can include employees, customers, partners, and senior management. 

2. Incident Categories: Categorize incidents based on their severity and develop response plans accordingly. Not all incidents require the same level of communication.

3. Team Roles and Responsibilities: Assign roles and responsibilities to your incident response team. Ensure everyone knows their duties and has the tools they need to perform them effectively.

4. Communication Channels: Decide which communication channels you will use. These could include email, SMS, social media, and dedicated incident communication platforms.

5. Message Content: Craft clear and concise messages that provide essential information without causing panic. Include the incident's nature, impact, and the steps being taken to resolve it.

6. Training and Drills: Regularly train your team and conduct drills to ensure that everyone is familiar with the incident communication plan.

As promised, here's a checklist you can follow to get started with incident response in your organization. This comprehensive plan covers details such as stakeholders, incident categories, the notification process, communication channels, templates you can use and more! 

Depending on the complexity and unique needs of your organization, you may need to expand and tailor your plan. Regularly reviewing and updating your incident response plan is crucial to ensure it remains effective in addressing emerging threats and incidents.

AstroStatus, The Perfect Fit for Your Incident Communication Strategy 

If you are looking to get started with incident communication, AstroStatus can be an indispensable tool in your communication strategy. With features like real-time alerts to predefined groups, centralized platform for incident updates, customizable templates for consistent messaging, seamless integration with third-party monitoring tools and more, AstroStatus is the game-changer your organization needs to make incident communication both efficient and effective.