The Crisis Management Team Checklist: 17 Steps When the CMT Convenes

The CEO must tell the chosen team clearly that the organisation is now in crisis mode. This single statement signals that the incident takes priority over everything else on the calendar.

The team will need to move fast, but not without the facts. More haste, less speed. A false alarm costs more than a slower, accurate one.

If it is a physical incident, such as a fire or an injury, the assessment is immediate. If it is media-based, think through how the story will actually look. Predict the headline, the images, the opening paragraph, and the social commentary that follows. What feels urgent inside the building is sometimes a non-event to everyone else. Once a story is out, the organisation cannot run or hide from it, so the team should consider whether publishing pre-emptively will mitigate the damage.

Be clear with the team on what success looks like. If the crisis is media-driven, the objective is usually to stop the story escalating. If it is financial, the objective is to stabilise the position. Each type of crisis calls for a different target, and the team needs to know which one it is solving.

Identify the groups the organisation needs to be sensitive to, including both supporters and critics. These are the people who will be affected by whatever tactics the team employs or whatever the organisation says publicly.

A crisis exposes weakness quickly, whether that is tension between a board and a CEO or a simple lack of confidence under pressure. Make adjustments early. A crisis is stressful enough without unresolved leadership friction compounding it. Ask what support the team can offer the board and the CEO directly.

For a period mid-crisis, the team may feel it has no friends. Support the spokespeople rather than second-guessing them unless that is genuinely your role, since the spokesperson is usually already their own harshest critic. Sometimes it is better to protect the CEO and nominate a different spokesperson instead, as a way of protecting the brand. Keep advisers and consultants in the background. People suspect manipulation when the advisers themselves become part of the story.

Work through the practical choices as a team: high profile or low profile, comment or no comment, proactive or reactive, spokesperson interviews or a media release, media or social media. These decisions shape everything that follows.

Above all, be honest. Avoid jargon and favour plain speaking, and understand that honesty and transparency are not the same thing. Speak to the audience through the journalist, not to the journalist as the audience. Every crisis response should cover three messages: the incident message setting out the facts and timeline, the organisation’s message restating its values and commitment, and, where appropriate, a personal message from the leader about their own feelings and commitment. Prepare for bear traps too, since journalists will be looking for other damaging angles. The messages need to be clear, concise, consistent, and constant. Repetition creates penetration, and penetration creates impact. One short quote is usually worth more than a lengthy explanation, and a useful grab runs seven to ten seconds, or twenty to thirty words.

If there are victims, confirm the team has spoken to them or their families. Check that empathy is genuinely conveyed in what the organisation says and does, not just implied.

Most crises involve some element of fault. The strongest apologies are simple, honest, and specific about who they are directed to. Say sorry and mean it, since audiences can tell when an apology is being used to deflect rather than to take responsibility. Then explain the next steps, such as an investigation, and how those steps will rebuild trust, for example by making the findings public. This is also where the longer reputation management picture starts, since how an apology lands often shapes recovery more than the incident itself.

The team that moves first often sets the media agenda for the day. Journalists and other stakeholders respect a response that is responsive without being reactive.

Stakeholders will be watching for visual and verbal cues about how things are going. Do not let the team get defensive, and watch the language used in explanations. Swapping “and” for “but” changes how an explanation lands.

Accuracy and honesty matter throughout. One well-chosen fact carries weight. Two or three facts, thrown in without structure, can confuse the message instead of reinforcing it.

Audiences listen to people they trust. The less conflicted an advocate is, the more credible their support becomes.

Internally, it is good practice to formally stand down a crisis plan once the situation has stabilised, so that people who dropped everything to help can return to their normal duties.

There is a short window after a crisis when a proper review is still possible. Waiting too long means people return to normal duties and lose the appetite to commit resources to fixing what caused the problem. A good review covers what went well and what did not, a recovery program, an ongoing media strategy, any government relations follow-up, continued briefings for key stakeholders, and a case study to share the lessons internally. This same discipline of sequencing a response is set out in more detail in our 5 steps of crisis management.