For decades, one statistic hasn’t changed: only about half of organizations have any kind of crisis plan. For the rest, let’s be honest—hope is the strategy. And that’s a problem. It is time to make the case for planning and preparedness.
Today’s crises aren’t rare, headline-grabbing events. They’re operational failures, technology breakdowns, and cyber incidents that escalate quickly into reputational and financial damage. And they’re happening more often.
Take the recent Verizon outage. Voice, text, and data services were disrupted across the U.S., and in some cases, even access to emergency services was affected. This wasn’t just an inconvenience—it became a trust and safety issue. Organizations were left asking: how do we communicate when our primary communication channels are down?
Then there’s the steady drumbeat of cyber incidents. Beyond operational disruption, these events now have immediate financial consequences. Stock prices react. Customers leave. Regulators step in. What starts as an IT issue quickly becomes an enterprise-wide crisis.
Across all of these examples, one thing is clear: the organizations that respond best aren’t improvising. They’ve already defined roles, aligned leadership, prepared messaging, and built backup communication channels.
That’s the business case.
Crisis planning isn’t a “nice to have” sitting in communications. It’s a core risk management function that protects operations, reputation, and enterprise value. It speeds decision-making, reduces confusion, and helps leaders act with confidence when it matters most.
If you don’t have a plan—or haven’t tested it recently—now is the time. Start simple. Define roles. Build message templates. Establish a source of truth. Then put it to the test.
Because when the next disruption hits—and it will—you won’t have time to build a plan. You’ll only have time to execute one.
