By the end of this guide you’ll be able to
- Judge whether your crisis plan would survive contact with an actual crisis — including one that starts at 11pm on a Saturday
- Name every role that has to be filled in advance, and the deputy behind each one
- Separate what has to be true inside the first hour from what can wait until the first day
- Sequence stakeholders so that nobody who matters learns it from the news
- Run the review stage most organisations skip, and know what skipping it costs next time
How to use this checklist
Thirty questions, in the order a crisis actually unfolds: what should already be true before anything happens, who does what, the first hour, the first day, and the review afterwards. They are written to be answerable — each one is a yes or a no, not a matter of judgement.
Work through it with the people who would actually be in the room. A tick is only a tick if the person responsible agrees it is. Boxes stay ticked in this browser as you go, and the print button at the end produces the whole thing on paper for a meeting.
1. Before anything happens — the plan
A plan nobody has opened since it was written is a document, not a plan. These six ask whether yours would hold.
Before anything happens — the plan
2. People — who does what
Crises are lost in the gap between people assuming someone else has it. Name them now.
People — who does what
Free checklist
The whole thing as a two-page PDF — 30 items across five stages, with the scoring block, ready to take into a meeting.
3. The first hour
What you do in the first hour sets the shape of everything after it. Most of it can be prepared in advance.
The first hour
4. The first 24 hours
The first day is about sequence. Who hears what, in what order, and from whom.
The first 24 hours
5. Afterwards — the part everyone skips
The organisations that handle the second crisis well are the ones that finished the first.
Afterwards — the part everyone skips
What your score means
Count the ticks across all five stages. Thirty is the maximum, and almost nobody starts there.
- Under 20 ticks
- Most organisations are here — and most find out during the crisis. The gaps above are your priority list.
- 20–27
- The framework is there; testing and after-hours readiness are usually the weak points.
- 28+
- Well prepared. The remaining items are the ones that fail under pressure.
Whatever your score, if the phone is already ringing: 0408 207 256, answered 24/7.
How ready are you?
Thirty questions, five stages, two pages. If your executive team can tick most of them, you are better prepared than most Australian organisations. If they cannot, better to learn that this week than during the event.
Common questions
How often should a crisis plan be tested?
At least annually, and after any change that alters who is in the room — a new chief executive, a merger, a new regulator. A test can be a two-hour desktop walkthrough; it does not have to be a full simulation to be worth doing. The point is to find the gaps while they are cheap.
What is a holding statement, and what should it contain?
A short public statement issued before the facts are settled, so that the organisation is on the record while it establishes them. It confirms you are aware, says what you are doing about it, expresses appropriate concern, and commits to a next update. It does not speculate on cause, assign blame, or estimate what is not yet known.
Who should be the spokesperson in a crisis?
Someone senior enough that their presence signals the organisation is taking it seriously, trained recently enough to hold up under questioning, and not personally the subject of the story. That last condition is why every spokesperson needs a named deputy.
What happens if a crisis starts outside business hours?
Most do. The first hour still applies, which means after-hours contact details, an approval chain that can be reached at night, and advisers who answer. Ace Strategies answers around the clock on 0408 207 256.