Crisis Communication

Coordinating Team Communication During Incidents

Introduction

During incidents, multiple people are working on resolution, information flows rapidly, and chaos can easily emerge. Coordinating team communication ensures everyone has the information they need, work isn't duplicated, and clients receive clear, unified updates.

Why This Skill Matters

Uncoordinated incident response leads to duplicated effort, contradictory client communications, missed actions, and team frustration. Clear coordination enables efficient resolution and professional external communication.

Core Principles

  1. Designate incident commander - One person coordinates
  2. Establish single communication channel - Dedicated Slack channel, war room, etc.
  3. Separate internal from external communication - Team channel vs. client updates
  4. Document timeline - What happened when, what was tried
  5. Assign clear roles - Who's doing what
  6. Regular check-ins - Sync up every 30-60 minutes
  7. Single voice to client - Incident commander or designee

Good Examples

Internal coordination (in team incident channel):

"Incident Commander: @team here's status:

  • @Dev1 investigating database
  • @Dev2 checking application logs
  • @Dev3 on standby for deployment

Everyone: Post findings in thread. Sync call in 30 min.

I'll handle client communications - don't contact client directly."

Coordinated client update:

[Incident commander sends after gathering info from team]

"Update: Team has identified issue in database layer. Implementing fix now. ETA 30 minutes."

Why It Works

Clear roles, single channel, regular syncs, unified client communication.

Tips

  1. Create dedicated incident channel immediately
  2. One person owns client communication
  3. Use threads for specific investigation paths
  4. Document actions and findings in real-time
  5. Regular sync points keep everyone aligned
  6. After resolution, debrief: what worked, what didn't?
  7. Practice incident response with team drills

Connection to Other Skills

Requires crisis protocols, managing meeting dynamics, team coordination, clear written communication, staying calm under pressure, and instilling confidence through organized response.

Action Items

  • Create incident response channel template
  • Define incident commander role and rotation
  • Practice coordinating response in low-stakes drill
  • Create checklist: Assess, Assign, Communicate, Sync, Resolve
  • After incidents, review coordination effectiveness
Back to Topics