T10 Crisis communications playbook
Crisis communications playbook
Who does what in the first hours of a service or reputational issue involving Redwood Mobility, from the moment it is flagged to the first public statement. Maintained by Clear Current for the Redwood account team and Redwood's communications leadership. Read this before an issue happens, not during one.
Sample template: the firm, people, clients and figures are fictional and shown for illustration only.
How fast we answer today
Against the agreed 24 hour turnaround, availability and service area questions are answered well inside it, while company leadership questions run 26 hours late. In a crisis, leadership questions are the ones reporters ask first, so they need a named owner before anything happens.
Severity levels
| Level | Definition | Example | Response time | Who activates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1, Monitor | Isolated complaint or social mention, no safety element | A rider posts about a delayed pickup | Within 1 business day | Account team, no client call needed |
| 2, Manage | Recurring complaint pattern or a local media question | A reporter asks about the service area | Within 24 hours, the agreed turnaround | Grant Wells notifies Alice Kim |
| 3, Crisis | Service interruption, safety question or a story with regulatory attention | A service interruption affecting riders in one city | Within 30 minutes | Alice Kim or the on-call operations lead; this playbook activates in full |
| 4, Severe crisis | Several cities affected, regulator involved or an ongoing safety risk | A fleet-wide safety recall | Immediately | Alice Kim, with Clear Current's managing director joined |
Deciding what you are dealing with
flowchart TD
A[Issue reported to anyone on either team] --> B{Rider safety or service interruption involved?}
B -- Yes --> C{Confirmed and ongoing?}
B -- No --> D{Media or regulator already asking?}
C -- Yes, several cities --> E[Level 4: Severe crisis]
C -- Yes, contained --> F[Level 3: Crisis]
D -- Yes --> G[Level 2: Manage]
D -- No --> H[Level 1: Monitor]
E --> I[Activate full playbook]
F --> I
G --> J[Grant Wells notifies Alice Kim]
H --> K[Log and monitor]
The first hour, Level 3 or 4
What we learned on Aug 19
The last activation
Product and operations confirmed the service interruption, but restoration timing was still uncertain, so a time estimate would have outrun verified facts. Alice approved version 4 of the statement with confirmed facts, customer guidance and no restoration promise, and the spokesperson released that exact version before the deadline. The resolution update waits until operations confirms restoration.
Spokespeople
No one else at Redwood speaks to media or posts publicly about an active Level 3 or 4 issue. Staff direct every inquiry to Alice Kim's office, and the spokesperson reads only the version Alice approved.
Never do these during an active crisis
Do not give a restoration time before operations confirms it. Do not say "no comment"; use the approved statement instead. Do not release any version other than the one Alice approved, even with small wording changes. Do not post on Redwood's social channels without Grant Wells's sign-off.
Statement template
We are aware of [brief factual description] affecting [confirmed scope]. Rider
[safety / service] is our first priority, and we are [confirmed action taken].
Riders can [customer guidance]. We will share verified updates as soon as
operations confirms them.
Fill only what is confirmed. Do not estimate scope, cause or restoration time; those come in the resolution update once verified.
If asked a question the statement does not answer
The spokesperson says: "We are confirming that now and will share verified information as soon as we have it." Log the question with its topic, so the team can see which topics are running past the 24 hour turnaround.
After the statement
| Task | Owner | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Monitor media and social mentions | Imani Brooks | Continuous for 24 hours |
| Log every media question by topic | Imani Brooks | Same day |
| Prepare the resolution update with verified facts | Grant Wells, with Alice Kim | Once operations confirms restoration |
| Debrief and update this playbook | Grant Wells and Alice Kim | Within 5 business days of resolution |
Readiness
Gap: company leadership questions have no named owner and run 26 hours past the agreed turnaround. Owner: Grant Wells to agree an owner with Alice Kim before the next account meeting on Oct 14.
Escalation contacts
- Alice Kim, Communications Director: activation authority and approval owner.
- Grant Wells, Account Director, Clear Current: media liaison, on the account emergency line.
- Imani Brooks, Campaign Lead, Clear Current: monitoring and the media question log.
- Clear Current managing director: joins automatically for any Level 4 activation.
- Redwood operations lead: confirms facts and restoration before any update is released.
How to use this template
Duplicate this page per client with a crisis-prone profile and review it at least twice a year. If a required value is missing, mark it Needs review; never leave a spokesperson or activation authority blank.
| Variable | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
{{client.name}} | Client this playbook covers | Required |
{{severity.matrix}} | Severity levels, definitions and response times | Required |
{{spokesperson.approval_owner}} | Named approval owner for every statement | Required |
{{statement.template}} | Statement template with fill-in fields | Required |
{{response.turnaround}} | Agreed media question turnaround | Required |
{{escalation.contacts}} | Full escalation contact list | Required |
{{activation.last_date}} | Date of the last real activation or drill | Optional |
The live response times and activity come from the Dashboards app for this client. Review and re-issue this playbook after every activation.