Template

Crisis meeting template

When something serious has gone wrong: get the facts straight, decide the first actions and who leads, and agree what to tell staff, customers and anyone else affected — fast.

30 minutesFor The people who can decide and act now: a leader, the people closest to the problem, and communicationsAgenda room
Change the agenda first

The agenda, with a time for each part

  1. What we know, and what we do not7 min
    • What exactly has happened, and how sure are we?
  2. Who is affected and how badly6 min
    • Who is hurt, at risk or about to find out?
  3. First actions8 min
    • What do we do in the next hour, and who does it?
  4. What we say, and to whom6 min
    • Who must hear from us first, and what do we say?
  5. When we meet again3 min
    • When is the next update, and who leads until then?

How the notes read afterwards

A made-up example, so you can see the shape. In a real call each line carries the words that were said and who said them.

Known. Customer emails were sent to the wrong customers between 9:10 and 9:45 — about 300 people.

Not known yet. Whether any attachments were included.

Actions. Stop all outgoing email (Ali, now). Check the logs for attachments (Sun, by 11:00).

Say. Apology to the affected customers by 13:00 (Maya). Next update at 12:00.

Running it well

Ways to change it

Ongoing crisisFifteen minutes, twice a day, same agenda, until it is over.
After it is overHold a separate review a week later to learn from it, without blame.

When to skip it. Never — but keep it to people who must act; everyone else gets the written update.

Questions

What should happen in a crisis meeting?

Establish the facts, assess who is affected, agree immediate actions and owners, decide what to communicate to whom, and set the next update time.

Who should be in a crisis meeting?

The people who can make decisions and act now, those with first-hand knowledge of the problem, and whoever handles communications — and as few others as possible.

How often should a crisis team meet?

As often as the situation changes — often every few hours at first — with a fixed time for each update.

What happens in the room

Everybody joins from the link, with no account. The agenda sits beside the call and each item fills in with what was said about it, under the name of the person who said it.

More templates

Tactical meetingA short, regular team meeting that clears the operational issues stopping work this week — one issue at a time, ending each with a next action and an owner.Governance meetingChange how the team is organised — its roles, who decides what, and its policies — through proposals that each get a fair hearing and a clear result.Department heads meetingThe people who run each department meet to line up across departments: what each needs from the others, where they collide, and the decisions only they can make together.Cross-team syncTwo or more teams whose work touches meet briefly to keep hand-offs on track: what each is about to deliver, what each is waiting on, and what changed.Budget planning meetingBuild next year's budget: what income you can count on, what each team needs to hit its goals, where the two do not match, and the trade-offs that close the gap.Daily standupFifteen minutes, three questions, everybody once.Weekly team meetingThe numbers, everybody's one priority, and the decisions that cannot wait.All-hands meetingThe whole company in one call: where things stand, what is next, and any question people want to ask.

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