Standard Operating Procedures
Standard Operating Procedures for Crisis Management
This prompt helps operations teams create SOPs for managing crises, such as natural disasters, cybersecurity threats, or product recalls. It focuses on ensuring clear roles, rapid responses, and effective communication to minimize disruption and protect stakeholders.
Responsible:
Operations
Accountable, Informed or Consulted:
Operations, Engineering, HR, Customer Success, Legal
THE PREP
Creating effective prompts involves tailoring them with detailed, relevant information and uploading documents that provide the best context. Prompts act as a framework to guide the response, but specificity and customization ensure the most accurate and helpful results. Use these prep tips to get the most out of this prompt:
Identify potential crises the organization might face and their likely impact.
Gather input from leadership and key stakeholders on response expectations.
Review existing tools or systems for monitoring and managing crises.
THE PROMPT
Help create a standard operating procedure for managing crises in [specific context, e.g., cybersecurity breaches or product defects]. Focus on:
Crisis Identification: Recommending initial steps, such as, ‘Define clear criteria for identifying crises and assign responsibility for initial detection and escalation.’
Response Team Activation: Suggesting coordination, like, ‘Designate a crisis response team with defined roles, such as incident commander, communication lead, and technical expert, to coordinate efforts.’
Immediate Actions: Proposing containment measures, such as, ‘Document actions to mitigate the immediate impact, like isolating affected systems or issuing initial public statements.’
Communication Protocols: Including transparency, such as, ‘Set up internal and external communication plans to provide timely updates to stakeholders while maintaining consistency and accuracy.’
Post-Crisis Review: Recommending evaluation, such as, ‘Conduct a detailed post-mortem to identify root causes, evaluate the response, and update the SOP to prevent similar crises in the future.’
Provide a comprehensive SOP for managing crises, ensuring clarity and efficiency in response and communication. If additional details about the type of crises or organizational context are needed, ask clarifying questions to refine the SOP.
Bonus Add-On Prompts
Propose strategies for testing crisis management SOPs with tabletop exercises or simulations.
Suggest methods for integrating crisis response workflows with tools like Slack, PagerDuty, or Everbridge.
Highlight techniques for documenting lessons learned and creating action plans for future crises.
Use AI responsibly by verifying its outputs, as it may occasionally generate inaccurate or incomplete information. Treat AI as a tool to support your decision-making, ensuring human oversight and professional judgment for critical or sensitive use cases.
SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE
Focus on crisis SOPs for specific areas, like IT security or supply chain disruptions.
Include tips for coordinating with external agencies or partners during crises.
Propose ways to automate alerts and notifications for faster crisis response.
Highlight tools like Jira or Confluence for tracking response actions and timelines.
Add suggestions for incorporating regulatory requirements into the SOP.
WHEN TO USE
To ensure preparedness and rapid response during critical incidents.
During organizational risk management initiatives or after a major crisis.
When aligning crisis protocols across multiple departments.
WHEN NOT TO USE
For minor incidents that do not require formal crisis management.
If the crisis response plan is already robust and up-to-date.