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The Crisis Intelligence Blog

Free Issues Management Response Flow Chart (For Your Use)

22 May

Effective issues management is a hot topic these days, which makes sense considering that every week presents us with another organization in need of putting their issues management to practice.

When it comes to your organization’s issues management, equipping your frontline with a response flow chart is essential. A good response flow chart will:

  • Provide your team with a visual reference to help them assess any given situation.
  • Guide your team to effectively manage any type of issue that may arise online.
  • Clearly indicate when to jump in and respond and when to escalate the situation to the crisis management team.

But when it comes to response flow charts, in my experience, most organizations create them for practical everyday use (in other words, how to address negative and unacceptable comments), but don’t address the higher level issues that a) can fast-develop, and b) require more attention to detail and guidance to your team.

That said, Agnes + Day has created a response flow chart specific for issues management for you to use.

We’ve created an issues management response flow chart for you!

Our issues management response flow chart was designed to help your frontline:

  • Assess the severity (or potential severity) of each issue in real-time.
  • Determine the necessary actions that need to be taken (whether it needs a response, to simply be monitored or to be escalated to the crisis team).
  • Create appropriate messaging for responding to issues.

Here’s a preview (you can click the below image to download the .pdf version of this document):

issues-management-flow-chart-image

Remember! It’s only one piece of the puzzle

Of course this response flow chart is only one piece of the puzzle. In order to use it effectively, you will also need the following (but hey, you should already have this stuff detailed out if you’re currently active on social media – and even if you aren’t!):

  • What an issue is (vs. a crisis) and means to your organization
  • The red flags that indicate an issue is developing or has developed
  • Issues management plan and procedures (including do’s, don’ts, tone of voice, etc.)
  • Social media guidelines

Download your copy of our issues management response flow chart

So, if you’re interested in using the issues management response flow chart that our team has created, simply download it by clicking the below link.

Download here: Issues Management Response Flow Chart by Agnes + Day

P.S. We’d love to hear what you think of this response flow chart, and if it has helped your team effectively manage issues. Feel free to give us your feedback and share your stories in the comments section below, or via email.

Workshop: Effective Issues Management in this Digital Age

Learn how to identify issues in the early stages, assess the risk that they present to your organization, prevent them from escalating into crises and, most importantly, transform them into powerful PR opportunities for your organization. Learn more here.

6 Responses to “Free Issues Management Response Flow Chart (For Your Use)”

  1. Richard Hall May 23, 2014 at 9:48 am #

    Thanks Melissa, yet again a great post….and a free chart – I'm all for not re-inventing the wheel! :o)
    I've posted a link to this on our corporate Yammer pages, suggesting our Communications colleagues read it, so hopefully you'll get some more hits.

    • Melissa Agnes May 23, 2014 at 10:07 am #

      Thanks, Richard! I appreciate you sharing it and I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it. My hope is that it will help guide organizations in the right direction for their issues management. A simple chart like this (when done right) can go a long way in guiding the frontline towards the right actions and responses in a less-than-pleasant situation.

  2. kerry May 25, 2014 at 9:15 pm #

    My team is examining how we might apply this in our processes. Thank you for starting the important conversaton.

    • Melissa Agnes May 25, 2014 at 10:34 pm #

      I'm so glad to hear that, Kerry! If you have any questions along the way, don't hesitate to reach out. Best of luck and have fun!

  3. Sarah Barnett May 28, 2014 at 12:15 pm #

    This is really great – definitely sharing it!!!

    • Melissa Agnes May 28, 2014 at 12:19 pm #

      Glad you like it, Sarah – and thanks for sharing it along :)

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