Once you have your team and communication channels ready to go, you need to be ready to communicate when things go wrong. We’ve compiled our favourite incident communication tips from 50 years of combined incident management experience:
Communicate early
Acknowledge the incident when you’re confident it’s a valid issue. It’s okay to be vague if you don’t have many details. Inform your audience that you’re investigating the problem and will provide more information as soon as you have it.
Update often
To keep all stakeholders informed, provide regular updates, even if progress is minimal. The more you communicate, the more you’ll reduce uncertainty and avoid negative speculation. Set a cadence for regular updates and stick to it.
Use plain language
Use simple, straightforward language that everyone can understand. Avoid technical jargon or overly complex explanations to ensure clarity and avoid confusion. Simple language builds trust and helps all stakeholders stay informed and aligned.
Bad: We’re experiencing high latency due to unexpected degradation in the load balancer throughput capacity. Our SREs are executing a rollback of the most recently deployment and initiating a phased failover to mitigate cascading failures across shards.
Good: We're currently experiencing slower system performance due to an issue with our servers. Our team is working to fix it by rolling back recent changes and shifting traffic to backup systems to prevent further problems.
Minimize panic with context
Sometimes, details about an incident are impossible to share because the information might not be available yet. However, whenever possible, provide context to help your audience understand the severity and scope of the incident. This helps reduce unnecessary worry.
Bad: Login functionality is currently down. We’re looking into it.
Good: We’re aware of an issue causing delays for some users when logging in. The issue appears to affect less than 10% users, primarily in the North American region.
Communicate workarounds
Share temporary fixes or alternative solutions users can use while the issue is being investigated and resolved. This minimizes the disruption for the customer and provides an immediate path forward.
Bad: Our payment system is down, and we’re working on a fix. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Good: We’re currently experiencing an issue with our payment system, and some transactions may not go through. You can still complete your purchase by using PayPal or selecting “Pay Later” at checkout. Thank you for your patience as we resolve this issue.
Focus on empathy
Empathy is a customer service superpower. Without it, customers feel that you don’t truly understand them. Acknowledge the impact on those affected, apologize when necessary, and show that you genuinely care about resolving the issue.
Bad: We’re aware of login issues and working on a fix. Stay tuned for more info.
Good: We’re aware of login issues accessing our web app. We know how important our service is to our customers, and we sincerely apologize for the disruption. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. We understand this may be frustrating and inconvenient and truly appreciate your patience as we work through this.
Be transparent
Transparency builds trust, even during challenging moments. Communicate what you know and acknowledge what you don’t. Avoid downplaying the situation, and provide honest updates to maintain trust.
Bad: Our website is experiencing technical difficulties due to an upstream provider issue. We will update you as soon as we know more.
Good: Our website is currently down due to an error introduced in a recent update. This issue was caused by a misconfiguration in our deployment tests, and we take full accountability for this mistake. Our team is working to resolve this as soon as possible
Explain what you’re doing
Share the steps your team has taken to resolve the issue so your audience knows you’re actively working on it. This gives them confidence your team is prioritizing a fix.
Bad: We’re aware the app isn’t loading, and we apologize for the inconvenience. Stay tuned for updates.
Good We’re aware that the app isn’t loading for some users. Our team has identified the issue as a server configuration error. We’re currently restarting affected servers and testing to push a fix out as soon as possible. If that doesn’t work, we’ll attempt a rollback. Check back within the hour for more info.
Set expectations for a resolution
Whenever possible, clearly communicate realistic timelines for resolution, even if it’s just an estimate. This helps customers make decisions and reduces frustration.
** Bad:** The file upload feature isn’t working, and we’re looking into the root cause of this. Thanks for your patience.
Good: We’re aware that the file upload feature isn’t currently functioning properly. Our team has identified the issue and is implementing a fix. We expect to have the feature fully operational within the next 3 hours. Thank you for your understanding.
Use templates
Communicating under pressure can be stressful. Create incident communication templates in advance to ensure clear, consistent, and professional messaging in the heat of the moment. Status page tools like Sorry™ offer the ability to create and store pre-written templates.
Practice
Run through mock incidents or “fire drills” using real-life scenarios. Use these practice scenarios to rehearse your communication process and refine anything. We recommend setting a monthly or quarterly calendar reminder to practice your incident response and communication plan.