A guide to effective incident communication during incidents
Last updated
Most engineering teams often overlook the importance of communicating with customers during incidents. While your team is frantically trying to identify the root cause, your customers are simultaneously searching for your brand on the internet, asking questions such as "Is XYZ down?"
TL;DR
Effective incident communication is vital to maintaining customer trust during outages. This guide explains how to create clear status page updates by:
- Crafting Specific Titles: Use clear, detailed titles (e.g., "Increased API Response Times Impacting Data Retrieval") instead of vague labels.
- Writing Informative Updates: Include key details such as the incident start time, its impact, resolution steps, and expected next update.
- Setting Update Intervals: Regular, timely updates (e.g., every 15–20 minutes) reduce confusion and support inquiries.
This approach may not be optimal. Failure to communicate with customers during renewal periods may cause them to flinch. As an engineer, it’s okay to feel that they might understand the technical know-hows of what’s broken, but give them some information. If you are still in doubt how to, this guide will help you do exactly that.
The importance of incident communication
Be it your customers or your site reliability team, effective incident communication can keep everyone informed on what’s happening. Here’s what your team needs to know:
- The current status of the issue
- Steps to take towards resolution
- The actions taken and planning
While all this can effectively inform all the stakeholders, it can significantly reduce MTTR, potential costs, and productivity. Once you have this set up, here’s what your customers need to know:
- What’s going on?
- What are you doing about it?
- How does it affect them?
Once you curate the answers to them, it’s important that you keep your status page updated.
How to create an effective incident communication plan?
When an unplanned downtime happens, it’s a lot of chaos. Your team feels like they’re fixing a plane mid-flight, and everyone on the team is trying to find the resolution. While responding to a major incident is the key, there are some things that your team must prepare to respond effectively to your customers.
What’s the main point of contact?
Most likely, the main point of contact for your customers is the status page. It’s the first thing they will search for once they find an issue within your service or the application. Your status page must have the important information with timestamped updates by your on-call team during an incident.
Having a good, well-defined status page helps build trust with your customers and make them feel valued. Your team’s incident communication defines how transparent and committed you are to your customers. This page will be a record of all the incidents and even planned downtime, so your customers can have a reasonable and current idea of what’s causing the issue.
Who writes the message?
A straightforward answer to this question is—whoever's in command. If you follow the incident command system for your incident response lifecycle, your incident commander is the right person to send updates to the status page or assign someone from your team to do that.
Based on the information, they can decide who to update and how frequently the updates should go out.
How quickly should an update go out?
Try to be in your customers’ shoes and ask yourself. The answer is simple: as quickly as possible. You don’t have to worry about what details you will write, or you still have to understand what’s causing the issue. The first update can be as simple as:
Increased API Response Times
As long as they know there’s an issue, your inbox won’t get spammed with subject lines that sting like a bumblebee.
With that being said, you have to play it smart with fast and prompt incident communication. There’s no direct playbook for you to know, but with time, you’ll get a hold of this. Just make sure you send relevant updates that don't sound too vague for your customers.
How often should we update?
For the frequency of updates, you need to sit down with your team and decide on an appropriate interval based on the severity of the incident. A 15-20 minute interval is a fair starting point. But understand that time moves pretty fast during outages, and you have to ensure you’re not copy-pasting the same message. Be relevant and update only when you have information that helps.
And if you have a frequency of intervals going on and you need time from 20 minutes to an hour for the next update, make sure you state the current impact and ask your customers to wait for that specific time. A reasonable timeframe would help your customers ease stress while you also have one hand off-deck for an hour. Use this time to fix the issue and keep your fingers crossed.
Best practices for incident communication with your customers
Your status page update is the first thing your customers see during an incident. It needs to be clear, concise, and empathetic. Here are the key areas to focus on:
Crafting a clear and impactful title
Your title is the hook that tells customers, This matters to you. Avoid vague titles like Service Issues and instead use specific titles that describe the problem. For example:
- Bad Title:
Website Issues - Good Title:
Increased API Response Times Impacting Data Retrieval
A clear title helps customers quickly understand whether they need to pay attention and how the incident might affect them.
Writing informative, empathetic updates
When writing the body of your update, include these essential details:
- Provide the exact time the incident began, including the time zone.
- Clearly explain what parts of your service are affected and what remains unaffected.
- Outline what you’re doing to fix the issue and any estimated timelines.
- Tell customers when they can expect more information.
Keep your language simple and direct. Avoid technical jargon that might confuse non-technical users, and write with empathy.
Some general tips
1. Use a steady, friendly tone that reflects your brand's personality. This consistency reassures customers and makes your updates easier to follow.
2. Instead of repetitive phrases like "sorry for the inconvenience," focus on what you’re actively doing to resolve the issue. This approach shows accountability and professionalism.
3. If customers need to take any specific steps (like refreshing their page or following a workaround), clearly outline these actions. This empowers users to manage their own experience during the incident.
4. When appropriate, include charts, diagrams, or images that help explain the situation. Visuals can make complex information more digestible and quickly convey progress or impact.
5. After each incident, review your updates with your team. Gather feedback and adjust your templates and incident communication strategy to continually enhance clarity and effectiveness.
Incident communication template
Effective incident communication starts with a solid template. Having a pre-approved template ready for your team to use during incidents can significantly reduce response time and ensure consistency in your communications. Below is a comprehensive template you can adapt for your organization:
Initial Status Update
Follow-up Update
Resolution Update
Best Practices for Using This Template:
- Use clear, specific titles that describe the actual problem
- Be honest about what you know and don't know
- Update at consistent intervals (15-20 minutes during critical incidents)
- Write in simple, non-technical language for customer-facing updates
- Specify exactly which services are affected and which are working normally
- Include timestamps and time zones for all updates
- Acknowledge the impact on customers without overusing apologies
- Provide clear next steps and set expectations for further communication
Or here's a copy that you can download and save it.
How does Zenduty help with clear communication within teams during incidents?
While you have your status page updates sorted, you also need a tool that can enhance your incident response without having you switch between tabs. With Zenduty, you can streamline your incident communication without leaving Slack:
AI summarizer
Automatically generates a clear, concise incident summary at a glance. This helps your team quickly grasp the current status and share key points with customers.
AI querier
Easily extract specific details from complex incident payloads. No more sifting through endless logs. Simply ask and get the insights you need, directly within Slack.
Seamless slack integration
All these features work right inside Slack, so you can maintain real-time collaboration and efficient incident communication without switching platforms.
Learning from incidents with AI postmortem
Once the incident is resolved, the job isn’t done. Zenduty’s AI Postmortem automatically compiles a concise report that captures the incident timeline, root causes, and resolution steps.
Don’t let incidents undermine your team’s confidence or your service reputation. By establishing clear roles, streamlined incident communication channels, and robust processes, you can quickly detect, manage, and resolve issues while keeping your customers informed.
Ready to transform the way you handle incidents and build stronger customer trust? Experience the difference with Zenduty's 14-day free trial and see how effortless incident management can be.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about incident communication
1. What is incident communication and why is it crucial for customer trust?
Incident communication is the process of providing timely, clear, and accurate updates during IT service disruptions. It's crucial for customer trust because it demonstrates transparency and accountability. When customers know what's happening, how it affects them, and what you're doing to fix it, they feel valued and informed. Effective incident communication reduces confusion, minimizes support inquiries, and shows your commitment to service reliability, ultimately protecting your brand's reputation during challenging times.
2. How do you create an effective incident communication plan for your team?
Creating an effective incident communication plan involves several key steps. First, establish a central point of contact, typically your status page, where customers can get reliable information. Define clear roles, particularly who will serve as the incident commander responsible for updates. Develop templates for different severity levels to ensure consistency. Set guidelines for update frequency (typically every 15-20 minutes) and determine appropriate communication channels. Finally, ensure your plan includes procedures for both internal team coordination and external customer updates.
3. Who should be responsible for updating the status page during an incident?
The incident commander or a designated communication manager should be responsible for updating the status page during an incident. Following the incident command system, this person coordinates information from technical teams and translates it into clear, customer-friendly updates. The designated person should have enough technical understanding to accurately describe the issue but also the communication skills to explain it in non-technical terms. This role ensures consistent messaging and allows engineering teams to focus on resolving the underlying problem.
4. What essential information should be included in status page updates during an outage?
Status page updates during an outage should include: the exact time the incident began (with time zone); a clear description of what parts of your service are affected and what remains operational; the current impact on customers; steps being taken toward resolution; any workarounds customers can use; and when they can expect the next update. Use plain language that avoids technical jargon, maintain a consistent tone, and be transparent about the situation without overpromising on resolution times.
5. How frequently should you communicate with customers during a service incident?
During a service incident, updates should typically be provided every 15-20 minutes, especially in the early stages of a high-impact issue. As the situation evolves, you may adjust this frequency based on the severity of the incident and how quickly new information becomes available. Even when there's no significant progress to report, sending an update that acknowledges the ongoing issue helps maintain customer trust. If you need more time between updates, clearly communicate when customers can expect the next information.
6. What are the best practices for crafting clear and empathetic incident communications?
Best practices for incident communications include: using specific titles that clearly describe the issue; writing in plain, non-technical language; maintaining a consistent, empathetic tone; focusing on the impact to customers; providing actionable information and workarounds when possible; being transparent about the current situation without assigning blame; setting realistic expectations about resolution timelines; and including visual elements like charts or diagrams when they help clarify complex information. Avoid repetitive apologies and instead focus on what you're actively doing to resolve the issue.
7. How do you write specific and informative incident update titles that customers understand?
To write effective incident update titles, be specific about the affected service or functionality rather than using vague terms like "service issues." Include the impact in your title, such as "Increased API Response Times Impacting Data Retrieval" instead of just "API Issues." Use action-oriented language that indicates the current status (investigating, identified, mitigating, resolved), and ensure the title is understandable to non-technical users. This specificity helps customers quickly determine if the incident affects them and how seriously they should take it.
8. What communication channels should be prioritized during an incident response?
During an incident response, prioritize updating your status page first as it's typically the main point of contact for customers experiencing issues. Depending on the severity and scope of the incident, consider additional channels such as email notifications for critical updates, in-app messages for active users, and social media for widespread outages. For major incidents, proactive communication through multiple channels is recommended. Ensure messaging is consistent across all platforms and direct customers to your status page for the most current information.
9. How can AI tools streamline incident communication processes within teams?
AI tools can significantly streamline incident communication by automating key processes. Tools like AI summarizers can generate concise incident summaries from complex technical information, making it easier to craft customer-friendly updates. AI queriers allow teams to quickly extract specific details from incident data without manual searching. These tools, particularly when integrated with collaboration platforms like Slack, enable faster information sharing and more efficient coordination during incidents. After resolution, AI-powered postmortem tools can automatically compile comprehensive reports for team learning and improvement.
10. What role does the status page play in effective incident communication strategy?
The status page serves as the cornerstone of effective incident communication strategy. It provides a centralized, authoritative source of information that customers can reference during service disruptions. A well-maintained status page builds trust by demonstrating transparency and commitment to customer service. It should display real-time service status, historical incident records, and timestamped updates during active incidents. By directing customers to your status page, you can reduce support ticket volume while ensuring everyone has access to the same accurate information, allowing your team to focus on incident resolution.
Rohan Taneja
Writing words that make tech less confusing.
