ROLES
Communication Lead (Comms)
The person responsible for all internal and external communication during an incident.
Communication Lead
The person responsible for all internal and external communication during an incident.
The Voice of the Incident
While the Incident Commander fights the fire, the Communication Lead manages the crowd. In a major outage, silence breeds panic. The Comms Lead ensures that everyone, from the CEO to the customer, knows what is happening, why, and when it will be fixed.
Core Responsibilities
- Status Page: Owns the public-facing status page updates.
- Internal Updates: Sends executive summaries (e.g., "Sev1 degraded performance, IC: Sarah, ETA: Unknown").
- Customer Support Liaison: Feeds talking points to the support team so they can handle tickets.
The Art of "Holding Statements"
Sometimes you don't know what's wrong. You still need to communicate.
- Bad: "We don't know what's happening."
- Good: "We are investigating an issue affecting login. Engineers are currently triaging the error rates. Next update in 30 minutes."
ExThe Viral Outage
"A social media platform went down. Users started spreading rumors of a hack on Twitter."
Impact
Stock price dropped 2% in an hour due to rumors.
Resolution
The Comms Lead posted a clear, technical explanation on the status page, debunking the hack rumors. Sentiment stabilized.
Why Communication Lead Matters
Keeps the IC focused on resolution, not explaining things.
Controls the narrative to prevent panic.
Ensures stakeholders (execs, customers) get timely updates.
Common Pitfalls
Radio Silence
Going dark makes people assume the worst.
Over-promising
Giving an optimisic ETA that you miss ("Just 5 mins!").
Technical Jargon
Telling customers "The Kafka consumer lagged" instead of "Message delivery is delayed".
How to Use Communication Lead
📝
Templates: Have pre-written templates for public status updates.
🚫
No Speculation: Never guess. Only communicate verified facts.
⏱️
Cadence: Update stakeholders every 30-60 mins consistently.
Related Terms
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a Comms Lead for every incident?
No. For SEV3/4, the IC can handle it. For SEV1/0, a dedicated Comms Lead is essential.
Can Marketing be the Comms Lead?
Yes, but they must be trained in *incident* comms, which is different from *marketing* comms. It must be factual, not spun.
How often should I update?
Every 30 minutes for Critical incidents, even if the update is just "Investigation continuing".