--- title: "Briefing the Bosses: How to Keep the C-Suite Informed During a Crisis" description: Learn how to brief senior executives during a crisis with concise, candid updates that focus on business impact, decisions, and recovery. image: https://46330580.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/46330580/Crisis%20Executive%20Briefing%20Boardroom.png --- [Skip to content](https://mha-it.com/blog/executive-crisis-briefing#main-content) [![MHA by BCMMetrics - navy](https://46330580.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/46330580/hubfs/MHA%20by%20BCMMetrics%20-%20navy.png?width=245&height=54&name=MHA%20by%20BCMMetrics%20-%20navy.png "MHA by BCMMetrics - navy")](https://mha-it.com/) - [Our Consulting Services](https://mha-it.com/what-we-do) - [Business Continuity](https://mha-it.com/business-continuity) - [Crisis Management](https://mha-it.com/crisis-management) - [Disaster Recovery](https://mha-it.com/disaster-recovery-consulting-services) - [BCaaS](https://mha-it.com/bcaas) - [Program Augmentation](https://mha-it.com/program-augmentation) - [Training and Awareness](https://mha-it.com/training-awareness) - [Our BC Software](https://bcmmetrics.com/) - Resources - [Blog](https://mha-it.com/blog) - [News](https://mha-it.com/news) - [About Us](https://mha-it.com/who-we-are) - [Our Team](https://mha-it.com/our-team) - [Clients](https://mha-it.com/clients) - [In the Community](https://mha-it.com/in-the-community) [Contact Us](https://mha-it.com/contact) [![mhalogo](https://mha-it.com/hubfs/mhalogo.svg "mhalogo")](https://mha-it.com/) [Contact Us](https://mha-it.com/contact) [![mhalogo](https://mha-it.com/hubfs/mhalogo.svg "mhalogo")](https://mha-it.com/) - [Our Consulting Services](https://mha-it.com/what-we-do) - [Business Continuity](https://mha-it.com/business-continuity) - [Crisis Management](https://mha-it.com/crisis-management) - [Disaster Recovery](https://mha-it.com/disaster-recovery-consulting-services) - [BCaaS](https://mha-it.com/bcaas) - [Program Augmentation](https://mha-it.com/program-augmentation) - [Training and Awareness](https://mha-it.com/training-awareness) - [Our BC Software](https://bcmmetrics.com/) - Resources - [Blog](https://mha-it.com/blog) - [News](https://mha-it.com/news) - [About Us](https://mha-it.com/who-we-are) - [Our Team](https://mha-it.com/our-team) - [Clients](https://mha-it.com/clients) - [In the Community](https://mha-it.com/in-the-community) [Contact Us](https://mha-it.com/contact) [![mhalogo](https://mha-it.com/hubfs/mhalogo.svg "mhalogo")](https://mha-it.com/) [Contact Us](https://mha-it.com/contact) - [Our Consulting Services](https://mha-it.com/what-we-do) - [Business Continuity](https://mha-it.com/business-continuity) - [Crisis Management](https://mha-it.com/crisis-management) - [Disaster Recovery](https://mha-it.com/disaster-recovery-consulting-services) - [BCaaS](https://mha-it.com/bcaas) - [Program Augmentation](https://mha-it.com/program-augmentation) - [Training and Awareness](https://mha-it.com/training-awareness) - [Our BC Software](https://bcmmetrics.com/) - Resources - [Blog](https://mha-it.com/blog) - [News](https://mha-it.com/news) - [About Us](https://mha-it.com/who-we-are) - [Our Team](https://mha-it.com/our-team) - [Clients](https://mha-it.com/clients) - [In the Community](https://mha-it.com/in-the-community) [Contact Us](https://mha-it.com/contact) Crisis Management # Briefing the Bosses: How to Keep the C-Suite Informed During a Crisis Michael Herrera Published on: November 11, 2026 #### Relevant Contents #### Need Tailored Business Continuity Insights? Contact Us Now for Personalized Guidance! [Schedule a Free Consultation](https://mha-it.com/contact) When it comes to crisis management, there’s one activity of tremendous importance that rarely gets the attention it deserves: briefing senior leadership. This specialized responsibility, which can have a significant impact on how an organization navigates a crisis, should be assigned to someone able to make accurate and concise presentations to a tough audience. **Related:** [Want to Get Better at Crisis Management? Start with Culture](https://mha-it.com/blog/crisis-management-service-explained) **Summary** - Executive briefings are a critical but often mishandled part of crisis management. - The briefer should be able to distill complex information, translate it into business terms, and communicate calmly under pressure. - Briefings should be short, candid, focused on current status and business impact, and clear about what leadership needs to decide or do. ## The Overlooked Side of Crisis Management Countless words have been written advising organizations on how to practice effective crisis management. We at MHA have contributed our fair share (see our e-books Outages and Insights: Practical Lessons from 25 Years in Business Continuity and [Crisis Management: A Handbook for BCM Professionals](https://bcmmetrics.com/resources/crisis-management-handbook), as well as our frequent blogs on the topic). Most of these discussions, from MHA and others, tend to focus on such topics as selecting a crisis team leader, choosing which departments should be represented on the core crisis team, and applying the APIE framework (Assess the situation, Plan your response, Implement your response, and Evaluate your performance). All of these subjects deserve attention because an organization’s handling of them has a critical bearing on how well it navigates a crisis. However, the experiences of a number of MHA clients recently reminded me of an area of crisis management that is seldom discussed but routinely mishandled, usually to the organization’s detriment. I’m talking about how the crisis team briefs the senior executives about the emergency, a responsibility that crisis teams often treat as an afterthought. The main focus of most crisis teams, naturally enough, is on bringing the emergency under control. However, this approach often results in poor briefings, something that reflects negatively on the briefer and crisis team while also detracting from the organization’s ability to respond to the emergency. [![FREE DOWNLOAD](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/46330580/interactive-227178576703.png)](https://mha-it.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLJJbdzS2auFFzQ1EgUVpUj%2Bc%2FVF%2FKT9AV4Wpyt6kRrCEVCFnPx364ZPtegDgIeAxS9KVl%2BkdBNeXwGCnXIF0UgM5%2BkrSUPKV1Q7WJptrQTmRRjKw0fMznQvkg0b8TsJHTJoj13fV9W6x44J%2FfHSYFYHrIOUGJf%2FZ5yE5geElVE%2BMF12eggRQup4E3dTHB8cazNHu1Nr9PKcxErM29quWPlKIdySIJ6EBoeiy%2FHqbFmfI9gykHQkcJ1sfX%2FaAVHoVLufs%2BqBAmfza5NrcEvQqyD6Y0NVZUwQcv%2Bk8pjPDgbbAkj%2Bd5zGnohgry1UfcZgzqpy98NIjZsPSyA%3D&webInteractiveContentId=227178576703&portalId=46330580) ## Why the C-Suite Needs to Be in the Loop There is an important reason why crisis teams need to keep senior leadership informed about the ongoing status of the crisis. Top executives need an accurate picture of what’s happening and what it means for the organization so they can make informed decisions, set priorities, authorize resources, and address issues that may extend beyond the crisis team’s authority. Bad briefings impede the executives’ ability to carry out these critical tasks. Such briefings can also erode the leadership’s confidence in the crisis team’s ability to manage the emergency. What makes for a bad briefing? Presentations that go on too long, omit key information, include irrelevant information, lack clarity, and are delivered in an unconfident manner. Unfortunately, these faults, which result from the tendency of many crisis teams to treat these briefings as secondary, are all too common. The good news is that there are practical steps crisis teams can take to improve their briefings. ## How to Brief the Bosses There are a handful of steps crisis teams can take to sharpen up their executive briefings. The guidelines below touch on everything from scheduling to logistics, but most focus on the human aspects of the briefing, by far the most important factor. ### Choose the Right Person to Deliver the Briefing The crisis team leader typically selects the briefer, and the choice is critical. Making it requires being clear-eyed about what the job involves and finding someone who can fill it successfully. It’s more important that the person be a strong communicator than a technical wizard. This assignment requires mastering a large amount of complex information, extracting the critical points, and expressing them concisely and confidently to a tough audience. Typically, the audience will be people at the level of senior vice president, managing director, and above. The ability to remain calm and composed is key in this role since the executives are liable to be anything but. Ideally, the same person will conduct the briefings throughout the crisis. ### Train and Prepare in Advance Briefing executives is a skill that needs to be developed and practiced before an emergency occurs. Organizations should establish a protocol covering who will brief senior management, how often briefings will take place, and what they should include. Before each briefing, the designated person should use the APIE framework to organize their thinking about the crisis: assess the situation, plan the response, implement it, and evaluate progress. APIE can provide an effective spine for the eventual briefing. The brief should also anticipate the two or three issues senior executives are most concerned about. The briefer should be prepared to tell management what the crisis team needs—or that it needs nothing. ### Keep the Briefing Short and Focused Aim for no more than three minutes. Start by stating the date and time of the briefing and when the last update was given. Give a quick overview of the situation, and focus like a laser on the critical issues: people and safety, affected services, technology, business impact, recovery estimates, and anything requiring executive attention. There’s no need to recount everything that has happened. Less is more. What executives need to know is the emergency's current status, its implications, what the crisis team is doing about it, and any action required of them. Where possible, give executives a simple status picture: what’s green and on track, what’s yellow and needs watching, and what’s red and requires immediate attention. They should leave the briefing with a clear sense of where things stand and where their attention or intervention may be needed. ### Translate Operational and Technical Information Into Business Terms Don’t overwhelm executives with technical details. Explain what developments mean for the organization: Can customer service calls still be answered? Can products be distributed? Can essential operations continue? Be realistic about recovery estimates and their limitations. A technical fix in 48 hours, for example, doesn’t necessarily mean the business will be fully recovered in 48 hours. If a technical specialist is needed to explain something, the briefer should coach that person to avoid technical jargon and focus on business consequences. [![BUSINESS CONTINUITY REVIEW](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/46330580/interactive-227178576759.png)](https://mha-it.com/hs/cta/wi/redirect?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKBpmHVCEt2s%2B5A07CDLzcxBUrxc8GN5qP6%2Bh6wBNEDj6CLxkdbHRiALwz4WXtjqfWjwfhRRrujzi3GNYVU5Lb5rDPqT34I%2FXlpAgp5Q%2BDDhlmlfwkeiSxuvs1z7fwL7Q262bvfZg%3D%3D&webInteractiveContentId=227178576759&portalId=46330580) ### Be Candid, Composed, and Prepared for Tough Questions Don’t sugarcoat bad news or exaggerate progress. Be prepared for difficult questions, including challenges from frustrated executives who want to know why something hasn't been fixed or why progress is slower than expected. The briefer must be able to stand behind the information being presented and remain composed even when executives challenge it. If you don’t know the answer to a question, say so and commit to finding out. Don’t make promises or offer recovery estimates that the facts don’t support. ### Establish a Regular Briefing Schedule Briefing the leadership is not a one-and-done activity. Expect to make multiple briefings over the life of the emergency. Briefings will generally be more frequent at the beginning of a crisis and less frequent as things settle down. When it comes to the schedule and frequency of briefings, the crisis team should make a proposal and be open to adjustments requested by the leadership. ### Use Supporting Materials and Alternative Formats Selectively The best way to conduct executive briefings is face-to-face. Video conferencing is second-best. Simply sending written updates is generally not adequate. Executives are likely to have questions and need an opportunity to discuss developments. Written communication may be acceptable as the situation winds down. Photographs and videos showing aspects of the emergency and its impact can be effective, but generally these should be provided after the briefing rather than during the initial presentation, since they have a tendency to derail things. Following these guidelines will help ensure that senior executives receive the timely, accurate, and relevant information they need to make sound decisions, support the crisis response, and keep the organization moving toward recovery. ## Better Briefings, Better Decisions Effective crisis management involves more than assembling the right team and executing a sound response plan. It also requires keeping senior leadership informed through briefings that are concise, accurate, and focused on what matters most to the organization. The person delivering these briefings must be able to synthesize complex information, explain its business implications, answer tough questions, and communicate calmly under pressure. Done well, executive briefings help ensure that senior management can make informed decisions and provide the support needed to manage the crisis. If your organization needs help developing its crisis management capabilities, including preparing people to brief senior leadership effectively, contact MHA Consulting. We can help you strengthen your approach and improve your readiness to respond when an emergency occurs. ## Further Reading - [The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Crisis Managers](https://mha-it.com/blog/7-habits-of-highly-effective-crisis-managers) - [Thriving in the Hot Seat: Crisis Communication Do’s and Don’ts](https://bcmmetrics.com/blog/crisis-communication-dos-and-donts) - [Want to Get Better at Crisis Management? Start with Culture](https://mha-it.com/blog/crisis-management-service-explained) - [Take Your Pick: Which BC Consulting Approach Is Right for You?](https://mha-it.com/blog/business-continuity-consultant-engagement-model) - [Critical Assistance: How a Consultant Can Strengthen Your Crisis Management Program](https://mha-it.com/blog/cm-program-development) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why is briefing senior leadership an important part of crisis management? Executives need an accurate picture of the crisis to make informed decisions, set priorities, authorize resources, and address issues beyond the crisis team’s authority. ### Who should deliver executive briefings during a crisis? The crisis team leader should select someone with strong communication skills who can absorb complex information, identify the critical points, and present them clearly and confidently. Ideally, the same person handles the briefings throughout the crisis. ### How should someone prepare to brief senior executives? Organizations should establish a briefing protocol and train the designated briefer in advance. Before each briefing, the briefer should use the APIE framework to organize the information and anticipate the executives’ most pressing concerns. ### How long should an executive crisis briefing take, and what should it cover? Aim for no more than three minutes. Cover the current situation, people and safety, affected services and technology, business impact, recovery estimates, and anything requiring executive attention. Make clear what is on track, what is at risk, and what needs immediate attention. ### How should technical information be presented to senior executives? Translate technical developments into business consequences. Explain, for example, whether customers can still be served, products distributed, and essential operations maintained. Bring in technical specialists when needed, but prepare them to avoid jargon and focus on business implications. ### How often should crisis teams brief senior leadership, and what is the best format? Briefings should be more frequent early in a crisis and become less frequent as the situation stabilizes. Face-to-face meetings are best, followed by video conferences. Written updates alone are generally insufficient, particularly when executives need to ask questions or discuss developments. --- ![](https://mha-it.com/hubfs/Michael-Herrera-MHA-Consulting%201.png) #### Michael Herrera Michael Herrera is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MHA. In his role, Michael provides global leadership to the entire set of industry practices and horizontal capabilities within MHA. Under his leadership, MHA has become a leading provider of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery services to organizations on a global level. He is also the founder of BCMMETRICS, a leading cloud based tool designed to assess business continuity compliance and residual risk. Michael is a well-known and sought after speaker on Business Continuity issues at local and national contingency planner chapter meetings and conferences. Prior to founding MHA, he was a Regional VP for Bank of America, where he was responsible for Business Continuity across the southwest region. ## Start building a stronger future ##### Navigate uncertainty with an expert - schedule your free consultation with our CEO, Michael Herrera. [Schedule your consultation](https://mha-it.com/contact) ## Other resources you might enjoy ![The Difference Between Business Continuity and Insurance – Business Continuity 101](https://mha-it.com/hs-fs/hubfs/38.webp?height=245&name=38.webp) #### [The Difference Between Business Continuity and Insurance – Business Continuity 101](https://mha-it.com/blog/business-continuity-and-insurance) [Read More](https://mha-it.com/blog/business-continuity-and-insurance) ![The Benefits of a Business Continuity Program](https://46330580.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hub/46330580/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/the-hidden-benefits-of-starting-or-renewing-a-bcm-program-1.jpg?height=245&name=the-hidden-benefits-of-starting-or-renewing-a-bcm-program-1.jpg) #### [The Benefits of a Business Continuity Program](https://mha-it.com/blog/benefits-of-a-business-continuity-program) [Read More](https://mha-it.com/blog/benefits-of-a-business-continuity-program) ![adapting to change as a bcm professional](https://mha-it.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Adapting-to-Change-as-a-BCM-Professional.jpg?height=245&name=Adapting-to-Change-as-a-BCM-Professional.jpg) #### [The Times They Are a-Changin’: Adapting to Change as a BCM Professional](https://mha-it.com/blog/the-times-they-are-a-changin-adapting-to-change-as-a-bcm-professional) [Read More](https://mha-it.com/blog/the-times-they-are-a-changin-adapting-to-change-as-a-bcm-professional) ## Ready to start focusing on higher-level challenges? 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