Assignment Description: Crisis Communication

Earn up to 1,000 XP, due April 26

Working in your established guild teams, you will develop a focused communication plan that addresses a crisis scenario. This assignment emphasizes the human element of business communication, particularly in challenging situations where AI tools may be insufficient. While the scenarios are fictional (drawn from our RPG sessions), your strategies should demonstrate professional-quality planning and awareness of crisis communication best practices.

Learning Objectives:

• Develop crisis communication strategies

• Practice team-based strategic planning

• Apply rhetorical principles to challenging situations

• Balance human and technological approaches

• Create professional documentation

This assignment supports the following Course Learning Outcomes:

1. Apply rhetorical principles to analyze and adapt communication for diverse business audiences, purposes, and contexts.
2. Produce professional-quality documents in various business genres, demonstrating mastery of conventions and best practices.
3. Collaborate effectively in team environments to create, review, and revise business communications.
5. Evaluate and integrate appropriate technologies to enhance business communication effectiveness.
6. Design and implement strategic communication plans that address complex business challenges.

Assignment Components:

1. 1.

   Situation Analysis (300-400 words)

• Overview of crisis scenario

• Stakeholder mapping

• Communication challenges

• Current resources/constraints

• Technology assessment

1. 1.

   Strategic Framework (300-400 words)

• Communication objectives

• Key messages for the scenario

• Target audiences

• Channel strategy

1. 1.

   Crisis Response Portfolio (400-500 words plus message samples)

• Rhetorical strategy for each response

• Sample messages for different stakeholders (3-4 per scenario)

• Channel selection rationale

• Timing considerations

• Message templates demonstrating:

• Tone adaptation

• Channel-specific formatting

• Stakeholder sensitivity

• Clear action items

• Professional voice

For example, a data breach scenario might include:

• Internal memo to employees

• Email to affected customers

• Press release for media

• Social media response strategy
  
  

1. 1.

   Collaboration Record (150-250 words per team member)

• Each team member will draft a brief statement summarizing their contribution to the development and writing of this report. 

• Because this project is a group assignment on Canvas, only one team member will need to upload the document. Thus, this section, with summaries from each team member, needs to be included at the end of the report itself.

Format Requirements:

• Professional business formatting

• Clear headings and organization

• Visual elements as needed

• Clearly labeled message templates