BLUF for Crisis Communications

Background

One of the key issues with Crisis Management is clear and effective communications. a good set of principles are; ABC Accuracy, Brevity & Clarity. In the military, the BLUF approach (Bottom Line UP Front) is used and this is supported by the 5(W)HO system; Who, What, Where, When Why, How and the Outcome.

Crisis Management should be conducted using the same approach.

Who

Identify the individuals and their for in the  crisis. Who are the key players? What are their names and what are their roles?

What

Identify the crisis. What are the current circumstances and what is the situation you are trying to address, what is the issue your communicating about?

Where

Identify the location of the crisis, incident or situation. Where is the crisis taking place, the scope and the boundaries of the incident or crisis?

When

Identify the time of the crisis. When is the crisis taking place, when does the message relate to, what is the time-frame, validity, deadline for any task and the time that the outcome has to be reported back?

Why

Identify the reason for the crisis. Why is the crisis taking place, why is the communication being written?

How

Identify the solution. How do you propose to resolve the crisis, how is the outcome to be achieved or what is the effect being sought?

Objective

Identify the outcome of the communication or tasks being communicated. . What do you want to achieve What is the expected outcome?

Crisis management is a decision making process, many of the facets of Crisis Management are about Strategic Decision Support. It is not about standing back and watching events unfold. It is about taking control and steering events in the right direction. It is about influencing and changing the outcome of the crisis.

Crisis Management is an iterative process is about dealing with the current situation and dealing with preparing for the future, through lessons learned and feedback.

The use of keywords in the email subject line.

The first thing that your email recipient sees is your name and subject line, so it’s critical that the subject clearly states the purpose of the email, and specifically, what you want them to do with your note. 

A typical email subject could be [Classification][Operational Codeword] [Action Verb] [Subject]

Example 

(1)Subject: OFFICIAL /SUN BURST /DECISION - Supplies required

(2)Subject: OFFICIAL / SUN BURST / REQUEST - Information on current supply levels required

Military personnel use keywords that characterize the nature of the email in the subject. Some of these keywords include:

• ACTION – Compulsory for the recipient to take some action
• SIGN – Requires the signature of the recipient
• INFO – For informational purposes only, and there is no response or action required
• DECISION – Requires a decision by the recipient
• REQUEST – Seeks permission or approval by the recipient
• COORD – Coordination by or with the recipient is needed
• SITUATION - The following is a Situational Update
• REFERENCE - This email contains information to be indexed and stored
• AUTHORITY - This email contains the authority to execute a previous request
• UPDATE - This email contains an official update relating to the situation.
• CASCADE - This email is an official communications for cascade

This type of standardised reporting and control also means important emails and communications can be searched for by date and time to aid with context and sense making during the ongoing situation. 

References: 

[1] https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN32225-AR_25-50-003-WEB-6.pdf

[2] https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/ex-us-navy-officer-how-to-write-emails-with-military-precision.html

[4] https://rockcontent.com/blog/bluf-meaning/

[5] https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-write-email-with-military-precision