Every engagement starts the same way: with the right questions, asked by the right people.
FIELD GUIDE
Field guide · Crisis, issues and reputation
Crisis & Issues Field Guide
A crisis is a decision environment — not a writing problem.
Thirty-one pages for leaders, communicators, operations teams and counsel who have to make defensible choices while the facts, the audiences and the risks are all still moving. It covers the first sixty minutes, the first forty-eight hours, and everything that decides whether the organization recovers.
Use it three ways: before a crisis as a readiness system, during one as a decision and communications protocol, and afterwards as a recovery and learning framework.
Get the field guideWhat it is — and is not
A decision tool
It helps teams decide what to verify, who decides, when to escalate, what to say, and what to watch next.
A communications architecture
It connects internal briefings, public statements, digital channels, media, stakeholders and updates.
A rehearsal system
It includes triggers, scenarios and exercises so difficult choices are practiced before they become real.
Not legal advice
Notification, disclosure, privacy, employment and regulatory duties vary by jurisdiction and sector. Confirm them with counsel.
What is inside
Define
Define the situation before you define the message.
Read + Anticipate
Run the Artefact91 crisis decision loop.
Shared operating picture
One picture of the situation, not six versions of the truth.
Readiness
Build the response before you need the response.
Command
Name who decides — and who does not.
Severity + activation
Escalate by risk, velocity and uncertainty, not volume.
First 48 hours
Move fast without manufacturing certainty.
Hours 1–24
Turn verified facts into an aligned response posture.
Hours 24–48 + beyond
The second day is about proof, not repetition.
Message architecture
Write for comprehension under pressure.
Response posture
Match the response to responsibility, evidence and impact.
Stakeholders
Sequence by consequence and dependency, not prestige.
Misinformation + synthetic media
Do not let a false narrative set your agenda.
AI guardrails
Use AI to accelerate the workflow, never to invent the facts.
Spokesperson + media
The spokesperson's job is to be clear under uncertainty.
Accessible crisis information
A message that cannot be accessed is not a complete response.
Cyber + data incidents
Communications must move with the incident response.
Measurement
Measure whether the response improved the situation.
Recovery + learning
Recovery starts when you can show what changed.
Crisis Futures Lab
Rehearse the decisions, not just the press statement.
Field templates
Seven pages built to be used in the room.
Quick reference
The crisis card.
Templates built to be used in the room
Activation brief
Nine fields completed at the moment of activation.
Severity scorecard
Six dimensions scored 0–3, with override triggers.
Stakeholder sequence map
Who needs what, through which channel, by when.
Message + Q&A worksheet
Know, impact, action, unknown, instruction — plus the hard questions.
Decision log
Time, decision, evidence, confidence, approver, revisit trigger.
Information-threat tracker
Claim, source, reach, harm, verified, action, status.
After-action review
Ten questions to answer while the record is still usable.
The templates are compact by design. Copy them into your own workspace and pre-fill everything that can be known in advance.
What it is built on
Sources were reviewed for practical applicability and currency through September 2026. The Artefact91 tools in the guide are implementation devices, not claims that any single framework predicts crisis outcomes. Where guidance conflicts, the guide prioritizes safety, verification, proportionality, transparent uncertainty and explicit decision rights.
- ISO 22361:2022 — crisis management guidelines
- CDC — Crisis & Emergency Risk Communication (CERC)
- UK Government Communication Service — RESIST 3 (2025)
- CISA — incident-response and communications planning
- Ready.gov — emergency plans and crisis communications
- World Health Organization — risk communication and community engagement
- Situational Crisis Communication Theory (Coombs, 2022)
- Public Relations Review — corrective communication and online crisis response (2024)
- C2PA — Content Credentials provenance guidance
- Government of Canada — crisis content design checklist
General strategic communications guidance only. Adapt it to your jurisdiction, sector, governance and legal obligations. If you would rather rehearse the decisions than read about them, the crisis stress test runs in three minutes. Or bring us the situation you are facing.
