Crisis Communication for Boards: Introducing a New Handbook from the Crisis Communications Network 

Hold the date! Join us on 11 September for an exclusive pre-launch preview of Crisis Communication for Boards, written and published by the CIPR Crisis Communications Network. 

Our new handbook, which is published by CIPR in association with the Institute of Directors (IoD), promises to shift how directors, trustees and non-executives think about the role strategic communication plays in crisis management, reframing it as a core governance responsibility and explaining how it sits alongside risk oversight, fiduciary duty and long-term value creation. The handbook challenges established assumptions, establishing a more progressive view of what effective board leadership should look like in an age of permacrisis.

Structured around the full crisis lifecycle, the handbook takes a broad, strategic perspective whilst also providing templates for best practice, and a collection of special features and case studies from leading academics and practitioners from around the globe.

Structured around the full crisis lifecycle, the handbook takes a broad, strategic perspective whilst also providing templates for best practice, and a collection of special features and case studies from leading academics and practitioners from around the globe. It takes readers from risk mitigation and management to response and recovery, setting out the role that boards can play in strengthening their organisations’ resilience over time.

Readers of the handbook can expect insight into:

• What effective crisis readiness really looks like at board level

• Why reputational risk should never be a secondary concern

• The realities of decision-making under pressure, scrutiny and uncertainty

• How tone, empathy and leadership behaviour shape outcomes in the public

• Why many crisis responses fall short — and what boards can do differently

No crisis can be managed without communication

Strategic communication is the golden thread that runs through everything, from risk management to culture, accountability and trust. It is a core governance responsibility which connects boardroom thinking to stakeholder confidence. For many boards, this concept may feel like a shift in emphasis. But in an environment where reputational capital and trust can be lost in hours and only rebuilt over years, it is a shift whose time has clearly come.

In moments of crisis, organisations are judged not just on what has happened, but on how they respond. Words, decisions and actions are inseparable and boards set the tone.

The new handbook emphasises judgment over process, clarity over complexity, and the importance of integrity. It challenges boards to think about how they will lead when the pressure is highest and the information least certain.

The new handbook speaks directly to that reality. It emphasises judgment over process, clarity over complexity, and the importance of integrity. It challenges boards to think about how they will lead when the pressure is highest and the information least certain.

Why this matters now

We are living and working in an age of permacrisis, where issues escalate quickly, stakeholders are more vocal and the margin for error is slim.

Against that backdrop, boards cannot afford to treat communication as something that can be delegated or improvised. It demands strategic thought, preparation, alignment and active ownership at the highest level.

Join us for the exclusive pre-launch preview on 11 September 2026 at 1.00-2.30 BST

The handbook will be formally launched on Monday 14 September.  Join our panel at an exclusive pre-launch preview on Friday 11 September to find out more about the handbook, including its case studies and special features, and to find out why strategic communications is such a critical governance capability. 

If you sit on a board — or advise those who do — this is a conversation you will not want to miss.

Register here to receive your free copy of the handbook before the formal launch date.

Author: Katherine Sykes, Co-Chair, CIPR Crisis Communications Network