This document provides guidance on good practice for crisis management to help the strategic decision makers of an organization to plan, implement, establish, operate, monitor, review, maintain and continually improve a crisis management capability. It is intended for any organization regardless of location, size, type, industry, structure, or sector. This document provides guidance for: — understanding the context and challenges of crisis management; — developing an organization’s crisis management capability through preparedness (see 5.5); — recognizing the complexities facing a crisis team in action; — communicating successfully during a crisis; and — reviewing and learning. It is intended for management with strategic responsibilities for the delivery of a crisis management capability. It is for those who operate under the direction and within policy of top management in: — implementing the crisis plans and structures; and — maintaining and assuring the procedures associated with the capability. It is not intended for emergency and incident response - these require the application of operational procedures whereas crisis management relies on an adaptive, agile, and flexible strategic response). It does not cover interoperability or command and control or business continuity management systems. While it is important to be aware of human and cultural factors as they can cause stress when working as individuals and as part of groups, it is not the purpose of this document to examine aspects of these areas in detail.