Don't panic in a crisis..

For many businesses, the last few years has certainly been amongst the most disruptive. Good crisis management skills are a competence that business leaders need, to deal with unplanned situations of all shapes and sizes.

What ultimately makes the biggest difference to the ongoing success of the business, is how the leader deals with the crisis, how they engage their people, and how they communicate with their team, customers, and suppliers.

Although each crisis situation is unique, having a simple process to follow will remove stress and allow the leaders to operate more effectively.  By following these 7 step recommendations, leaders can efficiently find resolutions and provide the best outcome for all stakeholders.

1.      A positive mindset and a crisis management process will allow leaders to deal efficiently and effectively with the situation, and to protect the business and customers. Once over the shock, frustration, or disappointment of what has occurred swift action is needed. Putting your head in the sand and expecting the situation to change is not likely to work. Swift well-considered action and communication is always the best option.

2.      Don’t try to handle the crisis alone. Get all the help you can from your team or network and use the individual skills and experience you have available to delegate specific areas or actions to the best and most suitable individuals.

3.      Keep ahead of the crisis by considering the worst-case scenarios as well as your anticipated outcome. Consider what you can do to prevent the worst outcomes from becoming a reality.

4.      Get the best out of your team, and encourage creative thinking from all individuals, as often the best and most creative solutions come from those on the front line. Provide encouragement and support and allow the individuals to excel.

5.      Keep your customer focus and make sure you do everything possible to reduce the impact of the crisis on them.     

6.      Provide regular, open, and honest communications to your team, suppliers and customers.  Tell them what has happened, the actions you are taking and what they can expect by when. This communication needs to provide clarity, confidence and a sense of calm.

7.       Once the crisis is resolved, make sure you give recognition to the team that supported you and understand how the crisis occurred and what can be done to prevent similar situations in the future. If you have handled the situation well you will typically find that engagement from customers, suppliers and your team will be even stronger as a result.