Effectively Executing Crisis Management

We all run into the unexpected. How we manage it depends on prior experience and resources.  If we are familiar with a product or process, we can draw off of our knowledge base and develop a plan of action. It’s when we are unfamiliar with something that uncertainty and panic arise leading to stress and poor decision making.  Resources also come into play.  Even if we are fully familiar with something, if we don’t have access to adequate resources frustration and poor decision making will take over.  So how can we still manage difficult situations that we may be unfamiliar with, have inadequate resources to fix, or worse yet both?  Here are some ideas:

1. Determine your timeline to make the decision – even if it’s short - manage your time.
2. Understand what went wrong – sometimes we rush and try to solve the wrong problem.
3. Once the cause is determined assess your resources to fix it.
4. Explore options if adequate resources aren’t available.
5. Determine what else will be impacted before new crises emerge.
6. Plan and think through your course of action – it will help you gain confidence
7. Execute your plan of action in a focused and confident manner.

Failures in managing crisis situations often come from rushing into action caused by stress. Determining and managing your time to develop and execute a plan will help relieve some of that stress by putting you back in control.