Stop that “Two Weeeekssss” feeling

I have just had one of those “Two weeeeeks” moments experienced by Quaid in that iconic film Total Recall.?For some of my readers 1990 was nothing more than a twinkle in the eye of their father, but most of you will hopefully remember the battle of Quaid to determine who he is and what should he really be doing.

If you still haven’t a clue take a look at this You Tube video and see what us oldies used to watch when we were young,?the days when special effects were done mainly with animatronics and camera trickery.

Last week was one of those weeks where all hell broke loose.?Staff holidays combined with a large increase in orders due to the end of “Super Deduction”.?Despite warning the end of Super Deduction for 4 months people still waited until the closing hours to act. Add to this a significant server issue and by Friday it really did feel like I had squeezed “two weeks” into 2 days with my head exploding to finish the dramatic effect.

Over the weekend I began to unwind and reflect, what could I have done differently?

Is it possible that I had unintentionally set myself up for failure?

Could I have taken a different approach and made those 2 days of hell a super productive and energy positive experience?

How would I deal with it differently next time? (because there will always be a next time)

The answer I believe is in my own article on disaster planning. Disaster planning is all about thinking through any potential disaster and then recording what needs to be done and by whom.?Think of it as the rehearsal played out by emergency services every few months where a fictitious major incident is set in motion and crews respond and learn how to get the best outcome.

I now realise there is so much more I can improve under these sorts of circumstances and this has given me the momentum to revisit my own disaster planning document.?Over the next few weeks I will be referencing my notes and relating this to staff so they can help come up with a more resilient plan that will remove me from the equation altogether.?I then become a spare pair of eyes and hands if I am needed.

My question to you this week is:?What is the last disaster or emergency you had to deal with in your business and did you use it as an educational piece?