Article by: Sara Pantaleo
When a crisis occurs, it’s essential to have an idea of the different elements you’ll face. You need an open mind and be receptive so you can quickly respond with action when required, most during times of surprise and threat!
Managing crises is essential to ensuring that organisations, their stakeholders and the general public are not harmed. A successful response to a suddenly developing situation will help avoid or lessen any negative impacts on these groups that could result from being handled poorly.
Crisis can take many different forms-from natural disasters like floods, a network data breach or even a public relations type crisis due to an ignorant social media post.
A plan to best deal with emergency elements is the key to minimising crisis event severity.
The key elements that make up a crisis are:
Threat to the business
The first step in preventing damage from occurring to an organisation begins with finding where those risks lie regarding possible future threats. Anticipating threats will help reduce the impact of any threats that may arise. A threat is a critical element of a crisis so dire that it will require swift action to see your business come out the other side in a positive light rather than a negative one.
Element of surprise
Despite the best preparation and crisis management planning, it will still take you by surprise when an emergency occurs. Often we think something can’t possibly affect our business until it does. The element of surprise makes responding tricky territory without a plan and often results in a poor public image due to how an incident was handled. A solid crisis management plan ensures a better outcome and often improved loyalty to your brand due to the proactive handling of the situation.
Short decision time
The short decision time that comes with an emergency often causes organisations to slip up when making decisions under such pressure. A crisis management plan ensures you know when to trigger a response and what response is needed. It will ensure no mistakes are made due to responding on the go.
As a business coach and mentor, we can help you create a crisis management plan and prepare your business to be prepared.