The April Fools’ “crisis” that the Dayre team planned last week got me to reflect on all the crises I’ve gone through in my 10 years of business. The truth was harsh.
When the present me looks back at the younger inexperienced me and how he handled a crisis then, the present me shakes his head in disapproval. For this entry I’ve decided to pen down all my thoughts on what present me has learned about crisis management and how a leader should handle a crisis.
- Keep that anger in check
When a crisis hits and when you first hear about it, you feel your heart sink. It’s a mixture of disappointment, fear and anger. Why anger? Because in almost every crisis we face at work, the reason for the crisis is that somebody screwed up.
Here’s what bad managers do. They let the anger emotion overrule everything else and take it out on the staff or team member of theirs who made that mistake (to be fair I was guilty of this on more than one occasion in my younger years).
What should you be doing then? Well that’s point number 2.
2. Take a deep breath and a few seconds to manage your emotions
Acknowledge internally that shit is happening and a buffet of emotions are running through your head now. My father always tells me NEVER to make a decision when you’re emotionally charged and that’s exactly what we are in the first few minutes of being told there is a crisis. So calm down. Acknowledge the buffet of emotions going on in your head and control them.
3) Find out what went wrong, how and why
Ask your team questions. Find out exactly how what went wrong, went wrong. Who made the mistake and why? Remember that at this point the tone and manner in which you do that probing is important. Make it clear to the team that you are NOT trying to find out who is responsible so you can take it out on that person. You’re just trying to have a better understanding of the situation you’re in.
When a boat is sinking, the last thing you want to do is start a witch hunt on the crew. The first thing you gotta do though, is to plug that leak and to do that, you need everyone fully committed to that cause. A witch hunt or scolding only distracts everyone from that. Yes, you’re going to have to deal with the person who made that mistake, but not now. Wait till the crisis has passed.
In the mean time collect information and once you’ve done that, make a call.
4) Let your team handle it. Do not micromanage them.
This is the part I personally find hardest to do because at a time of crisis I tend to want to solve the problem myself. The truth is though, that’s NOT what a good leader or manager does.
A good leader recognizes that in every crisis there is an opportunity and the most obvious opportunity present is the opportunity for your team to learn how to handle crisis and overcome their own mistakes. So tell your team what to do, give them guidance then let them do their work.
Yes there may be a role for you as the leader to solve that problem, like maybe you talking to the client might carry more weight so do it but do that and just that. Leave the rest to your team.
5) Think about how this crisis has made you stronger
A crisis ALWAYS makes you and your team stronger. The many crises that Netccentric has had as a company has made us much stronger. We’ve had tech crisis in the past where we got hacked and these crisis exposed weaknesses that we no longer have today. We have crises that have tested us as leaders and pushed us to the limits but once we overcame it, we became better leaders, better people and a better company.
As the saying goes, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
So once the crisis has passed, reflect on how the crisis has made everyone stronger and when you get the chance to… share it.
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space