In our last blog we looked at what a crisis actually is, today we will examine how we move on when the dust begins to settle!
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water…
The first thing to remember is to NOT to unilaterally decide the crisis is over. Assess the situation, listen to your customers, suppliers, staff and other stakeholders as they are better placed to tell you when you can finally get back to business as usual.
A critical, but often overlooked part of managing the recovery is to “close the circle” i.e. learn lessons from the failing!
– The process of identifying lessons is one of highlighting, recording and sharing them.
– learning lessons is the cultural business of affecting change on the basis of those learnings.
It is always useful to have a Crisis Checklist to help things along: Here are some things to think about…
The lead up to a crisis…
- Don’t wait for it to find you; a proactive approach is needed.
- An open door policy; Create the conditions for your team to raise problems
- Be clear: what needs to be done and who needs to do it.
- Test your plans
In Response to a crisis…
- Information is key, keep everyone informed who needs to be informed.
- Co-ordinate the actions of all those involved
- Don’t assume
- Communication is central in a crisis
- Mistakes are inevitable, but make sure you correct them as quickly as possible – don’t hide them!
Recover…
- Identify the lessons
- Learn the lessons
- Maintain communication
- Invest in trust – with both staff and customers
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