6 Tips for Effective Crisis Management

Published on: 06 December 2018 Last Updated on: 19 July 2019
Effective Crisis Management

Whether you call it a disaster plan or a crisis plan, every company and organization needs to have detailed plans in place on how to respond to a worst-case scenario. This should be a team effort, not the product of one individual. Here are some tips for handling the nightmare situations you hope never occur.

Create a Team:

Create a Team

This is the very first step. Whether creating a team is to develop a plan from its inception or to manage a crisis when it occurs, it should involve multiple people with a firm grasp of their individual responsibilities.

Brainstorm What-Ifs:

Effective crisis management means having a plan in place before the crisis actually occurs. For example, Pittsburgh is ranked as one of the worst cities in the country for car accidents. Developing a “what-if” plan there might involve including the name of a Pittsburgh car accident lawyer.

Write it Down:

Every detail should be spelled out. While there might be more extensive information for crisis team managers, every employee should be familiar with the plan, including having a copy of what they need to do…or not to do. Along with writing it down is remembering to update it as employee information and technology change.

Manage Communication:

There are internal and external components to consider. Communication lines to inform employees of what to do and where to go need to be clearly established. However, companies and organizations also have to know how they will manage the story that goes out to the public. For example, many school systems establish protocols that allow only a district public information officer or a building administrator to communicate to the media. Effective communication sometimes also means controlling what and when information is released.

Be Honest and Open:

In an age when everyone has a phone to record events and information can quickly go viral via the internet and social media, it’s important to be as candid as possible in handling any sort of crisis that has the potential to become a public relations nightmare. First and foremost, keep your own employees informed. Be proactive with social media by frequently updating whatever services you use.

Assess and Train:

Your plan needs constant re-evaluation to be effective. Once a crisis is past, the team should assess what happened and any changes that need to be made as a result. In the wake of a crisis and as new employees come on board, it’s important to conduct training and drills to everyone remains up to date on how to respond.

Having an effective crisis management plan in place can mean the difference between your company recovering from a reputation-damaging event such as an oil spill or a criminal investigation and sustaining a blow that affects your bottom line for years to come.

Read Also:

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Family Business

4 Tips for Dealing with a Family Business in Divorce

Divorce brings a lot of problems in every part of your life. However, it makes the situation by dividing a family business particularly complicated. Therefore, you have to be prepared and get the necessary help before you start any legal proceedings. There are no avoiding problems when managing a family business in a divorce. However, you can minimize them if you go about it right. 1. Study your papers very closely : The first and most important thing to do is to get a professional lawyer to examine your business paperwork. They’ll need to see all agreements, contracts, and other papers that have some bearing on defining the ownership of the business. Note that these examinations might prove to be very surprising. For example, you might find out that some of your distant relatives become stock owners of the company. To prepare for any nasty surprises and develop a strategy for managing possible problems, you need to determine what those problems might be beforehand. 2. Consult as many different lawyers as you need : Employing the assistance of a divorce lawyer is essential when going through this process. However, in the point mentioned above, you might also need to consult a company lawyer with experience in family businesses. You’ll also be facing other issues that might require specialized legal assistance. For example, the division of assets during a divorce usually means you’ll need to get a lawyer specializing in foreclosure. If your family business is home-based, you’ll need all three experts’ help. Therefore, it’s usually best to employ a law firm with a versatile team. In case you already have a company lawyer, connect them with your divorce attorney. 3. Talk to a counselor before making any major business decisions : Roughly 95% of people who received marriage counseling state that they were extremely satisfied with the results. Note that this doesn’t mean they solved all their problems and chose to remain together. What counseling offers is assistance with finding the right direction to move on. When it comes to managing a family business in divorce, partners usually need to decide whether one will buy out the other’s share or if they can work together. Many people are able to maintain a successful business relationship even after a divorce. A counselor is a person who can help you determine if that would be the right choice for you. 4. If keeping the business, do not make any changes right away : If you are the partner who gets to keep the business, it might be tempting to ‘bury yourself in the work’. However, you should abstain from making any major changes or improvements until your divorce is legally complete. Otherwise, you’ll increase (or decrease) the value of your assets. This will make it necessary to renegotiate the entire ‘division of assets’ balance and can prolong the legal proceedings. This might also lose you a lot of money in the future and at the very least increase the lawyer’s fees. Managing a family business in a divorce is always a struggle. That’s why you shouldn’t rush and let your emotions dictate your decisions. Instead, focus on working through your current problems and get professional assistance whenever it’s needed. Read More : 1. Why Your Business Should Care About Social Responsibility 2. Why Lead Generation Is Essential For Business? 3. Resolutions To Help The Small Business Owners To Avoid Being Bankrupt

READ MOREDetails
Business Organized

5 Tools That Can Help You Get Your Business Organized

Keeping a business organized often feels like a futile task. There’s always something to do and it can feel impossible to take care of everything. Maintaining a high level of organization impacts everything about your company, from efficiency to effectiveness. You can’t afford to let your firm’s operations run away from you. But there are plenty of online tools available for you to manage every aspect of your business. We’re going to take a look at some of them now. 1. Slack :  Project management is often a battle in itself. Slack allows you to make sure that everyone knows what they’re doing and the progress of every project. You can collaborate on tasks of any size and create special boards where only certain members have access. Take full control of any project by assigning administrative privileges to your managers. It’s an easy way to manage your next project. 2. Profisee :  Talk about master data management and you might think that it’s just an IT thing. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Master data management is all about keeping the various bits of data within your business efficient, clean, and useful. Through proper master data management, you can find out the answers to important questions like, “Which of my customers are the most profitable?” Profisee makes it easy to understand what master data management is and how to begin implementing it in your small business. 3. Evernote : A big favorite among small business owners is Evernote. It organizes your thoughts on the go and enables you to keep track of everything. Furthermore, your notes can be organized and converted into a layout that’s suitable for presentations. The sheer number of different options for this is impressive. 4. Asana :  Virtual online businesses are becoming more common. Even brick and mortar businesses are turning to remote workers. But communicating by email can often be difficult. Asana allows you to communicate across the globe without the need for email. Conversations are organized based on a specific task. It can also double as a project management app if you prefer. This means you can assign people to specific tasks and receive status updates pinged to any WiFi-enabled device. 5. Tripit :  Business trips are a necessary evil. Tripit keeps everything from flight itineraries to hotel reservations in one place, and they’re tied to a calendar. Easily share these updates with your inner circle to allow them to plan around your visit to that client or the next big industry conference in Vegas. Last Word – How to Keep Your Business Organized : The organization isn’t just confined to a few areas of your company. This is the biggest mistake business owners tend to make. They often organize a single part of their business, such as their finances, but fail to properly manage the other parts of it. Inevitably, this leads to problems and invalidates their previous work. Don’t fall victim to that by picking up these five tools today. Do you have any tools you use to keep your business organized? Read Also : 7 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Mobile App How To Master Social Media For Businesses & Entrepreneurs Relocating Your Business To Downtown Toronto? Read This First

READ MOREDetails
Employee Retainment

The Role of Communication in Employee Retainment

One of the biggest challenges of running an organization is maintaining your employee base or employee retainment. If a company has frequent turnover, it may struggle to maintain its momentum. Nothing derails a company’s bottom line like having to train new employees frequently, as experienced employees perform better, but only skilled managers can keep employees long-term. How do you prevent employee turnover? Engaged employees are more likely to have good relationships with customers, and they’re likely to work better with teams. A lived-in dynamic is something you can’t replace. To keep employees happy, you need to make them feel valued and keep them from slipping into a slump. Here are a few ways to boost employee engagement and retention. 5 Important Roles of Communication in Employee Retainment 1. Communicating Strategic Decision Making Do your employees feel invested in the day-to-day decision-making of the company? If they feel like they’re simply carrying out someone else’s plan, they won’t be motivated to do their best. One of the best things that a company can do is keep its employees in the loop, whether it’s about major game-changing decisions or minor policy shifts. Making your employees feel like insiders will make it easier for them to invest in the company’s success. However, this provides some logistical challenges, especially for companies with a large number of employees. One of the best ways is to have an integrated in-office communications system, such as a VOIP or Voice over Internet Protocol network. This replaces an outdated phone system with a digital phone system that can be used anywhere. And if you asked, is there a free VOIP service? There are even free VOIP software and application options for companies switching over for the first time. 2. Communicating Motivation A motivated employee is willing to go above and beyond for the company. While some employees are motivated solely by pay and benefits, it’s more common for people to be seeking some higher fulfillment in their job. Many employees who don’t feel motivated might quit and raise their employee turnover rate. Still, it’s more common for unmotivated employees to simply do the bare minimum and not give the company the kind of bold ideas you’re looking for. So how does a company keep its employees motivated? The first step is realizing what they bring to the company and encouraging it. If an employee is showing skills in a specific area, point it out and give them the opportunity to use and hone those skills. Let them play a role in determining the company’s direction in those areas. You’ll have employee retainment with more motivation to succeed and a team that benefits from their expertise. 3. Communicate Success Publicly It’s easy for employees to become disenchanted with a job if they feel like they’re giving their best and never getting anything back. Employees need to feel the higher-ups value them, and this can be as simple as a thank-you or acknowledgment from the boss once in a while. However, when it comes to bigger wins - such as the conclusion of a major project or the signing of a big contract - bosses who don’t celebrate appropriately take the risk of massive resignation. Remember how much it meant in elementary school when you completed a major project and the class had a pizza party? That instinct for a reward to close out a challenging period persists into adulthood, and the rewards don’t need to be elaborate. What matters most is that the employees realize you see their success, you appreciate it, and you want to encourage them to keep giving their best to the company. 4. Communicate Feedback No one looks forward to the annual performance review, but employees must know where they’re succeeding and where they could still use some work. What matters is how it’s delivered. Too many companies deliver either generic feedback or focus too heavily on the negative and risk their employees leaving the meeting demoralized. Proper feedback is usually delivered within specific contexts, focuses on job expectations and responsibilities, and comes with concrete suggestions and ideas for how the employee can boost their skills. This not only leaves the employee with a positive impression but gives them something to work towards as they enter the next phase of their employment. 5. Long-Term Success The employee retainment challenge is that you often don’t know there’s a problem until they leave. That’s why it’s important to be proactive. These four tips will help to create a happier and more motivated workplace. Read Also: Can an Employee Claim for a Personal Injury When Working From Home? 5 ways employee perks can dramatically enhance your personal life What Is Employee Leasing? Overview And Explained In 2021 Why In-Company Training Results in Better Employees

READ MOREDetails