Crises or disasters can and likely will occur in any business or industry. No matter the size and type of a business-related crisis, proper management is crucial in guiding the company through it. Management involves appropriately addressing the issue, controlling damage, and preventing future concerns. Handling a critical event requires multifaceted approaches from qualified leaders. A mismanaged crisis can end a business. Specific skills, including adaptability and creativity, are necessary for a leader to handle a business disaster.
What Is Crisis Management?
When a business experiences a transgression, disaster, or emergency, crisis management determines how it responds to and handles these problems. A critical event can severely impact the business’s future, workforce, or customers. Examples include any business during the COVID-19 pandemic, an oil company experiencing an environmental oil spill, or a nursing home handling an elder abuse case caused by an employee. A crisis can happen at anytime for any reason, and a business can minimize the risk and impact of critical events by ensuring it has the skills and leadership to handle the concerns appropriately.
1. Communicative
When a critical event occurs in a business, communication is arguably the most important skill a business leader can have. Companies must address their customers, victims, and the general public to explain why and how the event occurred. They must accept responsibility and communicate how the business will avoid it in the future. Many crises require cooperation with law enforcement, medical professionals, politicians, and attorneys; consistent and effective communication skills can make processes go smoother. For example, nursing home attorneys who are transparent with elder abuse victims, like Nursing Home Law Center, can resolve cases quickly and fairly.
2. Emotionally Intelligent
Emotional intelligence involves addressing and managing emotions healthily, including in high-stress situations. When a business is going through a critical emergency, leaders must remain calm and reduce confusion around the problem. When a leader can’t properly handle their emotions, it can add difficulty in addressing and resolving the problem. Emotionally intelligent leaders can channel the public’s concern or stress into proactive solutions for everyone.
3. Honest
While it may be tempting for a business to cover up or diminish affected people’s experiences during a crisis, it is unethical. Dishonesty can further tarnish a business’s status or reputation when uncovered. When a crisis threatens public safety, employee job security, and the future of a business, honesty is crucial in helping individuals involved know what they’re facing. A business leader’s truthfulness will also lead to proper accountability and addressing of the issue, which makes it easier to resolve and put in the past.
4. Adaptable
When a business is undergoing an emergency, unexpected changes can be frequent and drastic. When a leader is adaptable to these changes, it can guide a business and those affected through them smoothly, reducing the impact of the emergency. Companies must be prepared to go with the flow during an unexpected event to recover. The COVID-19 pandemic is an excellent example of why adaptability through curfews, shutdowns, and regulation changes is necessary regardless of industry.
5. Creative
An emergency requires more than quick thinking—sometimes, a leader must think outside the box. There are many circumstances where traditional approaches and responses may not be adequate. They must also be open to suggestions and solutions from external sources, including their employees. Using a question of the day for work is a great example of enabling creativity and feedback in an open forum. Open-minded approaches can combine innovative solutions with multiple perspectives to determine how to handle a crisis. Creativity also complements other skills required for crisis management, such as adaptability.
Real Crises
Many can think of at least a few real-life business emergencies or crises, even in recent memory. The COVID-19 pandemic severely impacted and even shut down many promising businesses. BP had to address and manage its infamous oil spill, which still harms the ecosystem today. Tragically, Amazon warehouse employees were killed in a tornado disaster, impacting business’ weather emergency responses. Some crises have more minor impacts, such as the Ticketmaster Taylor Swift ticket website crash, Twitter (X) outages, or the Slack platform outage. No matter the size of the critical event, quick, adequate, and adaptable responses and solutions are vital to minimizing their impact.
Conclusion
A crisis or critical event in a business can take many forms, such as employee misconduct, global pandemics, or environmental emergencies. How leaders and managers handle these crises can determine whether a company will survive the storm. Many vital skills, such as effective communication and adaptability, can provide a successful transition during an emergency. Honesty is also the best policy when managing any type of transgression.
