Our Brand is Crisis!

Managing by Crisis OR Crisis Management?? Which is good practice and which is bad!

Managing by crisis means that you do not plan well to the extent that you leave unexpected events, problems, interruptions and emergencies dictate your priorities and actions.  You do not think or plan ahead, but instead you wait for the problem to happen and then think of how to tackle and resolve it.  Some managers actually make crisis their routine instead of the exception. 

Crisis management on the other hand is the effective way of planning ahead for possible problems that might occur and how to deal with them if they do.  It is a crucial skill for effective managers to be able to plan ahead for possible unplanned events.  Not only that but even if something totally unplanned and unexpected happened how to effectively deal with it. 

To avoid managing by crisis you need to:

1. Plan, Plan and Plan…Think deeply and plan effectively to be able to predict all possible problems that could happen and be prepared to deal with them if they do.
2. Time plan well your teams’ schedules and balance the load.  Overloaded employees constantly create unexpected problems.
3. Differentiate between a small issue that can be resolved quickly and a real crisis that needs attention and handling.  Do not waste your time on small issues.
4. Know that when management by crisis becomes your routine and not an exception then there is a more fundamental issue that you have to deal with that is causing all these problems.  You must be doing something really wrong to have a crisis everyday.  “Do not just treat the symptoms, treat the underlying disease and prevent it from recurring”