You can develop the skills to help your company be prepared before a crisis arises.
Companies are facing more and more crises, whether they are natural or manmade. Organizations have to be prepared to quickly navigate through incidents that run the gamut from terrorist attacks to workplace violence to cyber attacks.
While some companies have dedicated crisis management professionals, you don’t have to be the designated person that is responsible for mitigation efforts. You can develop the skills and judgment to be an asset to your organization thereby demonstrating your leadership. Here are four ways you can cultivate crisis management skills so that your company is prepared:
1. Understand the context of your organization and the world.
To grasp the relevance and magnitude of a crisis, you need to be aware of the context in which the crisis is happening. Understand the goals of your current organization, the connection it has with the community and the current geopolitical risks around the world.
Crisis management requires professionals to be well versed in the context in which they and their organization exist. That is, crisis management begins even before a crisis arises. The successful management of a crisis requires that you understand context and how things connect with each other so that you can understand potential threats.
Let’s say you work at a think tank focused on rooting out misinformation. Recognize the downfalls, threats and risks of the dissemination of false information. For example, it could lead to an individual making the decision not to get vaccinated or encouraging a group of people to lead a coup. Be aware of why your organization exists and how it plays a role in potential events so you are prepared to respond.
2. Seek stretch assignments.
Crises are challenging to manage, otherwise they probably would not be called crises. To successfully manage crises when they occur, you need to be ready for a challenge.
Seek out challenging work to stretch your mind and skills. Give yourself opportunities to overcome self-doubt about your abilities. You know more than you think. You can do more than you think. Set yourself up for success with the right mindset to be able to feel confident when a crisis occurs.
Maybe you are a data engineer and you want to work on a plum project that your manager recently shared with the team. The project deals with a programming language you don’t know. Ask if you can do the project, or part of it, as a way to learn a new programming language. Expand your skills.
3. Demonstrate your ability to communicate and work cross-functionally.
Rarely can you (or should you) handle a crisis alone. The ability to successfully resolve a crisis involves a multi-prong, cross-functional approach. The operations team needs to work with the technology team. The technology team needs to work with the legal and policy team. The legal and policy teams need to work with the public relations team, executive team, social media team, etc.
Professionals of all backgrounds need to work with each other. Seize opportunities to work with professionals of diverse skill sets. Understand how the operations team works. Understand what information the legal and policy teams deem important to advise the executive team. Every team plays a part. Understand how departments work together so you can communicate effectively and efficiently during times of crisis.
4. Show that you are calm and collected.
Crises are stressful. To be able to properly manage a crisis, you need to approach it with a clear head. You need to be calm. You need to be collected. Having the right mindset will allow you to work quickly and accurately. This is key. Responding quickly but inappropriately can be disastrous and only worsen the crisis you are in.
Do what you have to do to remain calm. Take a deep breath. Practice remaining calm by working on projects that tend to involve tight deadlines and require accuracy.
Companies are facing crises with an ever increasing frequency. Develop the skills to add value to your organization even before a crisis arises. Be aware of the world you live in. Seek challenges, and test your ability to remain calm under stress. Take advantage of opportunities to work and communicate with a diversity of professionals.
What helps you to develop the skills to be prepared to manage crises? Share with me your thoughts and stories via Twitter or LinkedIn.
