How can you plan for a crisis in advance?
What steps should you take at a time of crisis?
These steps will help you harness your fears and go forward with options and plans. Facing fears and going through the process is faster and will keep you feeling in control, versus possibly feeling a victim of a horrific situation. You will get through the crisis if you stay focused on your options and plans.
For Personal and Professional Crisis Management:
Planning in Advance:
- Create a crisis-management team of people around you, and you may find that you can all be there for each other. Ideally, you don’t want your team to be your direct family members for this. Why? Because if the crisis involves your direct family, your direct family members may not be able to help. They may be going through their own trauma. Source arm’s length people – friends, neighbours, professionals (lawyer? legal assistant? bookkeeper? advocate?), parents of your kids’ schoolmates, etc. If you are single and living alone – this step is CRITICAL – do this NOW if you don’t already have it done. Crisis don’t usually come with much advance notice. If you have a plan in place and suddenly fall and break your ankle, or get surprised with a light stroke, or no-warning heart attack, the better prepared you are beforehand, the better.
- Suze Orman, world-known financial advisor is urging people to set aside nine months worth of savings to cover overhead for nine months. The recent economy downturn probably has taught us all that this is very important – forgo the pricey vacation and stick the bucks into any liquid savings account – and interest bearing account that can be cashed out without a penalty, or very small penalty.
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Need to find more money in your month? Get networking! Learn to trade services with those you know, for services that you usually pay money for and consider joining a trade exchange group (barter) and to use the “free-cycle” services on the Internet to obtain items that you need, free. Be nice, also post what you aren’t using, as well.
CRISIS HITS:
Assess:
- Assess your situation. Don’t rush, or don’t rush anymore than you have to.
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First – fight every instinct to react or overreact.
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Take a step back; take a few deep breaths; whatever it takes to restore your calm so you can think clearly.
- Then get all the facts.
- Get objective guidance.
- Develop a clear picture of the situation.
- Make lists, early and update often – before something happens.
- Types of lists: A) What you ‘know’. B) What you ‘know that you don’t know ‘yet’. The (C) list is what information you learn and you didn’t even know that you needed to know ‘that’.
- Then – make lists what feels like ‘everything’ that must get done. Your (A) List has to do with your immediate crisis. Your (B) list is ‘the rest of your regular scheduled ‘to do’ list. (C) If this is your home and family, your C-list may be the list of what bills, doctors’ visits, school appointments, etc., that are on your calendar already. You may need to ask someone to step in to either cancel these appointments, or reschedule these appointments and due dates. Most Accounts Receivables will work with you on a due date to extend it without a penalty if you only need a few weeks.
- Make a phone list – of who needs to be called in an emergency. Employers, schools, relatives, friends, etc. Put this list where someone who is stepping in to help, can find it and make calls.
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Make a D-list of ‘what can be delegated? To -do’s such as: dog-walking, plant and fish -feeding, mail collection, laundry, even making the kids school lunches, picking up dry-cleaning, grocery shopping – find a relative, friend or neighbour who can be trusted and willing to help out.
Talk to People Who are Directly Affected by the Situation:
- Trust the insiders you should trust.
- Involve key people who either have a stake, have knowledge that will help in analyzing or planning, or who will be significantly impacted.
- Creating this team will create better decision-making and for internal communications.
- People directly impacted will feel informed, not ignored or blind-sided.
Plan:
- With your Team -gather information on the situation.
- Develop best, typical, and worst case scenarios.
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Create plans based on the known important variables and assumptions. Such as - if “x” happens, then you do “y”. Planning enables you to act quickly, confidently, and effectively when the time comes to act. This especially works well, if you have a pending crisis – such as a possible death in the family.
Act:
- Do your best to be proactive, not reactive–good theory, not always easy. The line between proactive and reactive isn’t always clear; try to see a difference.
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Objective assessment and planning leads to calm and confidence.
- You’ll know when you’re ready to act. Then it’s all about execution.
Communicate:
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Communicate transparently and honestly, or at least appear to.
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Appear as honest and transparent as possible.
- Perception is everything. Know a) how best to tell them what they need to know, and b) when they need to know it.
Bottom line:
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Your instincts may be to react, keep things close to your vest, or even do nothing.
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You need to fight those instincts.
- Take a deep breath.
- Get the right people involved.
- Plan.
- Then act decisively.
- Communicate openly.
Remember:
- Your emotions may likely influence how you behave in a crisis. It’s that whole reaction to fear and anxiety thing. After all, we’re all human. Even in company situations, employees are human.
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“What you’re made of, what type of person you are, impacts how you manage a crisis.”
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The reverse is also true: “how you behave in a crisis defines what type of person you are.”
- That’s what people will remember most about you.