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Expect The Unexpected- Tips on Crisis Management
22 Dec 2020 Jeremy Herrington

Expect The Unexpected- Tips on Crisis Management

During these trying times getting your package may be the least of your worries, but order fulfillment has taken a hit. This is not like every holiday season, being this may be the worst that we have seen. With more packages being shipped out this year than previous because of the travel restrictions and the overall conscious decision to stay safe your order may be delayed weeks because of the overflowing number of packages that the shipping companies are dealing with. That example is a prime example of when crisis management can be used. A crisis management plan is one of the most useful plans that your company can come up with. Here are some tips that you can use to overcome problems in the future.

 

  1. Expect The Unexpected

Most companies believe that the problem needs to be solved after the problem has occurred. Only 10 percent of major disruptions are truly unexpected. However, with the COVID-19 virus, we all knew that there were going to be delays, so planning is crucial to every case. The best way to go about this is once a quarter brings in a team that can come up with likely scenarios that may occur in the future. This is where you can hypothesis with the industry professionals that you have working for your company to make a small book of things that may occur and solutions that can be used to solve them. This book can be used as an outline since the exact problem may not happen, but similar situations might arise.

 

  1. Be Proactive

Being proactive comes when the crisis occurs and when trying to prevent major disruptions in day to day operations. Planning for events that might happen is very important so the crisis can be dealt with swiftly. When going in with a plan, any problem can be solved quickly and efficiently. If you think about it in a none business way, every time you get on a plane everyone has to watch the safety video where if anything does go wrong there is a plan to make sure that you can get off the plane. This is the same thing that your company should do, prepare for scenarios, and train a specialized team to deal with the problems if they ever do occur. Another important piece is when making a statement to only say what you are prepared to say. Don't say anything that you can not back-up or prove.

 

When dealing with crises it is important to move quickly and be transparent with your audience. Cover-ups only tarnish your name, being truthful will make sure that you are not digging yourself into a deeper pit. No one has ever been in trouble for being too prepared, but people get in trouble for not being prepared, so have a contingency plan and keep your company going the best it can go.