Disaster can strike a business at any time. Crises can range all the way from failed shipments and lost accounts to natural events like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes.
At any time, a severe problem can wreak havoc with your company. In many cases, the nightmare scenario can force a business into bankruptcy. A prudent company is prepared to handle any emergency.
In the day to day operations of any organization, problems can arise that threaten efficiency, customer service, and occasionally the very existence of the company itself. How a business person meets a crisis, can make all of the difference, in how the company weathers the storm. Panic and desperate actions are the last thing anyone should consider as a solution. Losing your head can very often mean losing the business entirely.
Before any crisis arises, an action plan should be developed and adopted across the organization. When drafting an emergency policy, it is crucial to include everyone in the company.
Since every employee will be affected, and every staff member is part of the solution, their input is essential to the plan's success. Every few months, a planning date should be set aside to create management and staff guidelines for crisis management.
The first meetings can discuss and set up techniques for meeting more standard issues that face most organizations. Topics can range from working with dissatisfied customers to failed deliveries to problems in production. With these plans in place, be sure to allow for individual staff initiative to solve problems on the spot. If you have the trust of your employees, and they are confident in their actions, many small issues can be remedied with ease. By providing a framework for creative conflict resolution, the front line people can improve customer service to higher levels.
For more infrequent, but potentially devastating crises, more involved and strict planning must be instituted by the organization. Plans for evacuation of the premises, business continuity, and cash flow maintenance must be prepared and readied for any natural or man made disaster. Be sure to go through some dry run rehearsals so everyone knows what to do, where to be, and how to handle their assigned tasks. If the worst happens, and disaster strikes, the company can survive the ordeal. When the crisis ends, the business can return to the market, and be again ready for business.
As with all planning operations, everyone in the company should be involved in the development of the procedures. Creative sessions, complete with the standard brainstorming activities of open discussion and free ranging thought, must be used effectively.
Keep in mind that the best ideas might appear from unexpected sources. The front line sales, delivery, production, maintenance, and office staff might be your best providers of creative solutions. Top management doesn't know everything and a failure to recognize that fact can be fatal in an emergency.
Keep your lines of communication open, and ask for advice from the people most affected by problems. Listen to their suggestions, and prepare a plan for any emergency situation. The company you save may be your own.
Prepare for disaster, and then hope it never arrives. If it does, however, keep your head and put your survival plan into action. Your planning ahead may be the lifeboat your organization needed to remain in business.
