Part of our crisis planning has been to develop a 10-point plan that we are using as our framework to inform how we manage the current situation we find ourselves in:
Keep looking ahead and constantly re-frame our efforts and tactics
A crisis goes through several phases, initial ignorance, discovery, sense-making, then crisis planning and response, recovery strategy, post recovery strategy, reflection and learning. The winning habit is to constantly review and reflect, fine tune tactics, but keep looking ahead.
Management decision-making to be informed by the team members
Empower team members to take initiatives and constantly think on their feet. Managers do not have a monopoly on good ideas, the good ideas also sit with everyone else. We only get this input if we seek it. Challenge and involve anyone who we think can help us. Daily reviews will enable you to respond rapidly to any new information and team suggestions.
Create clarity and security for your team
In a crisis, it is hard to find clarity, especially when the situation and available information is constantly changing. Official advice will become contradictory and out of date. Media reports will complicate messages. Your team members will need to adopt different and new ways of working, but in order for them to do this they need to have clear, consistent information and overall direction. This is your job.
Adopt rapid innovation
Find the new ideas you hadn’t previously had time to think about. Involve others. You will find opportunities. Get the new ideas implemented as quickly as possible.
Reallocate team resources
Refocus team members onto the tasks that best support business continuity rather than trying to maintain business as normal. Find the possible savings or support by focussing on the latest announcements and initiatives. Keep staff safe. Introduce targets and accountability for homeworking, but don’t worry about micro-management of remote staff. Ask for help, including asking CMN.
Adapt your products
Rapidly consider how to adapt your tactics to modify your service we offer in order to maximise essential income. Find quick wins for providing new support services during the crisis. Transform your thinking about how you do business during otherwise difficult times.
Thrive on chaos; look for the opportunities amidst the adversity
It is the habit of winners to keep looking for the opportunities. Thrive on this, keep looking, together. Provide guidance to your team during challenging times, think about your customer base. Helping customers and suppliers during the difficult times cements your relationship for when things start to improve.
Consider how social media channels can help promote your services and new products
Social media allows you to get new messages out immediately and at little or no cost to promote your new product ideas.
Prepare for a faster recovery than everyone else
China’s economy is growing again already. Use the constant monitoring and the daily updates to take account of new information, enabling you to see the opportunities for recovery as soon as they appear. What are the lessons for the future, will you do business a different way? If you think about recovery you will prepare for it.
Stay strong for each other
All businesses are on a journey, but what truly defines excellent companies is how they react in a crisis, and we currently have one of the more challenging crises in living memory. So now is the time to remember that strong leadership, engaging team members, reacting rapidly and constantly reviewing and reinventing is the way we get through this together.
Remember, you are not alone so if you’d like to speak to a member of the CMN team, then contact us today
