8 Crisis management books to help your business

Whether it is in the form of a natural disaster, an armed conflict, a stock market crash or a pandemic, a crisis is bound to happen, and often when we less expect it. Rather than be caught off guard, such as how other businesses were during the recent events, it is better to familiarise yourself with various scenarios and know the strategies on how to cope and survive them.

There are many resources on crisis management and leadership that can guide you on how to navigate through the crunch. You can get some insights from crisis management books, which are aplenty. Here are eight of them to start you off.

Crisis Management Leadership: Training to Survive the Critical Moment by Kenneth A Lipshy, MD FACS

Kenneth Lipshy, a surgical leader, put together in his book snippets of crisis leadership styles and advice from leadership professionals belonging in the fields of medicine, aviation, military, wilderness rescue, police and fire. He also shares about his experiences in his medical practice and learnings on human cognitive errors, their causes and how to prevent and mitigate them.

Cultural Competency for Emergency and Crisis Management: Concepts, Theories and Case Studies by Claire Connolly Knox and Brittany "Brie" Haupt

While disasters and tragedies happen in various parts of the world, responding to them should also consider culturally competent practices. The book highlights the need for an in-depth understanding of cultural competence for emergency preparedness. It also provides a guide, case studies and some exercises for individual and group discussion and assignments for crisis management.

Crisis Management: The Art of Success & Failure: 30 Case Studies in Business & Politics by Yunus D. Saleh

With 30 case studies compiled, Yunus Saleh’s book provides a tool to evaluate various scenarios and for readers to understand and learn how to tackle crises when they happen. The examples present fruitful and futile approaches in managing a crisis, where one can draw lessons from such events.

Crisis Managemen: How to develop a powerful program by Regina Phelps 

Crises are inevitable. They can happen in various ways and different degrees. But even before they come knocking at your doorsteps, the crucial question is “what should I do?” The answers may be in the pages of this book as Regina Phelps step-by-step tips on how to develop a powerful crisis management program.

Crisis Management: Responding from the Heart by Kristin S. Harper, Brent G. Paterson, Eugene L. Zdziarski II 

This manuscript provides a different angle on how to approach crisis management. Apart from drafting procedures in preparation for a crisis, responders can also learn to do the right thing. It infuses feelings into the whole process of crisis response by responding from the heart.

Crisis Management: Planning for the Inevitable by Steven Fink

Compiling some case studies and the things that happen behind them, the book provides scenarios, practical tips and advice on how to respond to a crisis, avoiding its drawbacks while traversing out of it. This has become a significant resource among small and medium businesses, governments, large companies, and educational institutions.

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

By studying four US presidents namely, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson, Doris Kearns Goodwin presents their respective journeys in their public life. It shows how they dealt with their leadership positions despite the challenges and hardships they experienced. The book also gives insights on how these leaders battled their internal and external predicaments. It also provides a road map on leadership based on the stories of the four leaders.

Crisis Management: Resilience and Change by Sarah Kovoor-Misra

Mismanaging a crisis may cost companies and communities resources and lives. Sarah Kovoor-Misra uses her transformative crisis management framework as well as presents factors to successful crisis management like leadership, systems, communication and stakeholder perspective. It also incorporates the ethical, emotional, change and global facets of crisis communication. These allow companies or organisations undergoing a crisis to be resilient, proactive, adaptable and ethical.

Supporting your team during a crisis

A crisis, big or small, can cause a lot of stress and anxiety to a lot of people. As you look after your business and your well-being, make sure that the welfare of your people, which forms the backbone of a company, are also given much attention.

When problems arise that may affect the future of a company, it cannot be avoided that people will feel unsure. How do you support your team during challenging times and lead them through it? Before it can get worse and cause bigger problems, it is better to meet it head-on and help them steer through the problems as a team. They will look to you for guidance and inspiration, so you have to take care of your mental state first to be able to have the strength and competence to direct them amidst the chaos and confusion.

Open lines of communication

Be transparent. Listen to their concerns. Inform them of pertinent details so they will understand the whole picture. If there is any decrease in sales or drop in revenues, let them know about it. Reach out to your staff as they may be hesitant to approach you. Open your lines of communication to avoid misinterpretation and false information to spread within your organisation.

Adjust some work policies and benefits

You might want to loosen some things in your company while undergoing a crisis. Others lessen work hours, ease the workload, allow their staff to work from home or provide some form of flexibility with how work is done. Check your resources if you can extend some in-kind or monetary support to your team, especially when a disaster, tragedy or pandemic is happening.

Organise your team in a new set-up

If changes are happening within your organisational structure or operation procedures or systems make sure to provide distinct directions or instructions for better guidance. People tend to look up to or rely on a leader to clear a path amidst the chaos. Managing change during a crisis is essential to ease people’s anxiety and prevent confusion.

Provide support for their mental health

With all the external pressures that a crisis may bring to your people, your organisation can help by not putting so much burden to them but by helping them navigate through it. An HR team or consultant may have to look after the welfare of your people. Often, they need to have someone available whom they can talk to, especially an expert who can help them deal with things. Come up with avenues for your staff to be able to process what they are going through. You may also have to put together resources that can help them survive.

The important thing is that as you and your team go through hardships, they should feel that you are in this together and that you understand their predicament.

Leadership in the Time of Crisis

EO Melbourne Navigating Now and Preparing for Post-COVID-19

"We've aged a generation in the past three weeks. What matters has sharply come into focus. Family matters. Love matters. Kindness matters. Health matters. Generosity matters. People matter. Community matters. The rest is just noise.

Aside from physical distancing, the biggest thing you can do right now is to choose to see the best in each other. Be kind. Be patient. Be tolerant.

Be quick to help out in any way that you can. Be forgiving when you would otherwise be upset. See things through the eyes of others and try to understand where they are coming from.

Seek out opportunities for generosity. Reconnect with your community. Reconnect with yourself. Reconnect with your priorities. Live them."

- Anonymous

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought governments, businesses, and communities to a standstill, affecting lives all over the world and across all levels of society. Entrepreneurs are not spared from the adverse effects of this pandemic. EO Melbourne’s President Kym Huynh shares how the crisis has impacted the lives of entrepreneurs in Melbourne and how he, and his Board, tackled the situation head-on to both help those affected navigate through the challenges and prepare for a world post-crisis.

“What differentiates COVID-19 from other world crisis such as the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 and September 11 of 2001 is that no one knows what the end date of this pandemic is. Consequently, we cannot accurately plan for the future when we do not know when the endpoint for the current crisis is,” Kym states.

“During uncertainty, people seek answers, people seek leadership, and people seek direction. And when you throw a global pandemic on top, you have an environment where emotional states are heightened, and people become prone to acting emotionally rather than rationally. When I consider this in the context of leadership, it is important to augment how we typically lead with such speed in decision-making and an increase in our communications cadence,” he continues.

When faced with a challenge or difficulty, Kym’s normal process is to:

1.       Step back

2.       Choose not to immediately react

3.       Assess the environment and situation

4.       Gather multiple credible data points

5.       Stategize

6.       React from a place of stillness

Leading the team

Entrepreneurs, by definition, are leaders. The people employed, the family members and the communities that entrepreneurs touch all look to them for cues on how to react and respond. “If you’re going to be in a position where you are seen by others as that of being a leader, you might as well be a good one,” Kym reflects. “One thing I have learned from leadership during COVID-19 is that I don't always need to have the answers,” Kym quips, “but rather that I need to be present, constant and visible so that I create that environment and space of safety and stability”. In that, he makes sure he is a constant so that he can provide stability to his Board, EO, his family and his community.

He enumerated the immediate things he did to mitigate the complexities of the situation:

1.       Make sure everyone is calm and collected

“The topmost priority for me was to manage the emotional state of the collective, and dive deeper 1-on-1 with individuals where needed,” Kym states. He believes that making sure everyone, particularly the Board and the team, is in a still, calm and collected state-of-mind is very important. For the Board and the team to lead, they need to be able to make good decisions. To make good decisions, they need to be in a good emotional state. Therefore, he made it a priority to make sure that every single person around him was good with themselves so that they could effectively look after the Chapter.

2.       Create an atmosphere of safety and stability

He made sure he was highly visible, and accessible by opening his normal lines of communication more so that people can come to him for that feeling of safety and stability. “In my experience, sometimes the little things you do can mean the world to others, and COVID-19 amplifies this experience. Whether it be a phone message, an email, a phone call or a video call, I have found that these simple actions reassure people that I—and my Board--are present and that we are thinking about the situation. These simple actions are important because people are looking for stability in a time where there's so much instability,” says Kym.

3.       Create concise, focused and impactful messages

Once everyone is calm and feels safe, he and his Board were quick to communicate to the Chapter that they’re there for the members, doing everything they can to support the members with messaging that can be comprehended easily, leaving no room for ambiguity. “It is important that any messaging is easy-to-understand, and leaves no gaps because if we communicate with gaps, others will fill in the gaps for us, and they will fill it in incorrectly. Even more during a crisis, it is imperative that the messaging is concise, focused and impactful,” Kym states. “It was important for myself and my Board that we communicate a message of unity, solidarity, and that together we are stronger,” he adds.

Plan of action

Words of assurance and encouragement must be accompanied with a specific, timely and measurable plan of action. Kym convened his Board to exchange experiences and insights and review the collective feedback and sentiment from the community. These are the action points they came up with during their fruitful Board meeting and in the succeeding discussions:

1.       Appointment of a Resident Psychologist

Knowing that people are hurting and many businesses have been severely impacted, the Board made it a priority to support those who were in need. To show that they’re there for the members, the Board decided on the appointment of a resident psychologist that is entirely funded and supported by the Chapter. That is, any Member of the Chapter, if they need to, can call and directly reach the resident psychologist for a confidential conversation.

2.       Member-to-Member support

Members of the Chapter are paired up with one another, wherein they can reach out and stay connected. It provides members with an avenue to pick up the phone, call another member, check on that person and let the conversation flow. “It is crucial that we lean into, and invest in, our relationships with one another during times of crises,” Kym shares.

3.       Board-to-Member reach-out

The Board recognises that there are a handful of members who have contracted and remained quiet while fighting their fires. These members were identified and assigned to Board Members. Kym speaks from experience, “When I'm in a crisis, I tend to feel like I don't want to burden and bother others with my issues. It is a difficult compulsion to fight, despite cognitively knowing how much better off I will be if I share openly with others and being vulnerable. The lesson here is to not wait for people to ask for help, but to be proactive, pick up the phone, and reach out. Our small acts of kindness and compassion can mean the world to another.”

4.       Supporting members through the current crisis, and preparing members for the world post-crisis via condensed learning events

The Chapter launched a 12-week webinar series consisting of members sharing stories, learnings, experiences and expertise with other members. According to Kym, “These learning events create solidarity, reinforce the community, and create safety. Knowing this, we moved fast to create these events, source our speakers and add resources to promote them to our members.”

From the board meeting, webinar topics were discussed, wherein the first half of the series is focused on navigating the current crisis while the other half is to help prepare members for what happens post-crisis. Topics were determined based on the issues that the Board Members were experiencing themselves and those that they heard from other entrepreneurs and business owners.

5.       “No member will be left behind”

EO Melbourne adopted the motto, “No member will be left behind.” The message was communicated quickly and repetitively. It was short, concise, focused, and left no room for misinterpretation. The Board also ensured that the substance of the message could be supported by ensuring that the Global Support Package and Local Support Package combined to create a substantial assistance package.

“We are mindful that there are members whose entire businesses and livelihoods have been severely impacted, and that they're in a very stressful and overwhelming situation. We accounted for this type of scenario. So, we wanted to make sure that if any member wishes to continue to engage with EO next year, we will find a way to make it happen,” asserts Kym.

Moving forward

Although the future seems uncertain, Kym accentuates that the EO Melbourne Chapter must move forward stronger, better and wiser, highlighting that we are stronger together. He illustrates this by sharing the idea of a stick, wherein if it remains alone, can easily break. But if bundled together with other sticks, it becomes significantly more difficult to break.

For Kym, “We must move forward stronger. We must be more connected with one another, and with that connection will come solidarity. We will move forward better, wherein we will be kinder to ourselves, each other, our families, our friends, our teams, and our communities. We will move forward wiser when we can carry the lessons we've learned during this crisis into the future. After all, like it or not, the crisis has happened, so it is incumbent on ourselves that we do what we can, to make the best out of the crisis.”

“Times of crisis creates opportunities for great leaders to emerge. It is leadership not only in our businesses but also in leadership with ourselves, our families and our communities. I hope that every single person reading this finds it within themselves to stand tall and proud, and to step up to becoming a great leader, one that serves others, leads with compassion and lifts those around them. We started the year with the theme, ‘our best year yet,’ and with our leadership, not only can this be the best year yet for ourselves, our businesses, families and communities, but also the EO Melbourne Chapter,” Kym imparts.

The 5 C’s of PR Crisis Management

Unforeseen circumstances are not uncommon in any business and industry. You may not fully prepare for it but you can somehow mitigate the ill effects of a crisis if you just know how to handle it. There are many aspects of crisis management. Some may be working directly in the frontline to lessen the problem, others may be looking for a concrete solution, while others may be tasked to face and update the public.

Public relations in times of crisis is often necessary because it is during this period when your audience needs information and some form of assurance from you. But when do you need PR for crisis management? It may be a calamity, labour dispute, product damage, unfavourable situation, business change or any circumstance where it may adversely affect your brand. Here are the five C’s you can note when doing PR during a crisis.

Crisis Management plan

Planning is getting prepared for what’s to happen, even when it is just a probability. Part of it is anticipating the worst-case scenario and putting the safety nets in place before they occur. Gather your team and consults to put together a crisis management plan that will provide a framework of what to do before, during and after a period of disaster or emergency.

While it can be flexible to suit various situations, it should be able to outline the processes or protocols that your organisation must undertake during this circumstance, the structure of the crisis management team including the spokesperson, and probable timeframe. The plan must include training and workshops to equip your team in responding to a crisis.

Checking facts and gathering data

When a problem occurs, the basic action to do is to gather information and check the facts to size up the extent of the catastrophe, the corresponding solution to such predicament, and the resources needed to deliver such solutions. In times of disaster, people will always clamour for data so that they can gauge how the problem is being handled. Update your facts regularly so that you can monitor the progress of your actions.

Coordination with other departments

During times of emergency, it is helpful to have a task force representing the different departments of your organisation for a more coordinated effort in tackling the issue at hand. Some units may be putting the fire from behind the scene while the PR’s task is to face the people and assure them that things are under control. One is needed by the other and no single unit can face a huge task by itself. Teamwork, unity and harmony are vital to overcoming a crisis.

Communication content and messaging

Before facing your audience, be sure to draft the key points that you want to convey. While certain information needs to be protected, be as upfront and straightforward as you can. Wordsmithing and choosing the right words are crucial in communication. Stick to your core messages and communicate them calmly and diplomatically. Brief your task force and the entire team of these messages so that even if they’re not going to face the public, they still know the points and embody them in their work and casual conversations.

Credibility and sincerity

Another important aspect of PR is showing that you are sincere and trustworthy. Be consistent. Make sure that your statements coincide with your organisation’s actions. If you declare that you are distributing goods but people are not seeing them, then it will just result in doubt and suspicion. Maintaining good relations between your business and your market/audience is vital to your company’s survival.

In a crisis, one can either transcend it or fall flat on the ground. However, it’s not just all about you. It is also about your team, your stakeholders, and the countless people you serve, such as your clients or customers, including your prospects. Public relations during a catastrophe is a huge challenge that if it is not handled well it may cause a long-term setback, but if done properly can lead to better results.