PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

A) MANAGING CRISES AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL

LEVEL

 Know when a crisis is imminent

 Contain and resolve a crisis

 Learning from the crisis you’ve resolved

B) MANAGING CRISIS AT THE PERSONAL LEVEL

WORDS OF WISDOM

“Any unplanned event that can cause deaths or

significant injuries to employees, customers or the
public; or that can shut down your business, disrupt
operations, cause physical or environmental
damage, or threaten the facility's financial standing
or public image could have a devastating impact on
your group and organizations.

With good planning, we can minimize the impact of

potential disaster, avoid one altogether – or in some
cases, even help your organization benefit from a
crisis.”
WHAT IS A CRISIS?

A crisis is an event that can affect or destroy an entire

organization.”
-Ian Mitroff

 At a personal level it is emotionally as well as

physically draining as crises are wrenching, painful
events
 It is also a change – sudden or evolving – that results
in an urgent problem that must be addressed
immediately.
The Tiger Situation

What will you do?

The Paper Overload Crisis

What happened?
THE NATURE OF CRISIS
Sudden Crisis Disruption of the company’s business which
occurs without warning and is likely to generate
news coverage and may adversely impact
employees, investors, customers, suppliers, and
other publics

Smoldering Crisis Any serious problem which is not known within or

outside of the organization which may generate
news coverage if or when it goes ‘public’ and
could result in more than a predetermined
amount in fines, penalties, legal damage awards,
unbudgeted expenses and other costs.

Give examples of smoldering crises situations that could turn into

sudden crises in organizations?
TYPES OF CRISIS
Natural (cataclysmic) or company-related events –
uncontrollable natural events and health and environmental disasters
related to a company – earthquake, floods, fire, serious product problems,
catastrophic accidents, environmental pollutions.

Technology breakdowns –
data loss, security breaches, communications technology, outmoded
equipment

Economic and market forces –

market swings, trends, investment bubbles

Business-related crises – sudden death of a crucial leader, serious

breach of the law, vendor fails to deliver critical supplies, partner indicted,
employee stealing from a client

Personal crises - events that have special meaning to individuals and

only individual suffers – failing exams, divorce, being unemployed, etc.
HOW ORGANIZATIONS COPE WITH CRISES

1) Avoids the crisis

2) Prepares to manage the crisis

3) Recognizes the crisis

4) Contains the crisis

5) Resolve the crisis

6) Learns from the crisis

1) AVOIDING THE CRISIS – Conducting a Crisis Audit
Crises that are handled poorly often get the greatest media attention. But
we don’t hear much about crises that were prevented.

Managers are responsible for avoiding crises. It is their job. But to practice
effective crisis avoidance, a disciplined approach is needed. It includes
conducting a crisis audit and considering potential crisis situations.
1) Make crisis planning a part of your strategic planning
2) Get together and share ideas – work with colleagues to analyze your
situation
3) Perform a SWOT analysis
4) Focus on the four major crisis areas – Potential health and
environmental disasters, technological breakdowns, economic and
market forces, and relationships.
5) Narrow your crisis-risk list – focus on the crisis that would have the
worst result, would be most likely to occur, and would affect your
organization.
2) PREPARING TO MANAGE THE CRISIS
This is your standby ‘generator’. These are backup plans for the set of crises you
have identified as the ones your company or department must expect and prepare
for.
Recognize the risks and costs
Brainstorm potential crisis. Consider the ‘what-ifs‘ – assumptions you have that
might not be true. Once you have determined what crises you need to plan for,
consider ways to minimize these risks and the costs for each risk. Consider
everything that could go wrong, in the order of importance and its costs.

Develop a crisis plan

After you have selected a key what-if scenario and analyzed possible
consequences, brainstorm the kinds of decisions that will have to be made and
who should make these decisions. Also perform a reality check by brainstorming
possible unintended - and undesirable – side effects.
Form a crisis-management team

The better prepared the team members are, the better the crisis will be handled.
Determine who in your team will -

a) Be involved in handling each aspect of the crisis

b) Make what kinds of decisions
c) Notify authorities within the organization
d) Notify employees, government agencies, media, etc.
e) Decide whether employees should stay home
f) Decide to evacuate a building
g) Decide to hire temporary personnel in the event of unexpected business rush.

Make sure everybody in the team has a backup in case they are unavailable. Also
create a contact lists and ways to reach critical team members. Identify both formal and
informal networks within the organization. Who are the key players you may need to
rely in a crisis.

Create a communication and resource plan

Create a list of all people who will need to be contacted and how to contact them. It
may include all employees, vendors and customers. List also all the resources that
may be needed to handle each crisis situation.
Crisis Management Team Mission

Our Mission:
"To facilitate the safety, security and well being of people and
facilities during a crisis situation. " 

The Crisis Management Team is a key group of staff members that will
allow for the ability to:

 Provide organized communication throughout all aspects of the organization.

 Have most employees to continue to work within their knowledge and specialty
in the organization.
 Record the incident/crisis from beginning to end.
 Organize all during a crisis.
 Provide for the rapid restoration of services in the most efficient and effective
manner.
 Adequately provide for the emotional and physical needs of persons affected
by the crisis.
 Plan for future training, equipment and funding needs.
3) RECOGNIZING THE CRISIS

Is it a crisis? (Characterizing the event)

Has the event in question caused, or does
it have the potential to cause - Yes No

Injury to any person?

A threat to the health and safety of any person?

A threat to the environment?

A breakdown in your company’s ability to serve customers or

a threat to your company’s reputation?

A serious threat to employee’s morale and well-being?

A loss of data?

Serious financial loss?

A legal action against your company or an individual associated

with it (employee, subcontractor, partner?)

Interpreting your score: If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you are probably dealing with an
impending crisis
RECOGNIZING THE CRISIS…contd./

Evaluate the size of the crisis – after determining that there is indeed a crisis
determine its scope and magnitude

Self-reflect – Evaluate how you might manage the situation. Do you underreact
or overreact?

Consider your values – What is important? What is the right thing to do?
If there is a crisis, the following strategies may help:
a) Get a team in place
b) Get the information you need
c) Get a sounding board
4) CONTAINING THE CRISIS

“One’s objective should be to get it right, get it quick, get it out, and get it over.”
- Warren Buffet

When a crisis strikes, the first thing you must do is to contain it. The goal is to
stop the hemorrhaging fast. You must make decisions quickly. Be on the
scene. Your physical presence is important. It lets everyone know that your
company cares about what is happening. And you must communicate critical
information to key people.

Essential characteristics are -

 Demonstrate decisiveness and compassion

 Communicate about the crisis quickly – expect rumors and false

information, notify key people (management, general public, or employees,
vendors, suppliers, government authorities and clients), and stick to the
facts (do not speculate or attempt to cover up).
5) RESOLVING THE CRISIS

A crisis requires fast, confident decision making. But how do you make
good decisions when events move so quickly, when things are confusing,
and when it is hard to sort out what’s important. Managing emotions that
accompany a crisis, understanding the leader’s role, and taking effective
action can help.

Managing the emotions (fear of disaster, anticipation of a

potentially positive outcome and desire for the crisis to be over).

Use the power of positive stress to handle the crisis as a confident

leader. Have a clear mind as unclouded by anxiety, “toxic” stress
(responding to the emotions triggered by a crisis that aggravates rather
than relieves the crisis) and fear.
The leader’s role
A leader in crisis responds by:
 Facing the crisis – turning fear into positive action
 Being vigilant – watching for new developments and recognizing the
importance of new information
 Maintaining focus on the priorities – ensuring that people are safe
first, and then assessing the next most critical needs.
 Assessing and responding to what is in his or her control and
ignoring what is not

Taking action
 Activate your crisis plan
 Help everyone work together
 Avoid blaming others
 Do what needs to get done – Do whatever needs to be done and
don’t worry about the “rules.”
6) LEARNING FROM THE CRISIS

When you survive a crisis, don’t just try to put it behind you. Rather
take the opportunity to learn from the experience and make changes to
avoid or prepare for another similar event.

Review how the crisis was handled. Ask yourself the following
questions:

• Knowing what we knew then, could we have prevented the crisis? If so

how?
• At what point did we realize we were in crisis? Could we have recognized
the signs earlier?
• What warning signals went off that we may have ignored?
• What warning signals did we pay attention to?
• What were the early signs? Why were they turning points?
• What did we do right? What could we have done better?
• What were the stress points in the system that failed
Plan for the next one

Create a plan so that you learn from what you know.

 Get input from everyone

 Incorporate the ideas and information in your next round of strategic

planning.

 Break the crisis down into component parts, to analyze how you might
handle a similar crisis more effectively next time.

Track the results

Track the results of changes you make after the crisis. How are they
working? Will they actually reduce the negative impact of a future
event?
PERSONAL CRISES
THE NATURE OF PERSONAL CRISES

 A personal crisis can be described as any event which creates a

temporary feeling of being psychologically unstable.

 It is usually brought about by a stressful situation that affects

individuals or groups.

 While many situations are generally stressful, they only become a

crisis when they begin to overwhelm the individual, until they are
unable to cope effectively.
HOW PEOPLE REACT IN CRISES?

A person normally goes through the following stages of a crisis –

 Feeling of alarm and feelings of have lost control of the situation

 Resistance – realizes how helpless he/she is, resists all attempts to
help him/her.
 Exhaustion – the adrenaline levels which have sustained him or her
during the crisis falls

The reactions of the individual can be emotional (shock, anger),

behavioral (disbelief, withdrawals), physical (violent, sweating), effects
on other personnel (disharmony, poor working relationships), family
(irritation, outbursts), work productivity (erratic, unable to concentrate)

How do people cope with a crisis?

How People Cope with a
Crisis

It depends largely on your

personality and emotional make-
up. Generally people use more
than one style of coping with
problems.

List of Common Coping

Strategies that people use
Stress
Stress: An Introduction

• Stress is part of our everyday • Stress can affect your

life. concentration, your ability to
process information, decision-
• Living making and your behavior.
in a fast-paced,
technological society with
myriad demands upon our • While under stress you are
time, the majority of us can more likely to make a mistake
state: “I am stressed out.” that can contribute to an
accident and even an injury.
• Often stress will build up
before you realize it, leaving
you feeling overwhelmed.
WHAT IS STRESS?

“Stress is an adaptive response, moderated by individual

differences, that is a consequence of any action, situation or events
that places special demands on a person.”
- Ivancevich & Matteson

 Stress is the result of dealing with something placing “special”

demands on us – unusual, physically or psychologically threatening,
or outside our usual set of experiences.

 In order for an action, situation, or an event to result in stress, it must

be perceived by individual to be a source of threat , challenge, or
harm.

 Three key factors determine whether an experience is likely to result

in stress – importance, uncertainty, and duration.
MODEL OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRESS

Ivancevich & Matteson

Statistics about Stress
Type A Personality
Type A personality is one characterized by hostility, competitiveness, urgency, and
explosive patterns of behavior. Typical characteristics of the type A personality is as
follows:
■ Signs of personal tension, such as a clenched
jaw, tight muscles, tics
■ Personal commitment to having, rather than
being
■ Unawareness of the broader environment.
Ignorance of elements outside the immediate
task
■ Strong need to be an expert on a subject,
otherwise, lack of involvement.
■ Compulsion to compete with other Type A’s
rather than understand and cooperate with
them.
■ Speech characterized by explosive
accentuation, acceleration of the last few
words of the sentence, impatience when
interrupted.
■ Chronic sense of being in a hurry
■ Polyphasic thoughts and actions, that is, a
tendency to do several things
simultaneously.
■ Impatience with the normal pace of
events. Tendency to finish others’
sentences.
■ Doing everything rapidly.
■ Feelings of guilt when relaxing.
■ Tendency to evaluate all activities in terms
of measurable results.
■ Belief that Type A attributes are what lead
to success.
■ Frequent knee-jiggling or finger-tapping.
■ Determination to win every game, even
when playing with those who are less
skilled or experienced.
Type A Personality

● Through research it was established

that Type A personality is certain to
have disastrous effect on well-being.

● It was also discovered that Type A

individuals in the 39 – 49 year age
group had approximately 6.5 times
the likelihood of heart diseases as
Type B’s.
● Most Type A individuals believe that it is Type A personality that has led
to their success.
● Type A personality is often associated with the traditional male management
role. Many women also behaved as if acceptance in the work place required
acting as “masculine” as their male counterparts.
 Managing Stress

√ Manage your time

√ Eat a healthy diet and be
physically fit
√ Exercise
√ Relax and meditate
√ Get a good night’s sleep
√ Avoid inappropriate self-talk
√ Control your reactions
√ Take a time out
The Ten Habits of Highly
Effective Stress Managers
 They know how to relax
 They eat right and exercise
often
 They get enough sleep
 They don’t sweat the small
stuff
 They don’t get angry often
 They are organized
 They manage their time
efficiently
 They have and make use
of a strong support system
 They live according to
their values
 They have a good sense of
humor
BASIC HELPING SKILLS IN TIMES OF
PERSONALCRISIS

Helping begins with learning how to approach another person,

listen to their problems, and ask questions sensitively.

We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but we can aim to
be supportive and to be there when our friends need us.
LISTEN CAREFULLY AND INTENSELY

 The key to being supportive is to listen intensely what the person

has to say to show that you care about what he/she has to say.

Typical questions you can ask may include:

 How are you feeling?
 Does anyone else know how you are feeling?
 Can you tell me what’s wrong?
 Who made you upset?
 And then what happened?
 Is there anything I can do to help?
 How can I help you feel better?
  Ask open questions that encourage total honesty

When listening:

 do not interrupt
 let him or her tell the whole story
 do not say you know how he feels because you cannot assume
that you do
 do not be judgmental, accept what he or she has to say
 be sincere and really show you are supportive

 Keep asking questions until you understand what someone means

CLASS DISCUSSION – CRISIS SITUATIONS

 Death and Bereavement

 Broken relationships
 Suicide
 Violently mentally ill person
 Interpersonal conflicts
THE END