Soft Skills to Know: Crisis Management

Crisis management skills demonstrate your ability to lead others and remain cool under stress. A crisis includes three parts, the last of which is the target of change: 1) the acute level of threat generated by the crisis; 2) the suddenness of its occurrence; and 3) a brief window of opportunity to intervene. The key to crisis management is not succumbing to the shock and suddenness of the event. Doing so will impede your problem-solving abilities. If you accept that a crisis could someday happen, you will likely act more decisively. When a crisis happens, gather enough information to intervene. Don’t gather so much information and analyze issues and options so deeply that you cannot act decisively—avoid “paralysis by analysis.” Teach this process to others when a crisis looms, and help coworkers understand the value of calm and deliberate problem solving. In a crisis, be proactive and collaborate, but don’t wait for others to make the first move. Instead, step in to intervene.

Tracy Bussey | 7/17/2016

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