Lessons from a Crisis
Earlier this month Spearfish Security, held an online Crisis Management (CM) . They each gave an in-depth insight into our views on challenges of running virtual CM teams, centred around the Activation, Response, and Lessons Learned from a Crisis. In our final article of this series Director Grant White explains the importance of learning from a crisis.
With a much greater array of tools and body of evidence at our fingertips, are we applying the right methods to our debriefs, and learning the right lessons? Post crisis analysis is an important exercise and one that is all too often dismissed or pushed right in the haste to recover. Many of us are guilty of not reflecting on the lessons learnt from past crises.
Crisis Leadership
One common mistake I see in crisis management repeatedly, is slow response. This has been evident in the COVID response throughout the world. This can be explained by the natural human response to crises identified in the Kübler-Ross model (below), often associated with grief. These emotional effects inform decision making and can be applied to the individual, the team, organization, and even national level.
Kübler-Ross Model
This graph represents the emotional effect of a fast changing and significantly changing environment during a crisis on any scale.
Everyone’s curve differs in terms of time and the peaks and troughs of morale. The aim of a crisis management team is to flatten the curve and compress the timeline
How this can be applied to Crisis Management:
Shock - In a crisis it’s important to reflect on our initial human emotional response to the incident. The aim is to shorten the period of delay from the initial feeling of shock. Shock is a natural response, but we must consciously work to overcome shock in order not to delay response.
Denial - It inhibits our ability to process the reality of the crisis and its possible outcomes. We must seek to understand the situation and consider the ‘what if’ scenarios and potential solutions as early as possible.
Frustration & Depression - These are dangerous emotions in the response cycle because they drag our attention away from the importance of the situation. Effective decision-making cannot be achieved when morale is low. Your organisation will not be able to adapt and respond if your team are held back by frustration and fatigue.
Be Process Led - Maintain simple frameworks for crisis management. If your core crisis management plan doesn’t fit on one A4 page, it will be thrown out in the first instance.
Start Early - Don’t delay your crisis response. Work to overcome the shock/denial phase as quickly as possible.
Remain Flexible - Understand that no two crises are the same, and as such, no two crises will require the same approach. Above all - Hope for the best, prepare for the worst!
Crisis Recovery
A common mistake made by organisations in a crisis is staying too long in the ‘response’ phase. Don’t wait until your ‘response’ is over before you begin ‘recovery’ phase. Recovery is an equally important part of responding to a crisis. Leaders should emphasis the importance of this in the planning stage. Appoint a dedicated recovery team as part of your crisis management plan.
That completes the final of our three session; If you would like to learn more about what type of Crisis Management training and support we can offer your team in person or online please contact us now.