Often crises happen so quickly, and our reactions are so swift, that no one ever takes the time to document these situations to prevent their happening in the future.
To prevent crisis and master management of time, consider using Time Management Training Course delivered by pdtraining in Brisbane, Sydney and other cities in Australia.
Imagine when you start a new job that you’re given a crisis management play book which gives you the exact series of actions to take when a particular type of crisis occurs?
Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
Of course, some crises simply can’t be planned for, but most can, so this article will help you better deal with unplanned situations in your work place. With better planning, improved efficiency, and increased productivity, the number of crises you encounter should decline. However, you can’t plan for everything, so in this module we’ll look at what to do when a crisis does occur.
The key to successfully handling a crisis is to move quickly and decisively, but carefully. Managing your time is critical in these situations. The first thing to do when a crisis hits is to identify the primary point of contact and make them aware of the situation.
Then, you will want to gather and analyse the data.
- What happened?
- What were the direct causes? What were the indirect causes?
- What will happen next? What could happen next?
- What events will this impact?
- Who else needs to know about this?
Above all, take the time to do thorough, proper research. You don’t want to jump into action based on erroneous information and make the crisis worse.
You will also want to identify the threshold time: the time that you have before the situation moves out of your control, or becomes exponentially worse. You may also find that the crisis will resolve itself after a certain point of time.
Create a Plan
Once you have gathered the data, it’s time to create a plan as how to best manage the time required to solve the issue. The best approach is to identify the problem, decide on a solution, break it down into parts, and create a timeline.
List the Following:
- Description of Problem
- Steps to Take to Solve the Problem
- Other Staff Members Required in Sydney or other Offices
- Delegation (Who Does What)
- Timeline for Plan (How Long Each Step Should Take)
This should be a one page reference guide to allow for fast reactions – you don’t want the plan so complicated that it takes longer to read the document then fix the problem!
Executing the Plan
As you execute the plan, make sure that you continue evaluating if the plan is working. In the example we just looked at, perhaps after gathering project information, you realise you need more details on a particular item. It would then be appropriate to add that step and make sure you are still on track to meet your timeline.
During execution, it is important to stay organised and on top of events to make sure that your plan is still applicable. This will also help you deliver accurate, effective communication to others affected by the crisis.
Lessons Learned
After the crisis is over, take a moment to study why it happened and how to prevent it in the future.
The planning and prioritising time management tools that we are discussing in this article should help prevent those kinds of emergencies. However, you will likely find that you’re always adjusting and perfecting your approach, so it is important to learn from the times in Sydney where those tools don’t work.
You can even be prepared for disasters that can’t be predicted, such as illness, fire, or theft.
In the case of illness, for example, you could prepare a short contingency plan indicating who will be responsible for your correspondence, projects, and general responsibilities in case you are ill for an extended period. Make sure you share these plans with the appropriate people so that they can be prepared as well.
Pdtraining delivers 1000’s of professional development courses each year in Brisbane, Sydney, Parramatta, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth, so you can be assured your training will be delivered by a qualified and experienced trainer.
All public Time Management Training courses include am/pm tea, lunch, printed courseware and a certificate of completion. Customised courses are available upon request so please contact pdtraining on 1300 121 400 to learn more.