I meet many managers who take pride in boasting of their “importance” in the organization’s hierarchy – they measure this importance according to the number of crises that they handle every day. The obvious inference is that larger the number of emergencies that come his way, greater is the importance of the manager. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A manager’s job is to be proactive and ensure that a crisis does not arise. Any manager who faces crises every day needs to be actually given the boot; just for sheer incompetence.

We are not going to discuss here physical crisis situations like a fire or floods. Let us concentrate on the mental ones.

Have you identified the central problem?

Often, a crisis cannot be handled effectively because the manager has not identified the main problem. In any situation, there are superficial issues that can be mistaken for the main problem and then of course there is the central root cause of the problem – much like a corn that we get on the sole of our feet. A manager must have the ability to look beyond the obvious. Identifying the wrong problem will obviously lead to inefficient solutions and may just postpone the crisis or lessen its intensity, temporarily.

Have you listened to both sides of the story?

We have this nasty habit of presuming many things and this usually aggravates a crisis. Listening to both sides carefully is important. One of the most effective ways that psychologists suggest in a conflict - resolution exercise is to ask both sides to write down (yes not just verbalize it) what they think is the “position” of the opposite side. These statements are then “accepted” by the opposite side as a true representation of their own point of view, before the discussion is continued. This simple ploy helps eliminate any misunderstanding about each other’s positions and in some cases this exercise itself defuses the crisis.

Do you know the people connected with the crisis?

Sitting in your hallowed chamber, it is that much more difficult to defuse a crisis because you probably do not know the personality traits of the persons actually connected with the crisis. Go out and meet them, if they are not known to you. This discussion will give you a great insight into what their value systems are and the kind of things that they are likely to accept as a final solution.

Are you reacting without absorbing the full facts?

Many amongst us are keen to immediately react to every piece of information that reaches us. This could deepen the crisis. It may also compromise your “impartiality” in the eyes of the players involved. So restrain yourself from “going off the handle”. Many years ago I was in Dhaka when their President was overthrown and the government was taken over by the military head who called himself the Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). After a month of governance, everyone started interpreting the abbreviation as Cancel My Last Announcement.

Don’t look for perfect solutions – try and narrow the gap.

Many a crisis could never be satisfactorily solved because the manager waited for the perfect solution. There are no perfect solutions in life. Concentrate on narrowing the gap between whatever the two conflicting points of view are, without losing sight of the objectives that you have set for yourself and within the ambit of which you have decided to find a lasting solution.

Are you radiating optimism?

The manager needs to show enthusiasm about this job on hand. You need to be optimistic and appear confident that a solution to the crisis can indeed be found. More importantly, you must seem to enjoy what you are doing, apart from appearing genuinely concerned with the problem. If these signals are not “received” by the concerned “players”, your effectiveness as a manager of this crisis will be severely eroded.

Don’t be defensive!

Managers who take the crisis as a personal assignment usually are not able to do a good job because then they have this additional responsibility (self assumed) of justifying each action of theirs. Learn to disassociate yourself from the situation and try to find a solution to the best of your ability and you will realize that you are indeed able to reach your “destination”.

Shall we wish each other HAPPY CRISIS MANAGEMENT - probably as good a “season’s greeting” as any?

"Mr. Prakash Shesh, the author, has done his MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad after his Masters in Physics from I.I.T. New Delhi. You may send your feedback to him by choosing an option at the top right corner of this page."