Effective Crisis Management: Strategies for Handling Challenges

Managing a Crisis Gracefully

When the worst happens, there are tactics you can use to contain the disaster, or at least try to dampen it down before it gets worse.

Don’t Panic

If you’ve just realized a mistake, take a few deep breaths.

Fess Up

If you make an error, your audience will realize it before your manager does, and your manager would rather not hear about it via third-party sources. It’s better to own up and consult your team for their expertise.

Go Straight to the Top

Regardless of who made the error, the head of department should be the one to deal with it. Crisis management should come from the top, and using a junior staff member to deal with it is not only bad for brand reputation, it’s also bad for inexperienced staff to have that kind of workload or pressure.

Apologize

No matter what the mistake, or whose fault you think it was, an apology rarely goes down badly.

Don’t Silence Your Audience

In marketing, you have a duty to admit your mistakes, or you risk losing engagement and trust.

Preventing the Worst

Once the crisis is over, take steps to prevent the same thing happening again. This is the most important part of crisis management, as if you don’t learn from it, you’ll be bound to end up repeating it again.

Security is another key factor, so guard access carefully. Ensure there are strict protocols in place so that other departments and external influencers can’t get involved before you’re ready for them.

Mergers and Acquisitions as Strategic Tools

Mergers and acquisitions are not strategies; they are tactics.

The strategies precede the acquisitions.

Leaders must understand the business context in which they’re operating.

5 Steps to Harnessing a Strategy Amplifier:

1. Gather, Learn, and Validate—You must earn the right to lead before anyone will follow you.
2. Strategy—Lead the organization to a strategy of winning in data storage and security.
3. Assess Skills and Capabilities—Decide that critical skills include software engineering and selling, particularly to and through value-adding resellers.
4. Bridge the Gaps—To increase the objectives.
5. Manage the Cultural Transformation—Lifecycles are measured in months, not years. “Decide. Align. Go.”

The critical point is to leverage mergers and acquisitions as tools to accelerate strategic shifts, not as answers on their own.