How do you deal with crisis at work? What skills do you possess that help you overcome crisis situation?

Dear Stoil,

When there is a crisis on my work place people tend to get nervous and raise their voices. 

It's a common mistakes to think that when you raise your voice others will be more willing to cooperate.

However, I always go for the root of the problem, see the pattern that it took and start looking for a solution or a way to reduce the damage. 

   I think my strongest points are rationality and being calm. I have pretty good problem solving skills and i do what i can with what i have or compromise.  

I am totally agree with Venera. I want to add the following,

Sharing lesson learned with your team/mangers is very important to improve the performance and quality of your work, because you can't work alone to resolve a crisis and problem. 

In crisis management a strategic robust plan is required to counter emerging crises. Every organization needs to have pre-established activities and guidelines to respond to significant catastrophic events. Let it be emergency responses, disaster recovery, risk management, financial crisis, market collapse etc, these are all at the heart of crisis management. In some previous answer's I've tried to stress the importance of Risk Factors and Risk Analysis. Successful and leading businesses and owners/managers try to come up with contingency plans in crisis situations.

At a time of business crisis, I'd try to create and sustain our center's credibility and trust among management, employees, affiliates, clients, suppliers, University community, media and governmental authorities (as such the Ministry of Higher Education). No matter what the crisis is the focus would be on trying to help the center return to a state of on-going productivity and continuity of the business and sustainability of our repute.

Our response to crisis situations greatly depend upon its nature. Before we begin to formulate a strategy/plan/response to the crisis situation we need to understand and define what kind of crisis it is and what are its short and long term impacts on the business and society. There aren't only business crisis but other types as such natural disasters and unexpected crisis situations.

No matter what the situation is we should NEVER let go of our ethical, moral and social responsibility values. Since i work in an Academic Research environment one of the first things I like to do is to study and analyze the business, health & Safety, moral, ethical and social implications before being part of a project.

Every crisis situation is productive, We get to walk away with catastrophe (~Jonathan Kellerman, New York Times Bestselling author.)

Most work crises follow repetitive patterns. Look into what caused past problems and how the company handled them. What you learn from those previous predicaments can help you manage similar situations.

Assemble staffers who have shown strength in handling a crisis—those who stay calm in high-stress, emotionally charged situations and who possess strong organizational skills. Then set up a strategy meeting to determine everyone’s specific responsibilities.

Your team looks to you for strength and guidance, so be prepared for people to panic when a crisis occurs. A well-researched, clearly thought-out plan of action will increase solution options and minimize mania until the crisis clears. When it does, remember to applaud staff efforts.

When you’re in crisis mode, remember to use language that communicates optimism and confidence to your team.

Panic, reflex or knee jerk reactions can, on occasions, exacerbate a situation or crisis. My experiences in life have taught me that the first thing you do in an emergency or crisis is NOTHING. Pause and give yourself thinking time before determining what has "actually" happened (review the facts and don't make assumptions), evaluate the situation and it's degree of seriousness, plan a course of action to resolve the problem using all the resources that are available to you, implement your strategy and follow it through to a successful conclusion. Afterwards review all aspects and conduct a "lessons learnt" session with everyone involved. Write a reflective report as a record of the event and for future reference. What skills do I possess to help me in a crisis situation? Age and experience above all else!!

First analyse the crisis from the root and take immediate appropriate decision for amicably settling it.

First of one needs to keep himself/herself composed during the time of crises and then look for support from the ones who can actually help you out in coming out of crises. TAKE LEAD  to ensure that no information is missed out while dealing with crises as well as to ensure that no further damage is done!

Dear Stoil according to my experience the main skill keys in crisis management is :

 # Being calm . 

# have an eagle eye to the situation . 

# Creat the flexible specialized team 

Established  organisational entities prepare,rehearse, propagate and regularly update their approved  Crisis Management plans to cater for 'Crisis Events arising out of either a 'Security' or 'Safety' related event. Since Crisis Management plans cater for the widest range of contingencies, it would be fair to assume that most of the probable adverse events would have been catered for and people(staff,work force,first responders,security, management levels) know their allotted tasks.

To deal with unanticipated Crisis events, If I were in control at the Incident site,  I would  after assessing  the situation with the inputs I have at that time, proceed to  prioritize(personnel,info & infra) assets to be saved and conduct further action accordingly. I would communicate on the internal PA system for  the staff to deal with the crisis in accordance with a previously rehearsed contingency which resembles the new crisis the most...to obviate time delay on account of forming up new teams, to avoid  confusion and to regain order at the earliest.

If that possibility is non-existent, then I would employ the PA system to get the following actions initiated:--inform the work force in brief about the crisis in place.

---- indicate the exit routes to be used to the waiting areas, in a calm & orderly manner.

---the shut down crews to complete their tasks and move to exit areas.

--- the salvage parties to conduct their work in compliance of laid down priorities.

Having set things in to motion, I would communicate concisely  to my reporting officer/management  about the magnitude & severity of the event in terms of loss & impact and ask for external assistance if required.I would also ask them to activate the laid down drills for Crisis Management Control Centre  from a safe place to coordinate  the immediate requirements of Cas Evac, waiting areas, personnel accounting,media management, RV for first responders et al. This would also indicate to the management further action to be initiated for loss mitigation,org recovery to the pre-crisis levels or to a new level and Business Continuity procedures.

Presence of mind under stressful conditions,experience in dealing with crisis situations,leadership qualities, composed demeanour, ability to communicate at all levels in the organisation would be the requisite skills. 

Work place crisis are inevitable and differ one from the other, as such there is no one rule saves all to solving or addressing them. 

However, one key factor remains common in any kind of crisis - Calmness. A small crisis could escalate progressively if a key player is not calm and most of the time these crisis require a small adjustment in laid down rules to deal with them.

Collaboration - Sometimes working with other people may just be the answer to solving the crisis. They could either be in your team, department, group or not.

Adaptability - Being able to adapt to new ideas and innovation is a strong quality to posses when dealing with work place crisis because the last thing you would want is for a wrong idea to turm your crisis into a catastrophe.

Problem Solving Skill at work place is one of the important quality of a HR Mmanager,  Starting with Attendance, absence, disobey, negligence, neglect, blaming each other, not taking proper care of  the machine, instruments etc., leading to accidents causes accusations and verbal clash at work place. Job change, salary increase, promotion, increment disparity leads to go slow & other work related complaints.  Misuse of Cos. PC for personal use, leaking Co. secrets, sexual harassment at work place also contribute to employee-problems. Strike due to Retrechment, Law off all are potential danger for law & order problem not only for Co., but also, Govt., Labr.Dept. & society in general.  HR People with Industrial Relation background are in demand due to their problem solving skill.   thanks      AGM-HR&A