CRISIS MANAGEMENT

“A crisis is an unforeseen event that can cause major changes in an organisation. When a crisis occurs, it is too late to start planning for it.”

 When a crisis occurs, prior planning and relationship building will start paying off.  The skill of managing crisis focuses on the prevention of an event as well as its management once the event has become a reality.

’Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a disruptive and unexpected event that threatens to harm the organization or its stakeholders’.

·         All businesses should be thoroughly prepared for a tie of crisis, as a crisis could occur at any time

·         The importance of crisis management is that it can save lives, money and the organisation from devastation

Examples of crises that can occur:

·         Tight deadlines

·         Theft

·         Ill health

·         Power outages

·         Vandalism

Stages in a crisis:

Stage 1: Before the crisis. Little advance warning.

Stage 2: Warning. Clear indications that an event may happen and cause harm to the business.

Stage 3: Crisis point. The crisis starts showing harmful effects on the business.

Stage 4: Recovery. The business is able to focus on a return to normal operations

Stage 5: Post crisis. Assessing the damage caused by the event, start repairing what was damaged and considering a contingency plan to prevent or deal with a similar crisis in the future