Crisis management in your company: How to be fully prepared!

Challenges and uncertainties are part of everyday life in every company. The better prepared you are for them, the easier it is to deal with them and avert potential damage. A well thought-out crisis management in your company can help you do this.

But what does crisis management actually mean? And what strategies help you to deal with crises properly? In the following article, we will show you what crisis management is, how to draw up a crisis management plan and how to find solutions quickly in the event of a crisis.

Content of the article:
• What is crisis management?
• Why is crisis management important?
• What is a crisis management plan?
• Five steps to a crisis management plan
• Three examples of good crisis management
• Conclusion: Navigate every crisis with the right plan

What is crisis management?

Crisis management is about preventing potential damage to your company, your colleagues and employees or even your good reputation. Well thought-out crisis management begins long before a crisis even occurs. Crisis prevention involves recognizing and investigating potential crises in advance. As a result, some crises can even be prevented completely.

If a crisis situation arises regardless, the primary goal is to contain the crisis, prevent further damage to the company and get back to normal business operations as quickly as possible. With a crisis management plan, potential dangers can be quickly analyzed and addressed.

In the aftermath of a crisis, it is also necessary to review what has happened. What went well and what needs to be optimized? Questions like these not only improve your crisis management plan, they also make your company more resilient in the long term.

Why is crisis management important?

• Recognize potential crises: Risk analyses in advance of potential crises can reveal dangers and allow appropriate preparation. In this way, crises can possibly even be completely prevented even before they arise.
• React quickly: In a crisis, every minute counts. A well-prepared crisis management team can act quickly to bring the situation under control.
• Avoid or minimize financial damage: Crises can lead to significant financial losses, whether through lost production, customer losses or legal costs. Effective crisis management helps to limit these losses.
• Ensure business continuity: A well-prepared company can maintain its most important business processes even in times of crisis. This prevents longer downtimes and ensures that the company can continue to operate despite the crisis.
• Comply with legal requirements: Crises that are poorly managed can lead to legal problems, such as lawsuits or penalties if legal requirements are not met. Structured crisis management helps to minimize such legal risks.
• Prevent damage to the company's reputation: In a crisis, a company's reputation can quickly be damaged. Good crisis management helps to minimize negative effects on reputation and maintain the trust of customers, partners and the public.

What is a crisis management plan?

A crisis management plan is like an emergency plan for a company. It describes exactly what the company should do in the event of a crisis, who is responsible and how to react quickly to prevent or minimize damage. The aim is to get back to normal business operations as quickly as possible.

A crisis management plan can be presented like a to-do list on which the most important action steps are noted. This document can be created in paper form, but a digital version that is easily available and can be constantly updated is even better. If you already use project management software such as Stackfield, you can also use it for this purpose.

In Stackfield, for example, you can create a checklist or a Kanban board and organize the risks there. By defining clear rules and processes and determining exactly how to communicate with each other, you create a basis for being able to react well in various crises. At the same time, you can use Stackfield to define who should take on which tasks in an emergency in a way that is clear to all users.

Five steps to a crisis management plan

• Identify risks and potential crises: Think about which crises could affect your company. These could be natural disasters, technical problems, data leaks or negative reports in the media. You can also use a risk analysis to assess which crises will have the greatest impact on your company.
• Define responsibilities: Designate a team to take on responsibility in the event of a crisis. Give each team member clear tasks so that everyone is familiar with the crisis strategy and knows what to do if a crisis occurs.
• Create action plans: Write down step-by-step procedures on how to act in each type of crisis (for example on a whiteboard). This includes who will be informed first, what responses will be necessary and what actions will be taken to manage the crisis.
• Develop a communication plan: Plan how you will communicate with employees, customers and the public during a crisis. This will help to avoid misunderstandings and maintain trust. Decide who will speak and what information will be shared.
• Practice and update regularly: If possible, team members should practice the crisis plan over and over again so that everyone knows what to do in an emergency. The crisis management plan should also be updated regularly – at least once a year – for example if something changes in the company or new risks arise.

Three examples of good crisis management

Cyber attack and data leak:
Your company, a large online retailer, is the victim of a cyberattack in which customer data is stolen. The company immediately informs all affected customers, offers support such as credit monitoring services and improves its security measures.

All important documents and instructions for this crisis situation – such as the crisis management plan – can be stored and organized in Stackfield. This allows the team to quickly access the information they need in an emergency, because a cyberattack on your company has no impact on Stackfield. Stackfield's systems are not linked to yours, so access is possible even if your system is unavailable. The project management software has multiple ISO certifications and prevents data loss through automatic offsite backups, for example in the event of a disaster.

Negative media coverage:
Your company hits the headlines due to negative press for allegedly offering poor working conditions. Instead of denying the allegations, the company immediately launches an investigation, improves working conditions and communicates the changes openly, both internally and externally.

If you have project management software like Stackfield, you can use it to communicate with each other in real time. In the event of a crisis, it is crucial to act quickly and in a coordinated manner without wasting time on emails or phone calls. Responsibilities can be assigned quickly and recorded in a task in Stackfield. This ensures that each person knows their role and what they are responsible for.

Crisis in the supply chain:
Your employer, an international electronics manufacturer, is facing a supply bottleneck because one of its suppliers is failing. The company activates its crisis plan, quickly finds alternative suppliers and informs customers about possible delays.

The process is supported by a dedicated project room in Stackfield, which provides an overview of the current status of the crisis – for example on a Gantt chart. This allows everyone involved to see at a glance what has already been completed and which tasks are still pending. For example, you can create checklists for each step of the crisis plan. These lists help the team to proceed systematically and ensure that nothing is forgotten.

Conclusion: Navigate every crisis with the right plan

Good crisis management in a company ensures stability and security. With a well thought-out crisis management plan, you can prepare for any crisis and act appropriately in an emergency. Project management tools such as Stackfield can help you to maintain an overview and communicate with each other as a team. This way, you can reduce or even completely prevent potential damage to a company.