What is crisis management? Well, it focuses on when a business or organisation experiences a situation where its operations come to a grinding halt. Think of a factory affected by a fire or storm damage, taking out the electricity and computer systems.
In these situations, your leadership skills are tested to the max, as it’s not a typical kind of leadership scenario. While regular leadership involves planning and execution, crisis management focuses solely on reacting to negative events after they’ve occurred.
The good news is that crisis management skills can be worked on via an OCA leadership course online. Convenient and affordable, they put your upskilling firmly in your hands. We’ll touch on that again at the end.
What It Means to Lead in Times of Crisis
Crisis leadership is not a rarely used skill, as 69% of managers report experiencing at least one crisis in a five-year period. Without defined crisis management skills, you’ll likely panic when a major problem hits.
Decision-making when a major crisis hits - such as the pandemic a couple of years ago - is not the same. When uncertain times are around the corner, you need to know that you can conduct an effective crisis response and keep your business operations going.
The Role of Resilience
Resiliency is one of the main personal characteristics needed to be effective in crisis situations. As such, you can either use a crisis as a learning experience or fold under pressure. There are many different types of crises, but they all need you to be able to keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, as the old saying goes.
As a leadership course online like our Business, Retail & Entrepreneurship course shows, resilience in crisis leadership can be acquired with the right executive education. Just as you would with business administration, you can learn how to put measures into action, such as:
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Always put the safety of your team first
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Ensuring clear lines of communication exist
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Staying strong by eating & hydrating as you normally would
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Taking breaks at set points to preserve your energy
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Motivating others to stay positive
By integrating these skills into your leadership style, you can ensure that when future crises come around - and they will come around - you’ll be ready, and so will your team. An OCA leadership course online will help leaders acquire this ability.
Crisis Communication
In times of crisis, communication needs to be clear and understood by everyone. Any school of business you might attend will cover communication as a central part of operations, and everyone needs to be able to talk to each other when your usual comms go down.
Effective crisis communication allows immediate contact with every stakeholder, as in many cases, you won’t be face-to-face with your team. It’s something you can prepare for as part of your risk management strategy.
For instance, you might have a backup plan where everyone falls back onto their mobiles, with everyone’s number being placed in a central record. Preparedness is one of the fundamentals of most crisis management initiatives.
Managing Stress and Self-Care
Staying calm in a crisis is central to your leadership development, and you’re only going to be able to do that if you focus on your own healthcare. As you’ll learn on an OCA leadership course online, such as our Leadership Performance Mindset Course Bundle, you can’t be your best if you’re not at your best, physically and mentally.
Tons of case studies show otherwise competent leaders fail in a crisis because they’ve not focused enough on self-care. You’re naturally going to be more stressed if you're lacking sleep or haven’t eaten as you usually would.
The Role of Continuous Learning & Reflection
Continuous learning is essential for anyone in management, and it can help you in regard to crisis leadership. Even if you’ve got an Executive MBA under your belt, you still don’t know everything. In fact, the moment you think you know everything, you’re in trouble!
An OCA leadership course online can support your ongoing development, and ours are also CPD-endorsed, meaning that not only do you get micro-credentials to put on your CV, but you get Continuous Professional Development (CPD) points that make you more employable.
Enhance Your Crisis Management Skills With a Leadership Course Online
If you want to boost your ability as a leader, the most affordable, convenient, and mentally-stimulating way to learn is with an OCA leadership course online. Our learners get a next-level experience, with our course content being put together with industry experts who know exactly what each sector requires in terms of in-demand skills.
To get a closer look at what we offer, watch our short Student Study Demo that shows you everything you need to know. However, should you wish to see the 20+ industries that our CPD-endorsed learning covers, visit us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au, where you’ll also see our flexible payment options.
Alternatively, if you’d like to speak to us about your specific training needs, give us a call at 1300 611 404. However, if it’s out of hours, email [email protected] and we’ll respond as soon as we possibly can.
