Six Tips for Crisis Management

A crisis is normally defined as a sudden change in the course of events, usually for the worse. It usually has these elements: threat, element of surprise and a short decision time. One thing is common to all crises - it's an emotional stressful event for the person(s) involved. Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders and/or the general public. There are different types of crises, for example: - Technological crises - Confrontation crises - Crises of organizational misdeeds - Crises of deception - Natural crises. How to deal with these crises is normally covered as part of general Project Management training program and involves a detailed preparation of crisis management plan. However, this informative yet entertaing presentation deals with tips that are generally overlooked in the typical project management course. These tips are bound to help middle and senior level managers handle potential crises more effectively. One tip, not part of the talk, was given by the late prime minister of Israel- Golda Meir (who also was a teacher in Millwakee,Wisconsin): "Don't be so humble- you are not that important".