No business — or person — is immune to a crisis. Sometimes, problems appear suddenly, while others build over time. Darren Buddemeyer, the CEO of DynaFlex, has seen his share of crises. Through them all, he’s managed to deftly lead his company and employees, no matter how difficult the situation may seem.
There are several keys to maintaining strong leadership during a crisis. Here are a few:
Identify the Problem
An essential component of navigating any crisis is clearly defining it. For instance, if you find your company is losing customers, that’s a problem. Your next step is identifying why clients are choosing to leave and taking the appropriate measures to attempt to retain them.
Once you’ve exposed the problem, it’s time to sit down with the right stakeholders and brainstorm ways to solve it. Include all individuals who can provide input and insights.
At your first meeting with stakeholders, it’s essential to clarify how each person can assist in resolving the issue. Establish goals and give team members a timeframe for meeting them.
Once everyone has their assignments for addressing the issue, schedule regular follow-ups to monitor success.
Communicate Regularly
Communication in a crisis is critical. Without regular conversations among team members, leadership runs a risk of being out of touch with what’s happening at the organization’s lower levels.
Set a regular meeting schedule among management and with the entire staff. Each meeting should have a purpose, and leaders should prepare for the meetings with actionable insights.
Whenever you communicate the current status of the crisis to managers and employees, keep your words concise and direct. Don’t make a bad situation worse by sugar-coating or giving employees the impression that all is right.
Instead, explain the issue and the steps everyone is taking to resolve it.
Monitor Team Efforts
You can’t resolve a crisis without establishing the steps required to fix it. Once you identify those steps and your team takes action to implement them, it’s important to monitor their success.
Schedule regular meetings with team members as you work to resolve the crisis. Don’t deviate too far from the problems at hand. Instead, keep a laser focus on the resolution of the issue until it’s completely rectified.
If a team member cannot accomplish their goal for resolving the issue, find out why. Determine the additional tools or resources needed to help the employee and then provide them.
Act with Compassion
It’s important to communicate with compassion and not blame. Regardless of how the crisis occurred, make a point not to react with criticism. You need your team to put their best foot forward to resolve the problem.
Accusations and complaints tend to destroy team spirit. Instead, use tough, fair language whenever employees or managers make errors. Continue to encourage them to meet their goals in overcoming the current crisis.
About Darren Buddemeyer
Darren Buddemeyer is the CEO of DynaFlex, a leader in orthodontic products and dental sleep medicine device manufacturing. Throughout his career, he’s overseen many conflicts. With his practical leadership skills and hard work, Darren has built DynaFlex to be a leading company in the dental industry.
