Effective Crisis Management

Mark Heywood

I call it the “spoon on glass” moment. During a wedding, at some point after the meal there will be a spoon on glass moment. Everybody knows it is coming and everybody is waiting for it. The sound of spoon on glass only means one thing, it is time for the speeches. If you do not have a speaking role, then you can sit back and relax. If you do, then it is show time. You are in the spotlight, with your speech and your butterflies. During every crisis, there is a spoon on glass moment. The point at which the room goes quiet and all eyes focus on you. It can be daunting, and probably will be stressful; in fact, a colleague once told me “if it isn’t chaos, it isn’t a crisis”. What it need not be, however, is a disaster, at least not in terms of how you control the situation.

The Chinese symbol wei-ji (their word for crisis) is a combination of two words: “danger” and “opportunity”. That has always fascinated me, and in this chapter I would like to explore two things. First, what do we mean by “crisis” and why do they occur? Second, why do so many organisations go about preparing themselves in the wrong manner? Why, therefore, do they waste the opportunity?

I will begin with a