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Hello, it’s Andrew, Plexal CEO, here with the latest edition of our six-part Growing your business series, which this week focuses on crisis management.
To date we’ve covered:
- Establishing the mission
- Mastering customer acquisition
- Building a team and creating company culture
A crisis is, of course, the last thing any leader wants to experience. But forewarned is forearmed and there have been three crises I’ve faced in my 25-year career, so I recognise being equipped with the necessary tools is essential to come out the other side.
Before going into that, I want to highlight there’s a huge difference between a problem and a crisis, even if it doesn’t seem like it in the thick of growing a business. In short: if it’s a crisis, you can’t self-diagnose it – everyone will tell you.
Problems are a common occurrence in the life of a growing company – they’ll crop up relatively often but this is where saner heads prevail. Resolving a problem requires resilience, calmness and a methodical approach through which you identify, measure, learn and return to normal. It’s procedural and manageable.
A crisis, on the other hand, demands a moment of reflection and often an intentional overreaction – although that doesn’t mean panic. This should be decisive, positive action to regain control of the situation.
Imagine being in the rapids with no paddle – crisis management requires acting urgently and with clarity.
At Plexal, the Covid pandemic was a defining crisis management moment for us and while it’s a moment that impacted everyone the world over – it was significantly transformative for our business. At the time, we were gearing up to deliver an in-person proposition for the government in the form of the London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA) and selling real estate, then suddenly no-one needed space.
We had to pause for thought and assess the short, medium and long-term impacts and create solutions as appropriate. We developed daily senior team calls, created a clear communication rhythm and framed our response in monthly blocks. We pivoted from physical to virtual delivery and reassured shareholders early with the ultimate words of comfort: “We’ve got a plan.”
By contrast, had we been slow to offer an alternative approach, we could have been too late and the programme may well have been paused for an indefinite period. Fortunately, this positioned us for the future and the positive impact has seen our consultancy offering deliver more than 80 programmes and generate an economic return of £13.74 for every £1 of government spend with Plexal, as of November last year.
In terms of managing relationships with workspace members, we took an empathetic approach, recognising that they were in crisis too and told them we’d stay open and be ready when they were, offering to keep their contract live or provide a holiday period. As a result of this, the majority of those who paused their contracts came back to us as soon as restrictions allowed them to.
When crises such as these arise, employing partnership and preserving brand integrity can’t be underestimated. It’s inherent in my personal style, but I feel empathy is a mandatory trait – especially for crisis management. You need to understand others’ perspectives and place yourself in someone else’s shoes. Crisis management requires everyone – from shareholders to colleagues – to hear the same message and, by using the same language and process, you can be consistent.
Crisis management doesn’t have to be graceful. But although overreaction is necessary, one should take a moment beforehand – be that whiteboarding, walking, breathing or sitting in a dark room, any way you can create space to think, then act.
As CEO, even though I can share ideas with the senior team, engage line managers and communicate with customers, the buck stops with me. Even if it might be the wrong decision, crisis management requires someone to make a judgement call to move forward and course correct the ship as best as possible. Assess risks and rewards, make a call and accept that it might not be perfect – but inaction is worse.
Crisis management requires recognising you can’t solve the crisis itself.
However, you can deescalate it.
In the same way flight safety briefings advise passengers to apply their own oxygen mask before helping others in the event of an emergency, the same can be said of crisis management. While your instinct may be to dive into action without thought, staying composed enough to apply your own mask and breathe will ensure you’re better placed to calmly help others.
I’ve summarised my thoughts on crisis management below, so if you’re ever in a hurry, you can refer to these at speed. Please let me know what you think and share your experiences with me.
- Recognise the difference between a problem and a crisis – you’ll only have perspective on this once you have experienced a true crisis
- Take a moment to think
- Understand that you must take steps to protect yourself before you can protect and support those around you
- Overreact, be urgent, communicate clearly to all stakeholders
- Create a cadence of communication that stakeholders can anticipate
- Lead – in times of crisis those around you need someone to trust
- You won’t be able to solve the crisis but you can be thoughtful in how you navigate it
- Make the difficult decisions, rather than pontificate
- Constantly reflect, iterate and learn
I’ll be bringing you regular updates on the Plexal growth journey over the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more insights and, hopefully, inspiration.
And if you want support to your next growth milestone – we’re just an email away and ready to work with you: https://www.plexal.com/growth/
