Dealing with a crisis in the workplace

Jul 28, 2020

Dealing with a crisis in the workplace... Blog @ TemaUltim

Photo by Alexey Ly

When we are put in unexpected situations, our body triggers a fight-or-flight response. This is your nervous system’s way of providing your body with enough energy to get out of danger. Imagine, you are crossing the street when a vehicle suddenly comes speeding towards you. Your body’s fight-or-flight- response causes you to do one of two things: you either move out of harm’s way and save your life or you FREEZE and you get hit. This same rule applies when something unpredictable comes up during your day and disturbs your schedule.

Do you let these unforeseen events stop you from achieving your goals set for that particular day or do you solve the issue and get back to the task at hand?

It is impossible to have a business and not face a disrupted schedule every now and then… because let’s face it, life happens. Your employees may call in sick or your company’s products may run out of stock and before you know it, you’re stressed out and short-staffed and even considering closing your business for the day.

However, what if these things can be avoided? What if you can have a better response to a crisis?

There’s no doubt unpredictable things happen, but what if these things can be controlled. Your business should not have to suffer due to unanticipated incidents and it won’t.


Here are 3 ways to respond to AN UNEXPECTED CRISIS at work.

1. Stop and breathe

As previously mentioned, our bodies automatically carry out a fight or flight response when we face certain situations. If something unexpected comes up at work, going immediately into panic mode is indeed a “flight” response. DO NOT overreact or go into a state of hysteria and lose your business for the day. Instead, take a deep breath. This is of course easier said than done but it is very important. DO NOT make rash decisions that can gravely impact your business’ revenue, especially if you are a small business owner. Reflect on the situation at hand. Is it something that can be solved quickly? Or within a few hours? Take a minute to think about plausible solutions that can benefit both you and your employees instead of making a spur-of-the-moment decision you may later regret.

2. Make shift scheduling apps your best friend

One of the most common problems businesses face today, is the phenomenon of being short-staffed. Whether you have 4 or 10 employees in a store, restaurant, café, etc… you should make it work.

It also is not fair that employees have to be forced to do the workload of three other people, due to a manager’s lack of efficient planning. There are so many shift scheduling web apps (such as TeamUltim), which gives all businesses, regardless of size, the opportunity to have more organized shifts.

The TeamUltim app even allows users to manage their businesses from multiple locations. This way you can keep tabs on all employees’ schedules from anywhere and in the event that someone calls in sick or for some reason is unable to get to work, you can easily find another employee to cover the shift of the absentee. As a business owner, you should always leave room for error, meaning, always have a backup plan in case an employee cannot make it to work. This way, the other employees won’t feel like they are in a stressful work environment, thus making business flow as usual.

3. Call for help

If you know other businesses in the same domain, reach out to them. Maybe they have faced the same issue you are dealing with. Asking for help does not make you dependable, it just shows how determined you are to keep your business afloat. And who knows, by reaching out to other companies, you may even learn new things that can benefit your business in the long run.

The above suggestions are simply a few ways to better respond to a crisis but of course many more exist. When dealing with unexpected difficulties, instead of trying to take the easy way out, one must think and find a solution. Your company’s response to an unpredictable problem says so much about your team. A successful business is comprised of a strong, well organized team, that works well under pressure.


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