The art of managing an emergency situation at the workplace through effective planning and quick action refers to crisis management. An unstable condition which leads to major disturbances at the workplace must be controlled immediately for the effective functioning of the organization.

Crisis management helps employees as well as the organization cope with difficult times in the best possible way, and employees play an essential role in it:

• Employees must be serious about their own work. Review your performance regularly. Don’t always wait for your boss to ask for reports — be your own critic. Strive hard to achieve your targets within the desired time frame, and never adopt a casual attitude at work. An individual must be able to sense the early signs of crisis and warn fellow workers against the same. Take initiative on your own, and escalate issues immediately to your seniors — don’t wait for others to take action.
• One should not take things lightly. Once a crisis is being detected, employees must immediately jump into action.
• Encourage effective communication during emergency situations. Don’t keep things to yourself — discuss ideas amongst fellow workers to reach a plan that would work best at the time of crisis. Information must flow across all departments in its desired form, and employees should have easy access to their superior’s cabin to discuss critical issues.
• Don’t spread baseless rumours about your product or organization. Avoid spreading fake information.
• It is essential for employees to respect their organization. Maintain the decorum of the workplace, and enter the office with a cool mind. Don’t unnecessarily find fault in coworkers or fight with them — remember, conflicts lead to no solution. It’s always better to discuss things face to face and reach a mutually beneficial solution.
• Don’t ask for unjustified things. Think from management’s perspective as well — your organization pays you for your hard work, not for spreading negativity. Employees should never indulge in unproductive activities like boycotts or strikes to get their demands fulfilled. Violence at the workplace is a crime; neither management nor employees benefit from it, and such activities only tarnish the brand name.
• Don’t panic. Maintain your calm and decide on ways to overcome the crisis rather than complaining and cribbing. Employees should never get hyper, as stress and anxiety lead to mistakes one might not otherwise commit. Relax, and give your best.
• Employees must rely on accurate information. Mere assumptions and guesswork create problems and misunderstandings later — double-check your information before submitting reports or passing it along.
• Think out of the box. Try to come up with innovative ideas and strategies to overcome tough times as soon as possible. Employees must identify the causes of the crisis and devise relevant strategies to avoid it.
• Individuals must work as a single unit during emergency situations. Ensure a free flow of information across departments, and avoid playing blame games or criticizing others — it only makes the situation worse.
• Don’t hide. Instead, come out, interact with stakeholders and external parties, and ask for help. One must not avoid the media.
• Roles and responsibilities should be delegated according to each employee’s specialization, so the right person is doing the right job. Clear role delegation reduces confusion and duplicated effort at exactly the moment an organization can least afford either.
• Stay loyal to your organization, especially during tough times. Don’t treat your workplace as a mere source of income to be abandoned the moment things get difficult — respecting the organization you work for is part of getting through a crisis together.
• Discrimination on the grounds of caste, status, income, sex, or similar factors is unethical and itself a source of crisis. Everyone must be treated equally for a peaceful working environment.

The Bottom Line

None of this works in isolation — an employee who stays calm, communicates clearly, sticks to accurate information, and understands exactly where they fit in the response is worth far more during a crisis than one who simply waits to be told what to do. Crisis management, ultimately, is a shared responsibility between employees and the organization they represent.