METHODS OR TECHNIQUES FOR CRISIS HANDLING

Organizations operate in a dynamic environment. Environmental forces greatly affect organizations. Environmental change and complexity increases organization uncertainty. Environmental uncertainty and turbulence occur occasionally with no warning at all. Crisis is the result of environmental turbulence.

A crisis can be defined as an unexpected problem that will lead to chaos and disaster if not resolved quickly. It is an unplanned, non-recurring and dramatic situation. The effect of crisis can be devastating to an organization especially if managers are unprepared to deal with. Good planning can reduce the number of such unexpected crisis, but no amount of planning can completely eliminate the occurrence of critical situations.

The ability to handle crisis problems is essential if a manner is to progress up the organizational hierarchy. The first step in successful crisis handling is the rapid isolation and identification of the problems permeating the crisis situation. The second step is the need for quick action to respond to the crisis as follows:

(1) Prepare for crisis by collecting as much knowledge as possible about the crisis situation.

(2) Establish a network of reliable information sources and be prepared to use them whenever necessary.

(3) Obtain and analyze information quickly to confirm the crisis situation.

(4) Implement immediate action on those absolutely urgent aspects of the problem situation.

(5) Do not try to avoid responsibility. Face the problem directly even in the face of risk and incomplete knowledge.

(6) Always learn from experience-what can be done to prevent a recurrence in the future.

Managers must respond quickly to crisis situations. They require adequate delegation of authority to deal with. Organizations can constitute a crisis team deal with such crisis. Experts also can be called to handle organization crisis. Flexibility in organizational design is needed to handle crisis situation successfully.