Leading Teams in Crisis Situations: From Chaos to Extraordinary Performance
“Leading Teams in Crisis Situations: From Chaos to Extraordinary Performance,” by Erika Hayes James and Lynn Perry Wooten, delves into the successful leadership of crisis management teams.
First, the authors define organizational crisis, which is a volatile situation that invokes negative stakeholder reaction and threatens the well being of the company. Then, the study looks at two different types of crisis: sudden and smoldering. A sudden crisis is unexpected, and the firm may have limited responsibility for it. A smoldering crisis, which makes up nearly three-quarters of all business crises, escalates over time as a result of inattention by management.
Composing a crisis management team is especially important, because the members must be able to work together under pressure to achieve the desired goal. Each member must bring specific skills that contribute to the overall performance of the team.
Some companies, like Cisco, have several types of teams organized by hierarchical level and geographic location. One of their teams, the Manufacturing Crisis Management Team, was recently called on to keep operations moving during the global recession and to create a plan for managing disruptions in the supply chain. This specialized team is prepared to mobilize members and resources if a crisis occurs.
Wal-Mart also has formal emergency management teams. They consist of thirty-eight people divided among four sub-teams: preparedness, alarm operations, response and recovery operations, and business continuity. Each team deals with a specific crisis area. For example, the alarm operations sub-team monitors security systems, fire alarms, and the emergency hotline. The sub-teams are effective because they are integrated. During Hurricane Katrina, the sub-teams cooperated with each other to bring people together to make decisions and set priorities for tasks. After the Gulf Coast stores reopened, the teams were ready for action.
In some cases, companies are unable to create a formal crisis management team for every situation. Team improvisation is essential for dealing with unexpected events; members must adapt their roles and adjust their performance as they go. China’s Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis management teams are a good example of this skill set. In 2003, SARS grew from a few cases to a national outbreak. The teams, which were created to control the spread of the disease, constantly had to readjust their response by allocating resources, building temporary treatment hospitals, and educating the public. In addition to managing the crisis, they deployed inspections to begin a national prevention system.
The foundation of good teamwork is found in trust and open communication. If the team’s culture, or shared assumptions, includes a fair distribution of power, mutual respect, and a receptiveness toward each other, the team will probably be successful. In addition, crises may impact external stakeholders. Members must be sensitive to the effects of their actions on customers, suppliers, competitors, and innocent bystanders. A truly effective team will also work with outsiders to prevent future crises. Thus, the leader of the team must structure a highly reliable team environment and create a close relationship with the outside players.
To request a copy of the full journal article as posted in a special issue called “Building High Performance Teams” in the Effective Executive Magazine, please contact Erika at www.erikahayesjames.com/contact/.