Ethan Musolini says: “every crisis presents an opportunity. We are in a critical moment right now. We have either to let businesses close or give them a chance to survive and thrive”.

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

Crisis Management helps the employees as well as organizations to cope with difficult times in the best possible way.

Employees play an essential role in crisis management:

• 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. Never adopt a casual attitude at work. An individual must be able to sense the early signs of crisis and warn his fellow workers against the same. Take initiative on your own. 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 your fellow workers to reach a plan which would work best at times of crisis.
• Don’t spread baseless rumors about your product and organization. Avoid spreading fake information.
• It is essential for employees to respect their organization. One should maintain the decorum of the organization. Enter the office with a cool mind. Don’t unnecessarily fight fault in your coworkers and fight with them. Remember conflicts lead to no solution. It is always better to discuss things face to face and come to a mutually beneficial solution.
• Don’t ask for unjustified things. Think from the management’s perspective as well. Remember your organization pays you for your hard work and not for spreading negativity around. Employees should never indulge in unproductive activities like boycotts or strikes to get their demands fulfilled. Violence at the workplace is a crime. Neither the management nor the employee benefits out of it. Such activities, in turn, tarnish the brand name.
• Don’t panic. Maintain your calm and decide on the ways to overcome crises rather than complaining and cribbing. Employees should never get hyper as stress and anxiety lead to more mistakes one might not otherwise commit. Relax and give your best.
• Employees must rely on accurate information. Mere assumptions and guess works create problems and misunderstandings later.
• Think out of the box. Try to come out 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 and ways to avoid it.
• Individuals must work as a single unit during emergency situations. Ensure the free flow of information across departments. 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 media.
• Discrimination on the grounds of caste, status, income, sex and so on is unethical and leads to crisis. Everyone must be treated as one for a peaceful environment at the workplace.

From Management Study Guide