How to protect your agency and manage a volatile crisis 💪

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“Any tips for making sure we don’t derail during this time? I
already feel like we’re changing strategies by the second (internally and client-facing) and I want to make sure

1) messaging is consistent

2) the team doesn’t feel overwhelmed with this very quick change and need for action.

Does that make sense??” [sic] asks Kate, a project manager of my beloved client.

It does if:
Your facebook feed is filled with Corona memes to distract you.

Your news feed that is FUD-filled (fear, uncertainty, doubt – so you don’t have to urban dictionary) with echoes of the last recession.

Your WhatsApp is blown up by frantic friends and family.

You’re not sure which clients are sticking around, even if you feel like you have them under legal lock and key
And worse… you are in a confined space with those closest to you while trying not to kill each other.

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You wish you could SOS yourself out of a Vampirina tranz because kids are home all day. Oh and did I mention it’s happening to your employees and clients, too?

Now that I have made you feel super warm and fuzzy

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I promise there is hope!
In times of crisis, people look for leadership.

If you are reading this, you are a leader.

Step into it.

Own it.

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“The best crisis management we can model is the Situation Room of the United States (setting aside your feelings about the current administration)

It’s an effective way of managing crisis because it swiftly and effectively deals with the volatility by managing:

· Information: parsing and prioritizing data that’s incoming from various sources

· Dissemination: to whom and how to share relevant and urgent communication

· Action: deploying and implementing tactics despite a barrage of new information coming at you (i.e revenue and resource changes)

· Support: making sure the nation (in your case – clients and team) feel supported throughout

Five simple things to implement your own “Situation Room”:

1. The Situation Room – needs to take place in real life (preferably with social distancing in this case). Whether that is a Slack channel, Zoom huddle or your team sneaks into a football field and then stands 6 feet apart (jk), you need a time and place to gather the info with the Gladiators you appoint.

2. Opening and closing debriefs – there is a phenomenal amount of info to digest between closing shop and opening … then it cycles throughout the day. This is crucial to pivot and/or course-correct quickly.

3. Create a change board in your project manager – this is a project or board where new ideas that flood from you and the team get placed to be approved, denied or delayed based on resources and urgency. This will help keep track of all competing projects and ideas.

4. Measure the capacity of both hours and emotional stress – this is a prime time for people to be on edge and overwhelmed. Track hours for the good of everyone’s sanity. Support your people by checking in. Are their families healthy? Will they have Wi-Fi outages (SE ASIA)? Do they need to make appointments to go to supermarkets(certain South American countries)? Stay informed… Any new data will: Affect workflow. Affect productivity. Affect your business.

5. Lastly, Lead; In your industry. In your business. In your home.

As a kid, my stepdad would constantly ask me “Are you a leader or a follower?” That is ingrained in my head. Be

the reliable, constant, future thinker your team and clients need you to be. If you need to silently scream into

pillow, reach out and I’ve got your back. Leadership is the manifestation of Expansion, Empathy, and

Empowerment.

Kick some ass and let me know if you have any questions.

Legit, send me an email – I read them all (I’m unfortunately addicted and stuck at home), I promise to respond.

Let’s grow together.

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