Conflict Management:

Issues and Problems and Crises, Oh My!

My robots, R2 and D2, need to learn how to better handle conflicts.

Dear Friend,

In the past, I’ve thought that “preparing for the worst” is the pessimistic way of living. Why should we always think about the things that could go wrong? Why can’t we focus on the good and live life happily? The reality is that preparing for the worst is the smart way of living and doesn’t actually reflect your half-empty outlook on life. Problems happen, and when they do, you will be a happier person if you are prepared for them and know what to do when they come at you.

 

The trick to problems is being proactive not reactive. The following outlines a number of suggestions on how to prepare for and handle the worst of times, because it’s inevitable that they come with the best of times.

 

Deal With Your Issues

Pretending like nothing could go wrong is wrong. Being prepared and understanding the possibilities for crises can help your organization handle them when they arise. Think about the way military trains even when not engaged in war. They are planning and practicing for specific situations so that they will be victorious. Proper preparation involves identifying and analyzing trends, issues and threats in the environment that could affect your organization, creating a strategy and an action plan for implementation and evaluating the effectiveness this plan.

 

Keep Your Cool

When a major problem comes up, the worst thing to do is break down. Breaking down has the potential to create a waterfall effect with others in the company and in the public. A few basic things to remember are: be honest about everything you say, provide information that is accurate and readily accessible to the public and the media, have a spokesperson available at all times to answer questions and dissolve speculation and monitor news coverage about your company so that you can quickly respond to what the public and media are saying.

 

Decide To Comment or Not To Comment

Sometimes companies are wary of making comments on an unfortunate situation due to the fear that something will be said to make the situation worse. It is true there are times when you should postpone making a comment. For example, if reporters contact you about a certain situation that you have yet to know about, it is perfectly appropriate to say you will get back to them as soon as you learn more and get your facts straight. However, most of the time, not saying anything at all can actually be worse than saying something, because people will think guilt lies in your silence. Take responsibility for the situation and be prepared to explain how it will be resolved.

 

It’s never too late to prepare for something that hasn’t happened yet. Take the time to think about potential problems and crises and create a plan of action so that you are ready to handle them with ease.  Remember that you can still be a happy, positive person while accepting the fact that troubles will come. Perhaps now you’ll be prepared to pack a good punch and send those troubles in the other direction.