Recovering After A Crisis

Decisions often are made swiftly in the face of a crisis to manage the immediate and the near-term disruptions with the expectation that things will return to pre-crisis conditions soon. In the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, few had foreseen it to last as long as it did. In addition, the fragile stable state that was achieved between the two waves of the pandemic created a false sense of control over the situation. The decisions that were made while in the middle of managing the crisis, in all likelihood, did not have a long-term orientation to them. Now, when the worst of the crisis appears to have been overcome, the attention needs to shift to recovery. This is a good time to take a closer look at the events of the past several months to make course adjustments.

When things begin to return to pre-crisis conditions, it is advisable to take a brief pause before making changes. This provides greater clarity in terms of the actions to be undertaken and their probable outcomes mainly because more and better quality information becomes available. Also, as there is relatively less dynamism in the external environment, the pause will provide time to gather all the information related to the management of the crisis and synthesize it into actionable plans. It thus contributes in better decision-making, which in turn leads to better strategies. A time period of a week-to-10 day might be optimal but this could very well vary with the type, size and the complexity of the organization. Longer gaps might result in organizational inertia.

Following are some recommendations for the key business documents:

Strategic /Business Plan

Crises vary in their magnitude and duration. A crisis of the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic would make it necessary for organizations to re-visit its business or strategic plans. Even if some organizations fared better than the others, it would be difficult to avoid the ripple effect due to the interconnectedness of the global economy. Therefore, regardless of the size, type and geographic locations of these organizations, changes to the strategic/business plans would be imminent.

Business strategies that were implemented as a short–term arrangement during the peak of the crisis would either need to be scaled back, discarded, or in some cases made permanent. For instance, one of the most commonly observed trends during the lockdown was working remotely from home. Organizations that choose to make these changes permanent or the dominant way to conduct future business would be required to make changes to the strategic business plans. Such major business decisions have implications for the entire organization. This would entail concomitant changes in other areas such as hiring contracts, work culture among others.  

In the case of smaller enterprises, more fundamental decisions about survival or continuation might be the major business decision. In yet other cases, doing business the same way might no longer be an option. In those instances, finding a new strategic direction should become a top priority.

Business Continuity Plan

Organizations that have a well-defined Business Continuity Plan unquestionably fare better than those that do not have one. Modern and complex organizations nowadays are known to have more than one business continuity plan; for instance, one at the business unit level, one at the corporate level or one based on the geographic location. BCPs typically contain strategies that have a short-range orientation. However, with the increasing severity of the natural disasters and human errors and/or technological breakdowns, the focus now should be to include strategies that have a mid-to-long term orientation. Most businesses that have been in operation for several years, invariably, develop a certain level of resiliency adapting to the changes in the external environment.  The future objective, however, should be building long-term resiliency. This can be achieved if done in smaller increments.

Crisis Communication Plan

A crisis communication plan is an invaluable aid in the overall management of the crisis as it contracts the decision-making time and helps to communicate key messages to both the external and internal stakeholders efficiently and effectively. A crisis communication plan is a living document and its usefulness lies in updating on a regular interval or as often as new information becomes available. After a crisis, is a good time to update it based on the experiences gained in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, organizations that do not have a crisis communication plan might consider developing one to streamline the communication process in the event of a future crisis situation. It is not always possible or even feasible to anticipate and prepare for all potential crisis situations but having a crisis communication plan that identifies key personnel, their contact information and the direction of flow of information would make managing a crisis situation in the future a lot less stressful.