Crisis Management
&
Resilience*
*Resilience is described as a collection of stages, each of which present challenges and obstacles, and that an understanding of each can help an organization become much better prepared for the inevitable.
Recovery Model for Organizational
Crisis Management
In April, 2020, a wonderful research paper titled Organizational Resilience: A Capability-Based Conceptualization by Stephanie Duchek was published by Springer Open Access. In keeping with our dedication to be on the forefront of resilience driven results, utilizing Dr. Ducheck's model as a frame of reference in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis is unquestionably the right method. What follows is the abstract of her work.
“In highly volatile and uncertain times, organizations need to develop a resilience capacity which enables them to cope effectively with unexpected events, bounce back from crises, and even foster future success. Although academic interest in organizational resilience has steadily grown in recent years, there is little consensus about what resilience actually means and how it is composed. More knowledge is particularly needed about organizational capabilities that constitute resilience, as well as conditions for their development. This paper aims to make a contribution to this heterogeneous research field by deepening the understanding of the complex and embedded construct of organizational resilience. We conceptualize resilience as a meta-capability and decompose the construct into its individual parts. Inspired by process-based studies, we suggest three successive resilience stages (anticipation, coping, and adaptation) and give an overview of underlying capabilities that together form organizational resilience. Based on this outline, we discuss relationships and interactions of the different resilience stages as well as main antecedents and drivers. We formulate propositions that can act as a foundation for future empirical work.”
From Dr. Ducheck's work and our experiences over the first half of 2020, it is clear that organizations must develop the capacity for resilience. This is consistent with the demands of the volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous world we live in. Organizations will be facing significant events, major disruptions, and crises. When they do, they must have the ability to bounce back and be resilient. Dr. Duchek proposes three resilience stages of Crisis management: anticipation, coping, and adaptation.
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Observing the fragility of change
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Cognitive Dissonance and accepting the Crisis
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Crisis management teams and their leaders need to be developing and implementing solutions, executing plans and shoring up relationships
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Once the major disruption has been resolved to a manageable level – organizations should be cognitively focused on reflection and learning
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Practice agility in Adaptive techniques
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The anticipation stage comprises three specific capabilities: observation of internal and external developments, identification of critical developments and potential threats, and—as far as possible—preparation for unexpected events
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Resistance to change may be rooted in the individual, team, or organizational levels.
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Risk management, emergency planning, and business continuity management (BCM)
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Recovery plans for previously identified critical business operations inclusive of training and simulation
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Establishment of effective relationships and mutual understanding among those involved in the plan preparation process
​For an organization to become more resilient, it must find ways to help employees grow and develop from their experiences. Learning matters little if the lessons aren’t translated into improved practices and behaviors
Crisis Management Activities and Techniques (Before, During & After)
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Facilitation of various change management practices can be put in place to overcome resistance
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Managerial practices such as effective communication and relationships within the organization will enhance resilience.
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Employing ‘‘change agents’’, accompanying the change and implementation process along with intervention methods and options if needed
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Creating dialogue around "What did we learn" and "Did we cull any lessons that might prevent having a similar situation in the future
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Solution planning: Knowing what types of crisis to look for and be ready to address should they appear
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Facilitating a culture of reflective practice
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The relationship between agility and resilience? What should we be doing to make the most of these practices?
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Building trust in leadership again
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What should be the focus of greatest change: Observations? Root causes? Insights? Formalized lessons?
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How will they be incorporated into new or revised processes to help the organization/individuals become more capable – more resilient?