Two Flat Tires and 5 Tips for Managing Crisis

I'm biking to work and crisis happens as both tires blow out!. Trying to manage my time by getting to work and getting in shape at the same time I thought I was on top of the game then it all comes crashing down. Projects can be like that. We may be cruising along with the wind in our hair and all of the sudden something goes wrong and you move into crisis mode. Your stranded!

Crisis can take many forms. It could be lost funding in the middle of a project, employee "no shows" on a business day, the power shuts off on the building, your star performer walks out and goes to the competitor. A few tips for handling a crisis may be beneficial. 

1.) Stay Calm: You can easily become overwhelmed when everything hits you at one time. Take a moment, relax, put things in perspective and realize you can overcome any challenge.

2.) Think through Your Options: Take a moment before you act and think through your options. In most cases you can see that there are a number of possible routes.

3.) Act Concisely: Once you have a plan start acting concisely to overcome the challenge. Make sure your actions lead directly to a solution versus creating a bigger problem.

4.) Resolve the Issue: Resolve the crisis by first getting through the immediate problem and then find a longer term solution.

5.) Plan for the Next Crisis: Now that you learned about a potential crisis make sure you adjust your process to handle future crisis or adjust your crisis management plan.

In case you were wondering how my two flat tires turned out. I found out that it is possible to bike on the rims for a mile. I discovered that not to far from my workplace is a bicycle repair shop that will fix it after work. While waiting the 20 minutes they took complete the repair I found some cheap tennis shoes. Both my tubes only had small holes and a $2 repair kit was brought home to salvage them. Not all was lost!