Managing Through Turbulent Times : The 7 Rules of Crisis Management

“What shall we do as managers operating in unstable times when the reassurance we desire is absent and the uncertainty of today promises an unpredictable tomorrow?” Corporate management teams are living through the Chinese curse of ‘may you live in interesting times’ as they contemplate their exposure both directly and indirectly to the almost unprecedented turbulence in the global markets.

In his first book, turnaround specialist Anthony Holmes explains how to approach management in turbulent operating conditions and what to do if your company encounters distress.

It is based around his 7 key rules of crisis management, which are:

1. Obtain multiple opinions in the decision-making process

2. Retain close control over the implementation of policy

3. Reduce time pressure

4. Limit objectives

5. Maintain flexible options

6. Understand the nature and potential behaviour of the adversary

7. Maintain communication It also looks to illuminate the dark areas that create fear of the unknown and explains how to recognize them, how to mitigate their impact, what is feasible, when to seek help and from whom.

The book draws on case histories of previous crises to extract techniques relevant to today’s commercial environment and identify those that may seem logical but should be avoided.

The intention is to prevent management from having to begin at the bottom of the learning curve and try to rediscover under pressure those techniques and processes that have been irrelevant and forgotten in the years since the last systemic crisis.