Access the essential membership for Modern Managers
You’ve planned everything down to the finest detail and right at the last minute, someone or something throws a spanner in the works. How do you react? Is it panic stations or can you keep your head and work around the problem? The ability to handle the unexpected doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but it is a skill you can develop. It’s also one that will enhance your professional reputation, as someone who can be cool in a crisis and get things done.
“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you…
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it” [1]
Manage Your Own Expectations
Part of some people’s difficulty in dealing with surprises comes from their feeling the need to be in control, and an expectation that everything will run smoothly. When this doesn’t happen, they can find it extremely stressful and struggle to cope. If this sounds like you, the first step is to learn to expect the unexpected. If you accept that some things might not go to plan, you’ll be better prepared psychologically to react positively when they do. You can’t control everything, no matter how hard you try – and accepting that fact will make it much easier for you when things go awry.
There are a number of other skills to develop which will also make it easier for you to deal with the unexpected. Being more confident in yourself and your ability to work around problems will be extremely beneficial, as will being more resilient, in order to handle stressful situations. Developing your overall flexibility will also help you to adapt to changing circumstances and roll with the punches.
Be Prepared
Having accepted that you can’t control everything, what can you control? Be as prepared as possible by doing whatever you can about the things under your direct influence, and communicating regularly with anyone else involved. Look for warning signs of potential problems. For example, if someone tells you they’re “pretty sure” you can use the projector in the board room for your meeting, either try to get a firm answer, or make contingency plans for what to do if you can’t use it.
In project management, risk assessment is a fundamental part of the process. On a smaller scale, this can still be extremely valuable. Think through things that could go wrong and their potential effects. Can you mitigate the consequences or make contingency plans for if they do go wrong? If you’ve thought through possible problems and solved them in advance, you’ll not only be prepared to deal with them smoothly and professionally if they do occur, you’ll also be more confident from the start, knowing you have backups in place.
Stay Calm
If things do go wrong, it’s important to stay calm and not rush to action without thinking it through. This can backfire, making the situation worse instead of better.
Stop, take a breath and center yourself. Panicking about the consequences and worrying about knock-on effects is counterproductive. It will only add to your stress and distract you from a solution. Be present in the moment and focus on action and solution – deal with what’s in front of you. Also, don’t get caught up in thinking about who or what caused the problem – that can wait until later.
Choose to think positively. You can affect your own reaction by consciously choosing to address the problem in a positive way. If you can, find the humor in the situation and, if it’s not inappropriate, don’t be afraid to laugh. Humor can be disarming and the ability to laugh at yourself is usually seen as a positive trait by others.
Speak Up
When something goes wrong don’t keep it to yourself. Speak to others who are affected as early as possible. If, for example, a technical problem causes you to lose essential data the day before a report is due, speak to those expecting the report as soon as possible. The sooner they know there’s a problem, the more they might also be able to mitigate any damage. Be honest about the situation and don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
Keeping the problem to yourself might seem like a better idea initially, if you’re worried about your reputation. However, if the issue remains a problem and it comes out that you could have flagged it up sooner, it could work out much worse for you and everyone else.
Take Action
Ultimately, you need to decide what to do next. There are a number of things to keep in mind. Consider the overall goal. What’s critical to achieving that, and what elements can be ditched? You’re likely to have to accept ‘good enough’ and that your ideal result may not be possible. That’s OK – make the best you can of the situation you’re in.
With your goal in mind, try to think laterally about how you might be able to achieve the same result. Aesop’s fable of the crow and the pitcher is a classic example of lateral thinking. Unable to reach the water in a pitcher and unable to push it over, the crow drops pebbles in, to raise the water level within his reach.
Getting hung up on trying to do exactly what you set out to do can prevent you from seeing a better solution. You may not be able to achieve exactly what you had in mind, but consider whether there are alternative routes to get to the same destination.
Look Back and Learn
Finally, and only once the crisis has passed, take time to look back at what happened and what you can learn from it for the future. Don’t be afraid to ask trusted colleagues or friends for feedback on how you handled it and what you might have done differently. You may well think of another solution after the fact yourself. This is a perfectly normal thing to happen once you are no longer under pressure. Instead of regretting that you didn’t think of it at the time, bank it for the next time something similar occurs.
References[1] Rudyard Kipling, ‘If’, Rewards and Fairies (Doubleday, Page & Co., Garden City, 1910).
