Crisis Management: 40 Useful Performance Feedback Phrases

Crisis Management is the application of strategies that are designed to help an organization deal with a sudden and significant negative event.

Crisis Management: Exceeds Expectations Phrases

• Detaches oneself from the emotional side of the crisis and rationally takes stock of how to move on
• Gathers the relevant team to discuss the situation at hand, analyze and make a united stand about handling a crisis
• Sets a timeline in order to prevent one's team from spending too much time in one aspect of handling the crisis
• Gets external experts and professionals to access the situation when the crisis is totally unanticipated
• Sticks to own best judgment and avoids being led into a debate that may open one's company to possible legal action
• Lives on the front end of reality; recognizes crises and their significance and does not shy away from the consequences of these crises
• Is willing to consider multiple approaches on how to address a certain problem
• Uses a combination of real-time data along with the wisdom one has built over the years of leadership to manage crisis
• Delivers bad news when one needs to but does it in a way that avoids panic providing a realistic level of hope for the future
• Provides directions and responds to a crisis in a timely manner and avoids doing things in a hurry, which could make employees nervous

Crisis Management: Meets Expectations Phrases

• Remains calm, courageous and positive when handling a crisis and knows that how one presents oneself provides non-verbal signals to the employees
• Speaks about the magnitude of the situation at hand without alarming the employees
• Is skillful in laying out short-term and long-term goals, assigning tasks to meet those goals and following up to achieve them
• Is able to engage in two-way communication and interact with honest and open ways with employees in a wide variety of crises
• Engages other employees into brainstorming potential solutions without judgment, even if one may have a preferred solution in mind
• Is an active listener and has the ability to digest a large amount of information, ideas, and different perspectives
• Thinks outside the box; is able to understand and interpret different ways of looking at an event when dealing with a situation
• Is courageous enough to make decisions that one believes to be the right ones
• Takes responsibility for and ownership of the resolution of a contingency situation
• Has a sense of balance to recognize issues that need to be tackled first and those that are most important to resolving other solutions

Crisis Management: Needs Improvement Phrases

• Tries to justify or make excuses when faced with a crisis instead of taking ownership of the mistake that caused the problem
• Overreacts when an employee makes a serious mistake that creates a crisis instead of discussing the problem calmly and looking for a solution
• Does not anticipate what could go wrong in the workplace or prepare for it
• Goes dark during a crisis; is scared to talk about a crisis with the employees or customers especially when the issue is going to have a negative effect on them
• Takes the easy route of just offering an apology instead of looking for ways to fix the problem at hand
• Focuses on finding out how and why the mistake occurred instead of focusing on looking for a solution
• Only listens to stakeholders who agree with oneself and encourages one-dimensional thinking
• Is not able to adapt and respond to unique aspects of a crisis and changing circumstances
• Does not have thorough knowledge of the company's contingency plans and recovery operations
• Is not able to analyze the unique complexities of each crisis and the intended consequences of each solution

Crisis Management: Self Evaluation Questions

• Describe a time when your company faced a major crisis. What was the crisis about? How was is resolved?
• What are some of the techniques you have used in managing crisis in the workplace?
• Is there a time when you were scared of explaining a crisis to your employees because you felt it had a negative impact on them? What did you do?
• Describe a time when a task you were handling was hit by a major crisis. How did you go about it?
• Do you prefer involving a group of experts to solving a company problem or solving it by yourself? Why?
• How do you keep your employees and customers up-to-date with information regarding a certain crisis?
• Is there a time when you have had to cut ties with a supplier or manufacturer who was facing a major crisis? If yes, how did this affect your company?
• What are some of the things you have done to improve your ability to manage crises in the workplace?
• Describe a time when you have had to use shortcuts to solve a problem. What were the consequences, if any?
• Is there a time when you have had to deal with an employee who made a terrible mistake that was likely to bring a major crisis? How did you go about it?