Course details

Overview ?

The Course

This highly participative seminar will help you to develop your leadership skills to lead others in times of crisis, pressure and stress. You will obtain the latest insights into what makes a leader able to manage themselves and others during times of crisis. The best way of dealing with a crisis is to avoid one in the first place. But if crises are inevitable due to a growing number of factors then your organization needs to identify their vulnerabilities and map out possible crisis scenarios. By applying these skills to the tasks and challenges you face in your work, you will begin to experience breakthroughs you never thought possible.

The Structure

Module 1 - Leadership Excellence in Handling Pressure & Stress

Module 2 - Strategic Crisis Management

The Goals

This seminar aims to enable participants to achieve the following objectives:

Build and develop leadership skills for handling stress, pressure and crisis.
Become familiar with how the different personality styles respond to stress and pressure and identify your personal style in coping with stress.
Learn how to lead others during times of crisis.
Acquire an in-depth knowledge of the key aspects of Strategic Crisis Management.
Learn how to generate ownership and responsibility by all stakeholders to ensure your organization responds efficiently and effectively.

The Process

Participative lectures will involve the use of slides, handout material, work manual with all instructor notes and slides, examples of best practice and appropriate video/DVD material. The use of flip-charts, syndicate work-shops and reporting back sessions will encourage a fully participative and enjoyable event. Delegates will be encouraged to participate actively in relating the principles of stress, pressure and crisis management to the particular needs of their workplace.

The Benefits

Understand and better appreciate the importance of managing stress and pressure.
Learn how to cultivate a positive mindset for in times of crisis.
Understand the anatomy of a crisis and what should be in place before, during and after an event.

The Results

Discover how to handle crisis in the organization.
Implement creative leadership for leading others in times of stress.
Guidelines on how to validate plans, to improve staff ownership, to augment training programmes and to raise awareness.

The Core Competencies

Participants will develop the following competencies:

Implement leadership skills to manage crisis with confidence
Use effective communication to lead others during times of great pressure
Help your team find creative solutions to workplace difficulties & challenges
Enhance your leadership skills and improve your abilities to cope with stress
Identify what is a crisis
Develop and implement contingency plans for crisis management

The Programme Conten

Module 1:
Leadership Excellence in Handling Pressure & Stress

Personal Leadership Skills for Handling Pressure & Stress

Stress and its effects on the body, mind and spirit
Holistic response to stress
Relationship between mind and body
Personality styles and response to stress
Understanding Introvert and Extravert responses to stress

Enhancing Communication Skills In Times of Stress

Passive & aggressive responses
Assertive communication during stressful times
Managing conflicts during times of stress
Giving and receiving criticisms during stressful moments
Resolving conflicts constructively during times of pressure

Leading with Confidence During Challenging Times

Coping with sudden change
Leading others during sudden changes
Recognizing the symptoms of short term and long term effects of stress
Motivating yourself and others under pressure
Building confidence during stressful times

Improving Leadership Effectiveness in Managing Crisis

Utilizing creativity in crisis
Recognizing opportunities for change in a crisis
Helping the team look for creative opportunities
Practicing creative leadership in facing a crisis
Removing blocks to creative solutions in a crisis

Developing & Training Your Team to Handle Pressure, Stress and Crisis

Training and developing employees to handle stress and pressure
Stress handling techniques for you and your employees
Helping the team to see the positive side of change in the workplace
Implementing creative problem solving skills for your team when facing crisis
Developing a personal action plan

Module 2:
Strategic Crisis Management

What should be in place before the event?

Understanding Crisis Management
- How to manage a crisis?
- Virtually every crisis contains the seeds of success as well as the roots of failure
- The Rationale of the Crisis Manager
Consider the range of risks: Natural/Environmental; Hazards; Technological - loss of utilities/product/process/plant; Human Error; Sabotage and Terrorism
Crisis Managers - Roles & Responsibilities - manage the issue before it becomes a Crisis
Who else inside and outside the organisation should be involved?
Evaluating your risks and vulnerabilities; Consider the worse-case scenarios
Understanding 'denial-curve' and 'group-think' syndromes
Who decides who sits in the 'hot-seat'?
Case Studies, why some companies fail and others survive?

Pre-planning, who and what else should be considered?

Who owns the mitigation process?
- Self-evaluating questionnaires
Developing and Implementing Emergency Plans
Twelve point check list covering the whole planning process
Mutual Aid arrangements
Company-wide strategic contingency plans
Service or departmental plans
Building evacuation plans
Crisis Management and Communications Emergency Centre/s
Developing and implementing a Business Continuity Management (BCM) strategy
Business Impact Analysis. Case Study and Workshop

Dealing with a crisis - the 'communications' perspective

Command and Control Issues
- Operational (at the scene)
- Tactical (at the forward control point/incident command)
- Strategic (boardroom level/emergency operations centre)
On Scene Crisis Management, essential elements for success
Reputation Management - Managing the Media. 'How to' sessions include
Organising a Press Conference
Conducting Radio and Television Interviews
Case Study Exercise: Crisis Communications Strategy. Develop a crisis communications strategy and action plan based upon a given scenario

Incident Management & Aftermath

Alerting and Warning. Case Studies. What can go right and what can go wrong
Case Studies - Texas City Disasters 1947 and April 2005
Major Incident Simulation - Role Playing Workshop
- Syndicate selection
- Reporting back
Potential Psychological & Welfare problems in Crisis Management
How to improve staff morale and confidence in the process
The psychological effects during and after an incident involving injuries - and worse
Looking after yourself and your staff
Questionnaire, are your batteries in good condition?

Leadership Behaviour and Behavioural Safety

Validating plans and procedures
- Discuss the four types of exercise
- How to get the most out of an exercise
Post Incident evaluations
De-briefing skills - managing the de-briefs - hot and cold
How to keep all 'stakeholders' informed
Prioritising the Recommendations
Examples of critique questionnaires
Critique report writing, executive summaries and recommendations
Closing the loop. How to continue the process
Case Study - Buncefield Oil Depot, Hertfordshire UK, 2005
Open Forum Time Permitting