Mike Shama

AIM

The aim of this briefing is to provide some useful tips to handling

emergencies as well as to outline the dangers of not employing good EDM

CONTENTS

• Critical Operational Situation

• R.C.D.I.

• Recognise

• Control

• Diagnose

• Initiate

• The OODA Loop

Critical Operational Situation

• You have a big 24hr sales promotion going live that has been heavily marketed

• You’ e withi 24 hou s of the lau ch whe a key pa t e ale ts you team that they are having a problem with the sales platform.

• On checking your team finds that there is a critical issue that could cause service interuption on the platform

• What actions do you take? What should you do first? What does the Staff Operating Protocols say?

• The following tips will help improve your decision making process

R.C.D.I.

• Firstly: DO NOT RUSH • A rushed poor decision can make your situation far worse

• The following acronym will help order your actions: • R – Recognise

• C – Control

• D – Diagnose

• I – Initiate

Recognise

• What has happened? • Do I know? Maybe? Don't guess or make quick assumptions

• Does my team know? Do my managers know? • Warn them with the symptoms, not diagnosis

• "Platform not registering new users", "Payments not co pleti g", Pa t e i fo atio ot displayi g co ectly etc.

• Jumping to conclusions will slow you down rather than speed up your response

Control

• Contain the immediate situation

• Communicating vital information to key personnel is critical

• Activate relevant account manager/s

• They will handle partner relations

• Initial Management briefing

• Key managers briefed with critical information asap

• Allows for a measured, coordinated response

• Ensures key resources will be made available

Diagnose

• Now the initial situation is under control let's understand what is going wrong

• Use Staff Operating Protocols (SOPs)

• They will provide easy to follow flow charts

• They are focussed on making sure the right information is flowing to the right decision makers

• Get the relevant specialist to issue a diagnosis of the problem and critical consequences

• Use your team resources regardless of your seniority

Initiate

• What now? What are we going to do?

• Ensure key personnel have the information & resources they need to fix the issue

• Ensure Account Manager/s have all they need to be effective

• If you have spare capacity see where you can be supportive

• Effective Communication is CRITICAL

• A good plan now is better than a perfect plan never

• The only way to fix the situation is to ACT!

Remember

• If you are acting in a critical situation you need to make sure you operate smartly in order to be effective and not to make the situation worse

• Numerous examples of good businesses making critical errors by acting hastily

• When under pressure keep this in mind

• D – DIAGNOSE

• D – DOUBLE CHECK

• D – DO

• Stop, think, check, and make sure, ACT!

The OODA Loop

Another method that is used is referred to as the OODA Loop.

• Observe

• Orientate

• Decide

• Act

The idea is that the above forms a decision making/action loop, and as you act you are immediately beginning the loop again.

The key is to tighten your OODA loop in order that your decision aki g/actio cycle is tighte o uicke tha the situatio o

competitor behaviour, and in so doing you emerge victorius from any situation

SUMMARY

• Don't Rush: Think R.C.D.I.

• Recognise the symptoms and Warn the team

• Control and contain the situation: Get into a controlled operational configuration

• Diagnose. Use SOPs

• Diagnose, Double Check, Do

• Initiate: A good plan now is better than a perfect plan never

• The consequences of not applying a measured approach to an emergency situation will only lengthen your response time and potentially result in your response to fail

Mike Shama