Don't Hit The Panic Button!

Don’t Hit the Panic Button!

Written by Mike Nunn - August 15, 2012

In a manufacturing environment, or any environment for that matter, there are many different scenarios where there is the potential for an “elevated” situation that will require your immediate attention.  In business this could be anything from a computer/server crashing, a machine going down or raw material not getting delivered on time.  Too often we take the first piece of information we get as the “real” situation and then hit the panic button.  Phrases like “OMG, what are we going to do?”, “We’re doomed!” and “We’re going to be down for many weeks!” fill the air.  But I can assure you that, at these times, panic is the last thing you should be doing.  So, what to do?  STOP!  Before you hit the panic button take a deep breath and approach the situation with a calm and level headed mindset.  When you panic this will only create more panic, which is a lose/lose for everyone.  Remember, panic is a choice that you don’t need to make.

With work, panic should NOT involve actual panic, that’s the tough part.  Instead, panic at work should be replaced with an understanding of the entire situation, determination of a solution(s) and informing the stakeholders.  It’s very important that when sharing information with stakeholders that you don’t share guesses or assumptions.  Moreover, understanding the entire situation is key due to the fact that if the situation is truly that elevated, then someone will more than likely have some questions for you if you don’t have all the answers.  As you work through the situation always remember to ask yourself, what can I affect about this situation?  If there is anything you can do then act on it; if not, don’t let it weigh you down.  For example, if there’s a power outage, can you affect that?  Of course not, but you can build a plan for when the power comes back on.

Once the ball is rolling with a diagnosis or remedy to the situation then following up with all the stakeholders becomes integral; both the stakeholders involved in the fix and the ones needing to know when it’s fixed.  When you have a new piece of information that’s important to the stakeholders then pass it along in a timely manner; moreover, if it’s been a while since a previous update it’s a good idea to let people know you have no new information and that it’s still being worked on. Keep in mind that not everyone needs to know every detail of the solution/repair, identify who the key stakeholders are that need to know important details and who just need to know that it’s fixed.

In order to ensure everything is happening on time it is vital to have someone, one person, take a lead role in dealing with the situation; someone who will orchestrate the tasks and getting them completed in a timely manner.  The biggest trap this leader should avoid is the assumption trap, when you assume that something is being looked after when it isn’t, because this could end up wasting valuable time.  For example, if someone internally has told you they’ve contacted an outside supplier and are waiting to hear back, it’s a good idea for the leader to call the outside supplier too, in order to ensure they are indeed on track.  Whenever there is an elevated situation there is no such thing as too much communication with the key stakeholders.  And remember, key stakeholders could be the Maintenance Team, outside suppliers, Sales Team, owners, customers, they could be anyone.

When you think of panic, think of the PANIC acronym below, it will help you and all the other stakeholders get through the situation with a level head. 

P – Pause and take a deep breath, a lot of panic is caused when people jump without knowing all the information.  You have a choice as to how you’re going to react to the situation and as stated earlier the cooler heads will always prevail.  And let’s face it, most of the time it’s never really as bad as we first perceive it to be.  Allow for some time to digest all the information between when that first person gives you “the situation” and when/how you react.

A – Ask questions that will allow you to fully understand the situation.  Never take the first answer when you get involved as the rule or “real” situation.  Take the time to get as much information as you can about the situation and what it’s going to take to remedy it.  Push people (or do it yourself) to source other/outside options.  Can it be done faster, cheaper, safer, etc...  This is also where you want to make sure you have all the key stakeholders present, because in an urgent situation you’re probably not going to be able to solve the problem on your own.  There’s a list of questions below that will get you started with understanding the situation.

N – Navigate Solutions to where you can make a decision, quickly, as to what steps you’re going to take to remedy the situation.  You MUST stay on top of everyone involved, ask for updates, call suppliers to see where they’re at, do it regularly and never assume it’s being looked after.  When it comes to the solutions themselves, in some cases, band-aid solutions are completely acceptable for getting up and running until a full repair can be done, especially if there is big time difference between the full and partial repair.   Decisions should be based on what is best the company, team members (safety), and customers.

I – Inform the Stakeholders as to what the current state is and how long it will take to put some solutions in place.  Keep in mind that some people need to know all the details of the repair/fix, others need to know that major details (cost, ETA, etc.) and some people just need to know when it’s fixed.  Know the stakeholders and what their involvement level is so some people don’t feel like they’re getting spammed with information.  There’s a reason the steps are in this order, when informing stakeholders its best that you’ve fully understood the situation and determined the best solution(s) before informing others.  If you haven’t done this first, chances are someone is just going to ask you those questions anyway.

C – Calm.  Enough said.

Now that you’ve got an idea for the steps to deal with an elevated situation, here are some questions you can ask (choose the appropriate questions for the situation) when trying to diagnose and understand the current state.

What happened immediately prior that may have contributed to the situation?  Ask everyone.
Did anyone see it happen?  Just ask for the facts, you don’t want them to guess or assume.
Have we tried powering down, then back up again?
What does work? Find some positive in the mix.
What have we already tried to fix it?  What else can we try? Ensure all the internal stakeholders are involved with answering these two questions.
Is the machine completely down or can it still function in limited or manual capacity?
Do we have the resources/parts in the building to fix it?
How long will it take to get a replacement part in?  Have we talked to ALL potential suppliers? 
How much will the replacement part cost?  Is the price different from various suppliers?  Why?
What can we handle/repair internally?  Do we need to get an outside supplier involved?
Does the part need to be sent/shipped out? Who? What? Where? How? When?
Am I making sure people are on top of this?
Have we looked at every possible option?  What are we not thinking of?
Who can I call that might have dealt with, or fixed, something like this before?  Does anyone here know of anyone?

Hopefully this helps in getting through those challenging and urgent situations.