'Crisis Mode' in the Office

March 22 2004 - A new survey for Accountemps finds that firefighting is standard for most managers. Business schools may emphasise strategic thinking, but most managers spend a significant amount of their time 'putting out fires' - unexpected crises in the workplace.

69% of respondents in the survey dealt with unplanned crises at least a few times a week - and a third (33%) are faced with these issues every day. The study took responses from 100 executives - including HR, finance and accounting - in some of Canada's largest companies.

Rersponses to the question, "How often, on average, do you find yourself responding to unexpected crises at work?" were:

A few times a day Once a day A few times per week Once a week A few times per month Once a month

21% 12% 36% 12% 18%  1%

"It's difficult to foresee and proactively address potential crises when you're caught up in day-to-day demands," said Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career For Dummies(R) (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.). "A good manager identifies ways to mitigate routine problems and respond quickly to unexpected ones, freeing up more time for bigger-picture issues."

Messmer provides the following tips for supervisors on how to better prepare for and manage crises at work:

* Conduct "fire drills." Develop detailed plans that include solutions for handling worst-case scenarios and practice them with your team.

* Delegate. Assign responsibilities to your staff and give them the authority to handle some problems on their own.

* Define. Is the situation really a crisis? Don't treat every bump in the road as a disaster. It can cause undue stress and leave you and your staff unprepared for a true emergency.

* Cushion project schedules. Overdue deadlines are a common concern. Create project timelines and adhere to them, but build in contingencies for unexpected setbacks.

* Evaluate business needs. Take time to assess your department's goals and proactively adopt change rather than reacting to what is most pressing.

"Constantly operating in 'crisis mode' is unproductive," said Robert Hosking, Accountemps branch manager. "Don't allow minor problems to steer you too far away from critical, long-term business operations. Handle them swiftly and efficiently, and then return to the fundamentals."

Accountemps has more than 325 offices throughout North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and offers online job search services at www.accountemps.com.