How to Handle Fire Drills

Someone else’s emergency is not necessarily your emergency. However, as supervisors, your team’s fire drills actually are your problem, and you have to stay calm when the heat is on.

So, how can you possibly manage everything that comes across your desk in a productive, organized way? By understanding the dynamics of crisis management and prioritization, supervisors can maintain control and ensure their team remains focused and efficient.

Here are a few tips from our guest speaker, Deadra Welcome, CPTD, CPTM, CVF, CPDC, CMLF, Founder/Principal Consultant, Concerning Learning, LLC, on how you can effectively handle unexpected crises and urgent tasks without compromising your overall productivity.

1. Why is it a bad strategy to drop everything for fire drills? Deadra noted that as a supervisor, you teach workers how to treat you. “If you’re constantly dropping everything and putting out fires, you’re teaching people it’s ok to constantly interrupt you, and that’s not serving anyone well.” She added that, at the end of the day, “not everything can be a priority, and you must teach employees to be independent and use critical thinking skills.”
2. What are a few tips for identifying true priorities? You need to think about the big picture, and if something is urgent, as well as what the impact is if the task isn’t done, she explained. “If it’s urgent and bad things will happen if it’s not done, then it definitely needs to be a priority. If it’s urgent but the level of importance isn’t as high, maybe it’s time to delegate.”
3. What should you do if your employee keeps reading the room wrong and can’t assess priorities correctly? That’s an opportunity for coaching, Deadra said. “If you’ve always been the one rushing in and dealing with fires, they haven’t had a chance to be thoughtful and reflect on what should be taken care of first. So, start asking powerful questions and let them use their critical thinking skills.”

Don’t forget to join us next month, when we discuss Navigating Workplace Dynamics at Your Agency on Monday, July 28 at 4 p.m. ET.