My Fridge died this month.  It’s of far less significance to those of you who suffer very real and very devastating loss, but in the spirit of convenience and comfort – it was a considerable pain in the neck!

What does this have to do with the current market?  Read on…

My first thought was this, careful what I wish for!  I’d looked at the fridge earlier in the week and thought to myself, “That fridge looks pretty cluttered, I should tidy up the junk magnetized to the front and get rid of old information.”  Well, there I was busy getting EVERYTHING off the front of that fridge and out of the freezer then trying to figure out where I was going to put it all. 

I knew this was coming, last year it began by kicking in and out with a large devastatingly loud “clunk” and only a few weeks ago I noticed the vegetables sporting lovely ice crystals on them.  Yet, did I go scouting high and low for a decent new fridge?  No.  Instead, I let it keep on clunking and freezing in all the wrong ways and hoped for it to keep living!  Unfortunately the fridge had other ideas! 

Suddenly one night, it began its long, loud and slow journey to the fridge recycling program. First with a motor that sounded like a jet-engine powering up in my kitchen and preparing for take-off, then it started to slowly and painfully lose its ability to maintain that rigorous and noisy struggle for past efficiency… and it quit.

Sound familiar?  How about within your company?  Let’s take a quick look at the market in the United States.  Being Canadian witnesses we have seen the decline; we have watched the nightmare as financial outlooks continually offered more and more bad news.  We were wildly aware of the many trickle-down effects that would reach the rest of the globe.  Yet what, if anything, did we do to prepare?

Like my small freezer full of meat, are you trying to determine what to save and what can be discarded as perishable? Talk about forced priorities!

Do you have a backup plan for the time period between the initial financial hit and recouping your losses? 

Like with my fridge, are you in reaction mode and making it up as you go along?

Take a few quick tips on how to deal with sudden (or seemingly sudden) reactions to difficult times.

1.       Find The Pain and Solve It. Remember that during a market slump or fall-out, you are not alone.  Your customers are living in the same world you are, and they’re also affected.  Pay some compassionate attention to their needs.   Find an opportunity to help ease their pain and solve a problem, even while buried in solving your own.  Focus on the customer will get you out of your slump much faster than singular focus on your own troubles.

2.       Remain Calm.  Your company needs the loyalty and the efficiency of a team rallied to a cause more, now, than ever.  Being motivated, positive and passionate and getting the troops lined up for doing good-business will prove your leadership in tough times.

3.       Ask For Help.  No one knows better than your staff how to save costs in their every day actions.  Rather than a top-down message for tightening the boot-straps, consider asking for suggestions, ideas and out-of-the box solutions for creating efficiency.

4.       Be Genuine.  Integrity, accountability, and open honesty for the position you find yourselves in will give staff a reason to want to help find solutions.  Don’t show a phoney “everything is okay” without giving them the appropriate information needed to help your company make it through tough times.

5.       Save your Money, Get Creative.  This doesn’t mean you can’t have that team lunch everyone depends upon for camaraderie and stress-relief.  Consider a pot-luck in-house party to celebrate the launch of your new ‘rally the troops” efforts.  You can even pick an agreed upon theme for sharing laughter to ease the stress. 

When things improve:

6.       Find a Common Cause.  Your staff came through for you.  When the company finds its feet again and things are beginning to pick-up, remember to pay attention to the heroic efforts of a team mobilized and energized for the company.  If fear or even tragedy brings people together, then there must be a way to find positive and non frightening ways to mobilize your people and help them meet short term objectives in a similar fashion. 

7.       Show Gratitude. You’ll have witnessed a miracle.  A group of people with different reasons for being at a company pulled together in the name of a common cause.  Be ever grateful for their time, attention, creativity, and efficiency.  Remember to thank and praise them individually for the unique traits they brought to the table in helping the company. 

8.       LEARN SOMETHING.  If you were ill-prepared, if you were shocked and surprised then you were not paying attention!  Learning means doing something different next time to avoid suffering the same kind of pain.   When things are great is the BEST time to define a strategy plan for your company in the event it hits lean market times and stats say you will likely see that every 6 years in one degree or another.