According to Flávio Ítavo, a turnaround specialist, managers and management have a response time to the company’s demands, which is conditioned by a long list of variables, such as the business structure, the level of formalization of controls, the level of corporate governance, the manager’s experience, and others.
Perhaps one of the most striking characteristics we usually describe as a “crisis” is the difficulty of maintaining the appropriate time for decision-making. If an executive takes about a month to make a decision during “normal days,” he would need to define and implement it within the same timeframe during a crisis. The crisis hampers timing and forces leaders to make urgent decisions.
The specialist also mentions that it is in the nature of a crisis to cloud information, communication channels, and coordination among the different areas of the company’s operations. Many employees report that decisions are made in a “firefighting” manner, comparing the situation to the work done by firefighters, who are constantly putting out new fires.
Managers who handle crises well are those who have become accustomed to 
playing and deciding more quickly. Changing the decision time does not mean starting to make decisions based on data or maintaining an adequate line of controls, but rather that they will have to make decisions more frequently at a pace different from the norm.
Change Your “Ball Time”
To make this adaptation in the simplest way, change how you monitor the business. Some management teams commonly hold monthly meetings, but in times of crisis, it may be best to adjust them to a biweekly or weekly frequency. Meetings define the overall response speed and the pace of actions to be taken. Depending on the intensity of the crisis, the specialist even warns that meetings should be daily and held standing up.
Flávio advocates that daily meetings are more effective. He advises that pending points be noted in a notebook and that every day these points are addressed by the leader. “An hourglass can help professionals control and adhere to their speaking time. This prevents leaders from needing to interrupt the meeting, and topics can be discussed more quickly and effectively,” emphasizes Flávio.
For more information, visit the website www.flavioitavo.com.br
Source: Clozel Comunicação