Then, make sure that you share information that demonstrates that you relate to their fears. Tell employees what you do know and what you don’t yet know. And given that your employees will certainly notice piles of inventory accumulating or the inability to serve customers, it would be doing them a disservice to ignore the obvious. “In my mind, there are very few things you cannot openly talk about,” Kraemer says. How transparent should those leaders be as they make these hard choices? They may be weighing the need for layoffs. At the other extreme are firms that are facing a severe slowdown in business. Hospitals are under one sort of intense pressure right now. “I would argue that no leader, if they’re honest, is bright enough to figure out all of that” on their own, he says. Kraemer urges all leaders to convene a trusted and diverse war room so that no important vantage points are being overlooked.
#Pandemic warroom how to#
For hospital leaders, this helps them decide how to do the right thing in terms of keeping both patients and staff healthy, as well as helping the surrounding healthcare community by sharing resources. The CEO is also in constant contact with local and state officials. To start, leaders must ensure that they are getting input from all perspectives within their organizations, as well as from trusted external sources.įor example, NorthShore University HealthSystem, upon whose board Kraemer sits, has convened a “war room” that includes not just doctors and nurses, but also other key voices, such as maintenance workers.