One of the most remarkable sagas has ended with success; that many miners, at that depth and after so many days have ever been successfully rescued. The entire rescue operation seemingly went as planned. Surely there are lessons that our business can learn from the handling of the Chilean Mine Saga.
PLAN AHEAD
Clearly, one issue that a mining company might have to deal with is a cave-in that might trap workers. They don’t want it to happen, but better to be prepared. With that in mind, the San Jose Mine was equipped with emergency shelters that were reinforced and stocked with emergency provisions. The miners were in one of these areas when the collapse happened and were able to keep themselves alive with the emergency provisions until they could be found and other provisions could be sent to them.
Obviously, our regional parcel distribution company will never have to deal with trapped workers! While no company, team or individual can foresee every possible bad scenario that might affect our business, we can prepare for the most likely. We should take a look around and see what issues might affect our business. Recognizing where our business might be susceptible to a crisis and taking steps to prepare will help us cope when a crisis emerges—not only with the crisis for which we planned, but also for the one we may not have.
ASK FOR HELP
The one thing, perhaps above all others, that helped to save the lives of the Chilean miners was that the Chilean government asked for help. Companies from all over the world were asked for help and they were able to come up with rescue plans and equipment that saved the miners many months sooner than originally thought.
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness—in fact, in our company, it is a sign of maturity and good judgment. Thinking that if you keep things in-house/in-office will only make things worse. Reaching out to others who have experience—and we have plenty of that—with the crisis you’re facing lets people know you’re interested in what is good for the company, not just perceptions. This applies at every level, from dispatcher to project supervisor to manager: In any tight spot it is best to let others know, seek solutions and resources that will help you out and avoid a full blown crisis. No body ever got into trouble by asking for help.
KEEP COMMUNICATIONS OPEN
When a crisis happens, people are going to want to know what’s going on. In Chile, the families, the press, the Chilean President all needed to be updated on what was happening. All parties were kept abreast of the efforts to find the miners right after the collapse. When they were found alive, a camera was among the supplies sent down so that everyone could see the miners and be reassured that they were okay. This feed was also given to the media so they would have information as well. Finally, the miners were kept up to date to ensure they knew they weren’t forgotten.
If we don’t let people (colleagues/customers) know what’s happening, then people are forced to either assume everything is okay or assume the worst. Neither is good. Think about our customers: We always want to be speaking for ourselves; when we don’t, people want to know what we are covering up (if you don’t believe this just read some of the Amazon blogs—Amazon customers will assume, believe and say the most amazing things about us). Even when we do not have an answer, it is best to say that we don’t but when you get it you will let people know. Then follow through. People want timely information and honesty. Give it to them.
FIX PROBLEMS
"This has all turned out as we agreed it would when we first spoke,” said Luis Urzua, the last miner out, to the President of Chile. “Let's hope that this never happens again.” The Chilean industry, the company that owned the mine and the mining industry are all working together to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
No matter what the crisis, there is always something that people with responsibility could have done to prevent a crisis. If a courier has a vehicle breakdown, the first thing a customer will say is “this hasn’t happened before? Why did you not have a back up plan for such a seemingly common occurrence?” The point is to figure out anything you could have done better and fix the problem. You don’t want to have the same mishap happen again to the same customer (and in the age of blogging, every customer is the same customer) because you didn’t take steps to remedy the situation. Also, fixing the issue really makes you better prepared for any type of crisis.
It is a rare opportunity to be able to learn lessons from a situation that could have gone so badly, but turned out near perfect. But, the rescue of the Chilean miners lets us do just that. Without great crisis management, this story could have been told very differently. Now, the real question for us is: “What crisis situation that we will face in the future will turn out equally as well because we planned, acted and communicated.
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