Crises are certainties of life and come unannounced. No one can predict the next crisis. But, robust data and analytics help enterprises weather most crises in today’s digital age. Smart enterprises remain prepared to respond to crises by adopting the below-mentioned steps.

1. Be ready for rapid change

New, uncertain situations trigger crises. Often, the upheaval demolishes the status quo. The situation changes by the day or even by the hour. Business models and equations that worked fine become obsolete overnight. Likewise, information that until recently dictated decisions became obsolete. Overcoming the crisis requires a drastic shift in information gathering to unearth the unknown. 

The classic example is the COVID-19 pandemic. At the pandemic’s start, time-honed supply chain models, customer buying habits, and everything else went for a toss. Businesses had to make rapid decisions on where and how to work, how to sell their products and the changing government mandates. 

Data and analytics teams can no longer be passive players in a fluid and fast-changing landscape. They need to reinstate information flow and provide visibility into the changed realities. 

Weathering the situations requires processing the available information quickly. Decision makers often face cognitive overload coupled with incomplete information. There is ambiguity, and often priorities clash. Side-by-side, emotions and anxieties run high. Most enterprises try to build consensus, which may make the situation worse.

Even the best decision-maker can suffer from analysis paralysis in such a situation. Good leaders overcome this natural tendency and strive for business continuity. Precision is not as important, as the situation changes fast, making an effort to get things precise redundant. 

Business managers need to develop

• a culture where information sharing and transparency is the norm.
• Situational awareness capabilities.
• Ability to Make decisions with the available information rather than delay for seeking perfection.

2. Set up a data analytics system

Information is the best ally to weather any storm. But reliable information is also hard to come by when a crisis breaks out. 

As the wise Chinese proverb goes, “Dig the well before you are thirsty.” There is wisdom in preparing for the inevitable crisis. The more equipped the enterprise is to capture, analyse, and present information, the better the ability to overcome the crisis.

Have a data analytics strategy to collect and analyse relevant information fast. Set up mechanisms to collect data from new sources. Typical data sources in demand at the start of a crisis include

• emergency guidelines, 
• details on changing market conditions, 
• expert predictions, 
• broader trends. 

Managers rely on such real-time data to make quick business decisions.

Set up efficient data monitoring systems. A good data monitoring set-up tracks events that affect the business. The enterprise becomes capable of quick response on detecting problems. Measure leading, lagging and anticipatory indicators that foreshadow a crisis.

Set up data management interfaces with

• Visual exploration. Visual output can sort through reams of data and offer insights in an easy way. 
• Simple interfaces. Cluttered dashboards, convoluted links, and multiple hoops to access information are always disconcerting. More sure during a crisis. Making things simple and easy is half the battle won to overcome the crisis.

Enable self-service analytics. A crisis is a time of uncertainty. Decision makers become more productive when they can access the information they need by themselves. Often, they go by intuition and hunches, which they cannot transmit to others. Also, relying on specialists creates a communication gap and delays the process. 

Train employees in practical data skills. Focus on specific problems and dynamics involved in crisis management.

The pre-requisite, however, is to make data analytics a strategic priority. Convince the C-suite about the importance of data analytics in weathering the unpredictable storm. Co-opt data analytics as a strategic goal, secure top management buy-in, and get funding for the data analytics initiatives.

3. Use the latest tools

Reinforce the enterprise data analytics capabilities beforehand. Be ready with cutting-edge tools and technology in the crisis response toolkit. 

Cloud data platforms such as Google’s Big Query make it easy to set up advanced analytics of structured data. Businesses that sign up for the service do not need a database administrator.

• Automated knowledge graphs connect disparate data sources and generate instant visualizations.
• Natural Language Processing allows decision-makers to make immediate sense of unstructured data. For instance, Google’s NLP and Document AI APIs collate data from diverse sources. Enterprises can use these tools to analyse and extract intelligence from unstructured data.
• Automated machine learning tools such as Google’s BigQuery ML highlight anomalies.
• Rapid cloud-based dashboarding offers ready access to information from anywhere to anyone who wants it. Dashboarding tools such as Google Data Studio visualise complex data quickly.
• Advanced analytic and data visualisation tools such as ArcGIS, PowerBI, and Tableau offer good insights. These tools may even make sound investments to tide over difficult times ahead. But using such tools requires skills. It is pointless to invest in such tools in the middle of a crisis. The exception is if the enterprise has the financial strength to invest and the resources to train employees to use the tool. 

4. Prioritise projects

Data and analytics teams are always busy, with many things in their place. A crisis is a time to stop most work and take stock of their situation. Most projects would have turned redundant.

Resilient data and analytics teams:

• Review the priority order of data and analytics projects and make intelligent trade-offs. At times, decision-makers must make trade-offs between the urgent and the important. When evaluating new projects, consider the right time to pursue the activity for maximum impact. If not, delay the activity until it becomes a priority under the changed conditions.
• Review of the crisis changes business goals. Evaluate each data project based on the new realities. Set objective criteria to decide the projects worth postponing or cancelling, 
• projects to pursue with extra vigour and resources, and new projects. As a rule of thumb, retain only those projects that support or otherwise benefit the enterprise in managing the crisis. Place everything else on the back burner or discard it, depending on the situation. 
• Coordinate with business team leaders to pivot resources. Often, speed makes a critical difference in overcoming the crisis. 
• Document disrupted projects for reassessment when times improve. 

Priorities might change as the crisis unfolds. For instance, early in the crisis, the focus may be on employee safety, financial liquidity, and operational continuity. Later, the priority might be to gain one-upmanship on competitors with the changed realities.

5. Break up resistance to data sharing

A crisis is always an opportunity. Crises change markets, industries and economic processes. Enterprises that get change management right can leverage the latent possibilities of the crisis. 

• Use the crisis to further the digital footprint of the enterprise. Most enterprises still carry on with their legacy, opaque systems. The reasons vary from resistance to change to lack of resources and everything else. Many businesses remain reluctant to disrupt a business model that works fine to a lack of technical resources. 
• Break down silos. Map stakeholders by their clout and their resistance to change, considering previous experiences. Make a strong case on how sharing data and setting up transparent systems can overcome the crisis. Make data sharing and transparency the new default.
• Use data and analytics expertise to integrate data sets so that falling back to the old ways becomes impossible. Such a move also avoids inaccuracies and duplication of effort. 
• Document data connections using graph analytics. The exercise is time-consuming and, in large enterprises, may take months to complete. Often, enterprises do not take it up owing to the time and distraction it attracts. The crisis offers an excellent opportunity to start the exercise. 
• Demonstrate and persuade. Take on the highest resistance or the most influential internal stakeholders first. Getting their buy-in makes it easier to get the buy-in from the rank-and-file. 

6. Innovate fast

A crisis throws up uncertainties. Success depends on trying something new to respond to emerging opportunities and challenges. One of the best ways to break free from the crisis is innovation. 

To innovate the way out of the crisis

• Gather and analyse data related to immediate problems. Predict outcomes from such data and forecast performance under different scenarios. Dissecting the findings exposes new opportunities or paves the way to develop new hypotheses.
• Use expertise from across the enterprise, and even the broader ecosystem, to develop scenarios.
• Use previous data related to the new situation to generate and test new ideas. For instance, during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis, innovative data teams built dashboards to forecast supply needs. based on algorithms honed during the Ebola outbreak to 
• Keep a record of all hypotheses, regardless of the outcome, to develop lessons learned after the crisis ebbs. 
• Never underestimate the power of simplicity. Trying to do too much or making things complex often fails. Use simple models and scale up one element at a time.

Here are some handy project cost optimisation tips when innovation is the priority.

7. Engage for impact

People management becomes more critical than ever before during a crisis. Effective leaders understand the distractions and uncertainties faced by team members. They still find ways to engage and motivate team members. 

• Communicate with clarity. Have a mechanism to send new, changed information in real-time. Also, make new goals explicit. Collect and amplify positive messages such as small wins. 
• Connect with individual team members often. Strengthen relationships and build trust. Lead with empathy and show compassion.
• Seek the help of the team members. Make them understand the situation and assign individuals to support key efforts.

Successful enterprises adjust resources as necessary to adapt to the crisis. Data analytics has evolved and is now a critical tool for coping and thriving under new realities.