There are few things I enjoy more than being prepared. This should come as no surprise to those of you who know me (or who have least read this blog for a little while). Organization, planning and preparation are all means to staying in control and finding that sense of stability in a career field that is anything but stable. Aside from my own sanity, I’ve also found that my love for preparedness has become the quality my clients most appreciate. I play the role of the “anticipator” and the problem solver before issues even arise.
Essentially, I have become the designated worrier for many of my clients. Part of what I do is to anticipate potential communication issues and crises and nip them in the bud long before they bloom into a full-blown problem. Business owners are busy. They can’t put all their time and effort into worrying about what could go wrong when their time is better spent maximizing what is going right. This is why, separate from the business owner or CEO, every successful company needs that one person who can anticipate and put out fires before anyone else sees the smoke.
The role of the designated worrier.
Though my expertise lies in Public Relations, I sometimes feel like I could also claim a degree in risk management with some of the experiences I’ve had. Dealing with the politics of politics, handling registration for large-scale conferences and communicating with constituencies of more than 70,000 individuals are all in a day’s work. You can imagine how there’s room for much to go awry if not carefully monitored. When a client comes to me with a communications goal, my purpose is two-fold. I first craft a plan to reach this goal, but I also (even unbeknownst to them) note the challenges, backlashes and potential miscommunications that could result during implementation. Though I’m hired to make things go right, anticipating the things that could go wrong is a critical component to creating a prepared and effective communications plan. Not doing so seems downright, well…risky.
If you anticipate a problem, anticipate a solution.
If you’re lucky, all your worrying and anticipating will be the furthest you’ll need to address any particular problem. This is a good thing. However, wishing and worrying alone is no real solution. If you anticipate a problem, you must also anticipate a solution. To be the most effective worrier I can be for a client, I’ve found that I must also present a solution at the same time I’m presenting a problem. Simply saying “We have a customer that’s really upset about a mistake made with his order,” is not enough. You must also anticipate the client’s next question which will likely be “What do we need to do about it?” If it’s a solution you can handle on your own, handle it without being asked. This is what will make you invaluable to an employer – knowing you are not only able to identify problems, but solve them without micromanaging.
A potential problem doesn’t have to result in a real problem.
Yes, for so many instances in life worrying doesn’t ever achieve more than a stomach ulcer. There’s an important distinction between worrying about things you have no control over verses worrying about things you do. In business, many worries are valid and do fall within your realm of control. It’s far more effective to be proactive than reactive. There are enough real-life examples to prove this saves insane amounts of time, money, damage to reputations and sometimes the business as a whole. But most importantly is that with the right worrying and anticipation, a problem that would ordinarily seem inevitable can be successfully avoided altogether. Just because a problem is looming overhead is no reason to throw your hands up and let it come crashing down. There is always opportunity to lessen the impact – and there is when having an effective worrier in charge makes all the difference!
Who is the designated worrier in your business? If it’s you, what tactics do you use to accurately anticipate problems and solve them before they escalate? Share your thoughts by commenting below – your input could help us all get one step closer to solving our own rubix cube of business problems!
