Crisis management lessons through wedding planning during a pandemic
March 21, 2020, was supposed to be what fairy tales were made of. I was supposed to be getting married to my high school sweetheart, in front of 135 of our closest friends and family, with every element of my childhood dreams. No one could have expected the outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States and chaos that occurred across the United States in the two weeks leading to the wedding. But more importantly, no one could have guessed the leadership lesson in crisis management that this experience taught me. Though we ended up with a small wedding in our living room, the process of getting to that moment was touch and go for a bit, but the lessons I learned about leading in these moments.
First and most importantly, take a moment to acknowledge how you feel about the situation. Even though you are leading in this situation, you are human first and should take time to process your feelings about the event. Though I knew I had over 100 people waiting for some communication from us, I knew I also needed some time to be upset that this was all happening and sad about the fact that my wedding might be canceled. But it also allowed me to place my subjective feeling about the matter aside and focus on the objective facts.
Communication is critical, even if you don't know what the right answer is. Acknowledging that something is happening with everyone can create a sense of ease with those who are following you. When our guests heard from us merely saying that at the moment that the large wedding was still going to happen, but we understood if they didn't feel comfortable attending anymore put many people at ease about the unknown. But it also essential to keep that communication line open and flowing throughout the process.
Take a look at your core values what is essential for you to accomplish during this time. For us, it was merely getting married and staying healthy. That was the only thing that truly mattered during this time.
You are not the smartest person in the room. Consult with people that have more experience in the field or these circumstances. I know we talked to our wedding planner, my mom who is a nurse, one of my closest friends who is a part-time wedding planner, and a bunch of other people who knew more about what was going on from their expertise before making a decision.
Make a decision. At some point, a decision has to be made. And as the leader, you are the one that has to make it. Looking at the bigger picture of what is best for the company, organization, staff, guests, customers, etc. and make a decision. Though deciding to reschedule our massive celebration to July 2020 was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. William and I knew it was what was best for our guests and that what was best for us at the time was to have a small ceremony in our living room and get married surrounded by our very close family and friends, because that what was most important to us.
Once a decision has been made, delegate. Once a decision was made, we knew we had a supportive team of people to help us execute everything. Our fantastic wedding planner took point in rescheduling all vendors rescheduled for July and arranged a few things for our now intimate ceremony. Our moms were ready to make phone calls to guests about the change of dates. And my close friends were there with words of support and encouragement. We knew we couldn't have done it alone, and we made sure we were surrounded by a competent team to delegate tasks to.
Adjust accordingly. Plans might continue to change once a decision is made, and new choices might need to be adjusted. But this is where having the open lines of communication come into play and having a team that can shift and pivot as new information and decisions are made. In the five days leading to our intimate wedding, the number of people recommended for gatherings by the CDC continued to decrease. We were able to adjust accordingly, thanks to the system that we had in place.
Most importantly, breathe
Though I am super excited to now be married and I am thrilled to have these new skills in my back pocket. You never know where your next leadership lesson is going to come from.
