The average day in the office may sometimes feel like a nightmare, but this perception is probably the only similarity that you can see between a horror film and your place of work.

Scary movies may seem like nothing more than cheap entertainment, but they can actually teach managers a thing or two on dealing with crises at the workplace. Let’s take a fresh look at this film genre, and see what management lessons horror movies offer!

Ignore the expert at your peril

When there’s a warning for the people not to go near the water, the next thing you see is people jumping straight in, and ending up horribly. Horror movies always prove that if you ignore expert advice, everything will go wrong, and work life is no different.

If you’re working on a challenging problem, consult the people with the experience you need to get to the right result. There’s nothing wrong with asking for advice, and there are plenty of people around you with valuable insight. Never disregard expert input or the next thing you might hear is someone telling you, “I told you so”.

Everything’s worse in the dark

Horror movies are usually watched in dimmed or no lighting, and they seem determined to find every opportunity for the bad guy to creep up suddenly from the dark. While it’s unlikely that you will meet a real psychopath with a knife in the office, there are no lack of nerve-wreaking situations that can creep up on you out of nowhere and you will have to deal with them whether you like it or not.

All issues are alot more easier to resolve when you have all the relevant facts in hand. The next time you face a workplace challenge, gather the information you need, and talk to the right people before you decide on what actions to take. If you make decisions in the dark, it’s more likely that things will go wrong.

There’s safety in numbers

When there’s a lunatic on the loose, horror movie characters always think it’s a good idea to split up and take cover separately.

Business problems are always easier to solve when teams work together, and you should probably not try to sort things out on your own. Fix issues by involving other people, and combine resources and experience to make sure that your team members don’t have to struggle alone.

Problems have a habit of coming back to you

A single blow to the head of the killer rarely finishes him off, and he always come back stronger and nastier. The same is true for most problems in the workplace. Business leaders must make sure that they resolve challenges completely and not just assume that everything is in order. Check that your team members are doing their jobs correctly, and constantly review the problem resolution progress.