As medical professionals work diligently to respond to COVID-19 and aid the sick, businesses around the globe struggle to deal with the numerous disruptions that affect their supply chains, ability to service customers, and employee morale. During these tough times, it’s important to communicate effectively. How can you best verify the information you are receiving about the virus and subsequent government responses? If the crisis continues for any length of time, how will that affect your staff and your organization moving forward? That’s when these crisis communication tips become essential.
While it’s still too early to fully understand the ramifications of COVID-19, there are steps organizations can take right now to develop contingency plans and COVID-19 communication policies.
Here are 7 crisis communication tips that will help every organization clearly exchange information with customers, employees and stakeholders.
1. Create a Dedicated Crisis Team
Effective corporate communication requires input from members up and down the corporate ladder. You’ll want to put together your own dedicated crisis team that will help develop and deploy effective communication strategies.
Be sure to include senior-level team members and members from key departments. Every member of your crisis team should know exactly what is going on at all times and who is in charge of what. Ensuring cohesion among cross-functional teams is will help foster good outcomes.
2. Respond Quickly
Thanks to digital technology and social media, today’s consumers expect a quick response to any issues that may arise. Your customers need to hear from you to determine how or if COVID-19 will affect doing business with you. If they don’t hear from you and quickly, they may assume the worst. There is a saying in the PR world that goes, “If you don’t tell your story, someone else will.” Be sure to be the one who tells the story of how your company is handling this COVID-19 crisis.
It’s equally important that you make communication with employees a priority right now. As the entire world seems to be shutting down, people are scared they will be temporarily without work. That may or may not be the case within your company right now. Don’t make your employees wonder and imagine the worst, be open and candid and keep them abreast as the crisis unfolds. Managing your team with these crisis communications tips should be a top priority right now.
3. Acknowledge the Fear
Everyone responds differently to a crisis. I’m sure you know people in your own life right now who think that everything is being blown out of proportion. That is their right to feel that way.
But there are those who are feeling a lot of fear right now. Most people in fact. Not only are they scared about their own health and their loved ones’ health, but they are scared about the financial ramifications of this crisis. How long will quarantines be necessary? Will their business have to shut down? Will COVID-19 lead to a recession?
However you yourself may feel about what’s going on in the world right now, understand there are many around you who are feeling real fear, so it’s important to acknowledge that in your messaging. This doesn’t mean you have to add to the fear; that helps no one. It simply means to recognize and accept it in others, and use this knowledge as a catalyst to drive your communications strategies.
4. Be Authentic with Your Empathy
Let’s not forget empathy during this global pandemic. You may be young and unafraid, but perhaps your neighbor is not. You may think it is only a “flu” yet someone else is grieving over the loss of a loved one. You may be going out to the movies without a care in the world, meanwhile citizens of other nations are confined to their homes.
As fear and panic set in, do your research. Rely on facts. Take precautions! But most of all show empathy for others. hashtag#Kindness and hashtag#empathy are free and go a long way.
5. Use Consistent Messaging
Right now, your employees and customers need to hear the truth. Getting mixed signals from you and others on your team will make those looking to you for guidance feel anxious.
These crisis communication tips will require you to prepare your messaging ahead of time to ensure that it is always consistent. A key strategy is to establish the facts. Reliable information underpins communication crisis planning.
A survey conducted by PwC found that three-quarters of those in a better place post-crisis strongly recognize the importance of establishing facts accurately during the crisis. Gather facts accurately and quickly and use those facts effectively to develop and deliver consistent messaging.
6. Start Preparing Answers NOW
As the crisis unfolds you will find that your customers, stakeholders and employees will have more and more questions. It’s important to anticipate what some of these questions may be and prepare your answers now to have them ready.
Your crisis team should develop a crisis document outlining the questions you expect. You can start by looking at the questions that have already begun coming in through your social channels and customer service channels. Are there any repeated topics? If so, explore these further.
You will also want to appoint one or two people from your crisis team to be the liaisons between management and staff. Have them speak with staff to see what kinds of questions they may have.
For each question, whether it’s from internal team members or customers, craft an answer that is transparent, honest and empathetic to individuals’ feelings. Be sure to be clear, consistent, and helpful with each and every answer.
7. Internal and External Collaboration is Key
Focus on crisis management training for both your external and internal teams. At the heart of any crisis response are three key participants:
Public relations and communications teams.
These team members will be responsible for developing and delivering your company’s messaging internally as well as externally.
Legal and regulatory teams.
They will determine your organization’s risk exposure and continually advise you on appropriate responses.
Operational response teams.
These are your go-to people for establishing those facts we spoke about. They will also be in charge of making sure the other two groups have whatever they need to do their job.
In regular life outside of a crisis, these teams typically work in silos, so it’s important that a member from each group be a part of your crisis response team. This will ensure cohesion and effective crisis response.
No one enjoys dealing with a crisis. But you can help your employees, customers and other stakeholders navigate this one with little anxiety by using these 7 crisis communication tips. Remember to always be clear, transparent and kind with your communications.
