CRISIS COMMUNICATION HAS THREE “C’s”

How do you communicate with staff in a crisis like Coronavirus?

Actually there hasn’t been anything “like” Coronavirus in our lifetimes. Jokers used to say when an organisation hits a sudden crisis the best time to start communicating is always “about a month ago”. But that’s not much help when you’re in the eye of a rampant virus storm.

If you had a Business Continuity Plan (aka a Disaster Recovery Plan) it probably had a section on “Communication”. But I bet it didn’t have “furlough” in it. And it’s one thing having a plan and quite another when you’ve got to communicate with colleagues effectively and sensitively through an unprecedented global crisis.

Now we’re starting to think about when and how the lockdown may be lifted, that communication takes on a particular spin. With an eye on getting the organisation back to full operational capability as quickly as possible.

The first thing to sort is who’s the Communications Lead to staff in that process. You don’t want different people putting out different messages about the re-boot. You may decide specialist or functional input is needed at particular points, but that needs to be coordinated.

You need to keep staff informed about plans for a return to some kind of normality; they’ll be wondering. But at the same time don’t overload them, either with huge emails or documents, or with frequent “scattergun” messages. You can take soundings from colleagues to check if the content and timing of material is about right.

The oil industry is one that knows something about managing crises, and ways out of them. A colleague in that sector tells me staff communication is all about the “three C’s”:

• Be clear – and clarity often comes from being concise. Resist the temptation to waffle on about being “here to support you”. Maybe say it once but get to the meat of the message quickly. Just by communicating practical messages, clearly identifying what colleagues need to do, will signal confidence. And they’ll realise you’re with them.

• Be consistent – changes of direction can be confusing and destabilising. If there’s a major shift in the external environment (a sudden change in how lockdown is lifted for example), explain clearly what the change is, why a new approach is needed and what it means in practice for staff.

• Be considerate – a silver lining of some crises is they allow you to show you really do care about your staff, and they will remember that. If you demonstrate genuine concern for how difficult it is, it will foster team spirit and long term loyalty. As well as inspiring them to go the extra mile in helping the organisation emerge in the best possible shape. Just saying you realise it’s tough and you appreciate the effort they’re making goes a long way.

Remember, staff won’t necessarily come to you with their own queries or worries about what happens next. You’ll have to reach out to them. So be available – even if that’s remotely. Try to avoid “all telling, no listening” whilst at the same time providing reassurance and leadership.

Ah “leadership”, I hear you say. Crises often do sort out the leaders from the rest. Remember who in your team was good in the crisis, and maybe bring them onto the crisis management team as part of an updated Business Continuity Plan (useful for the next pandemic!).

Finally, consider making some of your internal communications public, especially when they impact on customer interaction or working practices. It can be reassuring for customers to see how the staff are being supported back to some kind of “business as usual”, and the team know exactly what they’re doing.

Teams often come out of a crisis much stronger than they went in. They learn about each other, they acquire a common “history in adversity” and afterwards they can celebrate getting through it together.

Good luck!