Crisis Communication: Now’s the time for action

Now that the COVID-19 virus has been officially recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, many U.S. cities and large portions of several states have initiated ’shelter-in-place’ orders, with citizens and commerce alike affected to varying degrees. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns that the number of cases will continue to rise. It goes without saying: this is the textbook definition of a crisis.

Today’s constant media bombardment — from both social and traditional news outlets —  can create a great deal of uncertainty. Misinformation often gets undeserved top billing. Headlines, conflicting stories, mobile notifications, fast-spreading fear, and other factors can cause stakeholder ambiguity and anxiety. In order to maintain trust, even while undergoing near-term disruptions, organizations should provide a culture of transparent, reassuring, and consistent information.

Make no mistake, internal and external audiences will certainly judge how organizations handle any crisis. The Coronavirus pandemic requires leaders and communication teams to think beyond their usual methods. Best practice dictates that teams use non-traditional and more personalized means to ensure both acknowledgement and empathy, while addressing their audiences’ anxiety about keeping themselves safe. At the same time, leaders must address workplace responsibilities on new footings or in work-from-home settings, honoring customer service obligations, or the worry of employee economic security.

Stepping up like never before

Organizational communicators — such as public relations and internal communication practitioners — are leadership’s “ethical compass.” Leadership and critical thinking skills must shine, because in this crisis, everyone will look for news and guidance. Company leadership and communicators must partner, keeping in mind:

  • Open lines of communication with all stakeholders should be maintained.

  • Remain upfront and open about the potential impact; to do otherwise will undermine your message and credibility.

  • Get the facts from the experts and official channels.

  • Communicate more frequently than you think is sufficient. In this evolving crisis, it’s imperative that employees and stakeholders understand why you are taking certain steps or implementing new protocols. Message repetition is key.

Taking the right steps now

While organizations should plan standard crisis handling procedures prior to an event, many organizations distributed emails, posts and alerts to address COVID-19 concerns. Communication experts agree that messaging should contain many, if not all, aspects of the following list. Addressing these factors, and applying the message to the current outbreak, provide transparency, reassurance and consistency.

  • Acknowledge and briefly summarize unprecedented challenges. This may include business challenges as well as personal demands, such as lost wages, business interruptions, stay-at-home directives, temporary suspension of activities, securing groceries, and other relevant items for your teams.

  • State your commitment to customers and employees.

  • Emphasize steps taken to ensure the well-being of employees such as additional paid time off, implementing working from home environments, instructions for video conferencing, or using health clinics and wellness programs, and how the organization is partnering with experts and officials.

  • Detail how customer service may change. Include hours of operation, temporary closures, delivery delays, on-site testing, etc. State new policies on how this impacts your customer experience. For example, if open for even limited business, will visitors be evaluated for fever before entering?

  • Be honest about the future. Lay out the foreseeable plan, and how you will evaluate and adjust procedures as the situation develops. Discuss how the communications will be delivered in the future.

For internal audiences, this can include emergency webinars and conference calls with leadership. Intranet sites designed with a section holding the latest updates, resources for more information, as well as sections for alerts and support functions need implemented. This may include links to credible health resources (CDC, World Health Organization, local government sites, etc.) company health-related instructions, and links to IT support. Externally facing assets should include social media messaging to communicate with stakeholders, as well as web pages containing positive PR, news updates, SEO-related releases and video.  

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