The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting organizations of all sizes and across all sectors—operationally, financially, and by threatening the mental and physical well-being of employees. Effective communications are key to navigating this crisis. This guidance offers practical advice on how to prepare for and overcome the communication challenges you face—from informing colleagues to setting up a coronavirus task force—both now and in the future.
Be authentic
Your organization’s response to the coronavirus crisis must be authentic. Whether communicating internally or externally, ensure that what you say and how you say it reflects the values at the heart of your business and culture. To promote consistency and clarity, you should also identify a core group of spokespersons with credibility, experience, and confidence to communicate on behalf of the organization.
Be transparent
Recognize your responsibilities to employees, customers, and public health. This means addressing what you know, acknowledging what you don’t know, and encouraging colleagues to always follow public health advice. Be honest about the actions you are taking and explain whenever changes need to be made in line with the rapidly evolving situation.
Report regularly
At a time when many people in your organization will find themselves working in isolation, commit to providing information regularly. Stay focused on the importance of the information updates you have promised and, ideally, use more than one platform to do so, such as the company intranet, internal social media platforms, and email. Encourage employees to communicate regularly too, whenever possible via video conferencing to promote more face-to-face interactions.
Deal with the facts
When discussing the evolving threat posed by Covid-19, only share details and advice that come from credible sources, such as the World Health Organization or a local public health authority. Unless you are a healthcare organization actively working on coronavirus, avoid communicating medical information on behalf of public health experts; instead, direct people to these credible source information platforms. Never speculate or share unqualified comments.
Prioritize your colleagues
Your employees will be going through a period of considerable concern about their health, safety, job security, and balancing their professional life with their family needs. Prioritize your team by providing frequent opportunities for colleagues to ask questions while proactively addressing their concerns. This includes being attentive and responding to external policy announcements that may affect them, such as school closures.
Create a task force
Create an internal working group to oversee crisis preparedness, response, and continuity efforts. This should include representatives from across the organization, including executive leadership, communications, HR, finance, facilities, operations, sales, and legal. The task force should be empowered to take decisive action and ensure that all leadership teams are fully aligned on response protocols, as well as the content and timing of announcements.
Scenario plan
It is vital to plan ahead for a communications strategy for the various potential coronavirus scenarios. Examples include: a confirmed case of COVID-19 within your organization, a major outbreak in a community where you operate, event cancellations, facility closures, and product shortages. Your plan should include aligning messages, identifying spokespersons, and agreeing on how and when to release information. You can find advice on communicating with specific audiences at the Edelman Coronavirus Center.
For informational purposes only; should not be considered medical advice.
EDC is Edelman’s Affiliate Partner in Portugal. See the original Edelman news story here.
