“What Should We Do Now?" Have an Internal Communications Strategy During a Global Health Crisis
6 Ways to Keep your Internal Message Clear & Your Team Well-Informed
As cases of COVID-19 continue to surge nationwide, many full-time and part-time staff members are looking to their employers for guidance. From health coverage updates to evolving work-from-home policies, this unprecedented viral outbreak is forcing countless organizations to take a hard look at their Internal Communications protocols and examine their effectiveness.
As brand and communications experts, our team always recommends that clients consider implementing an Internal Communications Strategy, and often, we have the privilege of helping them put that strategy into place.
3 Benefits of an Effective Internal Communications Strategy
Clear, consistent communications keep your team informed
Keeping your team informed reduces fear and anxiety
Informed teams are better equipped to be productive and solutions-focused
Our Internal Communications Roadmap
In light of this new global health concern, we want to help every organization navigate the challenging road ahead. So we have decided to unlock and freely share the Internal Communications Roadmap we leverage with clients to help bring efficiency and impact when communicating with their teams.
6 Basic Steps to Get Started
1. Start Talking
In the face of any crisis, it’s natural for business leaders, human resources directors, and department managers to feel paralyzed. In fact, during a Communications Planning Session, one client bravely confessed that, “sometimes it’s easier to just say nothing.”
Your leadership may not feel fully in command of the situation and may want to ‘wait for more information’ before communicating with your team. Don’t. Silence is deafening to a team who is used to a routine. So, what should you communicate when information is limited?
2. Be Honest
If your leadership team doesn’t have all the answers - tell your team that. Employees are often more understanding than leaders expect and are likely to appreciate the candor. Teams would rather know your organization is trying to adapt to challenges in the face of a crisis, than know nothing at all.
Honesty doesn’t mean airing every piece of dirty laundry, it means connecting with your organization on a human level and reassuring them that, while it’s uncharted territory, leadership is working to…
3. Develop a Plan
As you ‘Start Talking’ to your team it’s important that your honesty-focused approach is grounded in strategic thinking. Your team will be fine hearing that the situation is new, challenging, and downright scary - so long as they know leadership has a plan of action. Implementing an Internal Communications plan may seem nebulous or confusing but, when in crisis, you really only need to focus on a few key elements - which are the final 3 steps of our roadmap:
4. Designate an Internal Communications Lead
If your team is fortunate to have an internal Human Resources leader, that person is often the go-to choice to act as your Internal Communications Lead. If you’re working without an HR team, then select a senior-level leader on your team who is in-tune with key initiatives, has strong writing and verbal skills, and is known for being level-headed. Don’t take this choice lightly - your Internal Communications Lead will be fielding questions from across the organization. They have a very important job: to keep team members calm while being a resource who helps find answers to their questions and concerns.
5. Address Employee Needs
While employees often respond positively to proactive, honest communications from leadership, they also have needs, fears, and hopes that they expect leadership to address quickly. When tackling these needs, it’s important to have your values in order: health and safety should always come before productivity.
To address your team’s needs, your organization must first identify what they are. How? Ask your team! Technology is key to this step: Whether a virtual town-hall meeting, a dedicated ‘Internal Communications’ email inbox, or an anonymous Q&A tool like Survey Monkey or Google Forms - it’s important for your team to feel heard.
Once you’ve collected these critical insights from your employees, leadership can work to implement organizational changes to address these needs: work-from-home policies, leadership office hours, and newly issued benefits are just some of the tactics we’ve seen clients implement after soliciting feedback from their teams.
Establish an Internal Communications Calendar
When it comes to talking to your team during a crisis, there is no such thing as overcommunication. The best way to ensure your team feels heard is to establish a standard cadence of communication.
Your Internal Communications Lead should provide frequent updates, even when the updates aren’t earth-shattering news, and continue to solicit feedback from your team.
It’s important not to take the easy way out here. You cannot lead via email - so while you may want to update your team from your keyboard each week, it can’t be the only way you communicate. Consider virtual meetings, conference calls, and town-hall sessions, where your team can share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
We’re here to help
In the face of this global health crisis, Studio DiBella is committed to helping business leaders implement effective Internal Communications Strategies.
To limit the financial impact on your organization, we’re now offering discounted packages to select clients. To find out if you qualify - schedule your Internal Communications Consultation today:
If your strategy is formed but you’re short on resources to execute, you might be interested in our new Reduced Rate Writing Services.