Last Thursday, 12^th of March 2020, my wife was asked to self-quarantine. She had been exposed several days prior to someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. We were somewhat troubled at first, but when the initial knee-jerk fear settled down, we went back to the hard data and information that we had long sourced from the World Health Organisation regarding the virus. Her exposure was two days shy of the golden 14-day safety period and she wasn’t showing any symptoms at all.

Misinformation is a major problem

In fact, the biggest problem that we faced with regard to her situation was misinformation. My wife works for the government. She’s a Project Manager with the Philippines’ Department of Education and, while the meeting where she was exposed was known to all, we never expected her own boss to name her along with two other colleagues to the rest of the department. Suspected cases or even confirmed ones are usually never named. It seems to be a global practice in COVID-19 communications and one that prevents suspected cases from being unduly alienated and maligned.

This move led to gossip circulating around their office that the three of them were COVID-19-positive. While my wife has taken it in her stride, it’s clear that there was not a comms protocol in place to ensure that things like this don’t happen. All that’s been ultimately accomplished by this faux pas is causing panic with those who have been in contact with my wife fearing they’ve been infected – they haven’t.

So is the lack of information

In any case, it all turned out to be academic. She was safe at home with me when rumours started circulating among our circle of contacts that Manila would be placed under lockdown within the next few days. It eventually spilled over into social media—including speculation as to what a lockdown actually entailed. Again, with very little in the way of official COVID-19 communications coming out of our local or even national government, resulting in panic amongst the population.

My wife and I experienced that first-hand when we opted to stock up on groceries and other essential supplies in anticipation of the lockdown. When we got there, lines stretched out longer than they would have been during Christmas and New Year’s. Alcohol stocks were completely depleted – we only managed two tiny bottles of the gel-based sanitizers – and trolleys were generally jam-packed with foodstuffs. We had seen the increasingly worrying trend of hoarding on social media and opted to be more measured in our own purchases.

National sources need to be clearer

It was our second hour into queueing up to pay for our purchases when the delayed press conference from our President was aired live over social media. It was one of the first serious COVID-19 communications coming from the government. If we were expecting clarity, we were somewhat disappointed. For one thing, there’s a lot of debate regarding terminology. Many insist that the president called what we have a “community quarantine”—including his own spokesperson. What he specifically said, however, was that “we do not want to use that (term), but it is a lockdown.”

While it was clear that domestic land, air, and sea travel into and out of the capital would be prohibited, how this would be enforced was never covered. Also, why international air travel would not be stopped when it has been a proven global vector for transmission of 2019-NCoV confuses all of us here in the Philippines. He did clearly state that people were to stay at home as much as possible or else practice “social distancing” when out and about—although how this was to be done was never explained either.

Miscommunications can cause even more headaches

The press conference raised more questions than it gave answers. There was no mention of medical response, no guidelines for reporting should one start to feel symptoms of COVID-19, no clear protocols as to what to expect in a hospital. Those answers would come later from industrious independent sources who took it upon themselves to clarify unclear points and even create useful infographics as guides posted on social media.

The reach of these resources is sadly far smaller than that of our national government, and my wife and I are again lucky enough that we fall within that scope. I have an epidemiologist as a friend and he’s the one who invited us to a Viber group that has thus far been our go-to source of reliable and comprehensive information in our country. Sadly, there are only 296,594 members on the group against the population of our capital that sits at 13,923,452—which means that many are still in the dark.

A reliance on social media

For the vast majority of Filipinos in the capital, Facebook is the main source of news. We have extremely affordable smartphones that can retail for less than USD 50 and our telecoms carriers often offer free Facebook browsing. While this has meant that even the segment of the population you would consider indigent has access to news via Facebook, the veracity and quality of the information that they get isn’t always high. Throw in the conflicting news brought about by the messy political situation in the country and you end up with a population that is often confused and panicked.

As a consequence of this lack of information and understanding and an odd “grace period” given prior to imposing a lockdown, many Filipinos flocked to the bus stations—overcrowding them—the day before the March 15 lockdown to flee back to their home provinces. While one can understand the emotional reasoning behind this, one can’t also help but wonder if this has only opened up even more opportunities for the virus to spread out towards areas of the Philippines that were previously unaffected.

Indeed, several passengers on these exodus buses have shown symptoms upon arrival at their destinations. With a clearer rationale behind the lockdown and a more detailed explanation of the beneficial effects of enforcing one, the whole situation could really have been avoided. As a communicator, I told my wife that the government should post a more detailed explanation or even an infographic after the conference. That infographic did eventually come, not from the government, but from that same friend of mine who had been a very reliable source of information for us.

Lockdown +2

It’s just the second day of lockdown here in Manila and the first of a workweek, it’s clear that the lack of effective communications is going to be costly. Day wage earners, government personnel, and those whose companies could not or cannot afford to enact remote work policies are clogging the near-empty roadways desperate for transportation that is lacking. What public transportation is there inevitably becomes packed tight with people—negating social distancing.

Who can blame them? They have mouths to feed, utilities to pay for, futures to secure. While some private services providers have suspended bill payments, many utilities still have due dates that fall within this lockdown. With no word from the government and its relevant bodies regarding economic and labour relief, these people fight their fears and risk infection to stave off the equally real threat of their families starving.

The lessons to be learned

Communication is something that technology today has made so much simpler. There are so many channels available for us to reach out to friends and family, share our lives with the world, and even work remotely. For all those benefits, however, crises like these often serve as a crucible on which the importance of communication becomes apparent. There are several clear lessons to be learned from the crisis here in the Philippines.

Leaders should seize the narrative

Prior to the Presidential press con, there was little in the way of a controlled narrative. Speculation ran rampant and so-called social media warriors spread all manner of misinformation or even outright falsehoods. Ideas like the virus evolving to become airborne in transmission and allegations of it being a bioweapon intermingled with the official facts. Had those in the leadership position effectively taken control and established themselves as credible sources, this could have been avoided.

The same applies to company leaders and businesses. When you take control of the information being spread and ensure that you push only the facts, you minimize fear, panic, and the further propagation of falsehoods. It’s really about being decisive and that’s something that’s been sorely lacking in the country. With no clear plans to alleviate even the most basic needs, people ignore the risks to their health to earn enough to bring food home to their families.

Leaders should understand their stakeholders and leverage more channels

My wife and I are decidedly middle class. We’re privileged. We sit comfortably at home with enough supplies to last several weeks and have access to all the information that we need. We can afford to be skeptical and verify any piece of information across many different sources. We have strong, established contact bases that allow us to get “first dibs” on key official and verified information. Many in the country do not. This shows that the government has a lack of understanding of their stakeholders.

Information campaigns regarding COVID-19 communications should have run the gamut from social media to mainstream media, flyers and even sending people out to the townships to discuss the issues at hand in person. This would have ensured that more people were privy to the right information and the right protocols to follow. As it stands, many don’t even realize that testing and treatment is government-subsidized, accounting for cases of under-reporting and even hospital escapes from sufferers who don’t know better.

Leaders should plan more carefully

I haven’t enough experience or level of expertise to talk about what measures the government should have specifically enacted—or even how they should have addressed the myriad of issues that have and still are cropping up. I do have enough experience in communications to know that what we have is more reactionary than anything else. With proper planning on the key timing of crucial messages pertaining to the COVID-19 crisis, people would never have had to rely on unreliable sources.

Since the first case reported here in December 2019, there has always been the feeling that not enough information is being disseminated by official channels for everyone to prepare properly. There wasn’t a clear COVID-19 communications plan in place. Even now, the manned checkpoints at the fringes of our capital are starting to show signs of cracking as the lines to enter the supposedly locked-down city are starting to run for kilometres. In many cases, protocols for temperature checking have been abandoned altogether. People simply don’t have enough information to act appropriately.

Leaders should be accessible

If there’s one bright spot in this whole crisis locally, it’s that many local business leaders have proven to be experts in their COVID-19 communications in their own right. Many Filipinos have shared on Facebook not just clear, compassionate, and decisive measures from their leaders, but how lines of direct communications have been opened to allow them to address their questions and their fears. Meanwhile, our own town’s leadership has been terribly silent. We only found out of the one confirmed case in our area from a very vocal neighbour.

Accessibility in a crisis matter because people need to have someone to send their questions and clarifications to. People need to be able to voice their fears and vent their frustrations as well. Some of the local government units have been proactive in this regard, opening lines of COVID-19 communications to their citizens. It’s telling that their specific cities are those that are faring the best. With open lines of communication, you afford yourself an avenue to spread and share facts.

Better Comms, Better Future

Without a doubt, this crisis is one of the most challenging we’ve faced globally to date. While there is certainly much to fear, there’s much to hope for as well. The key to ensuring that we remain prepared to weather the storms this crisis brings is to ensure that communications flow smoothly, reaches the most people possible, with honest messaging that will help us situate ourselves and deal with the challenges that COVID-19 brings.

While much responsibility is necessarily placed on the shoulders of national and business leaders, we all really need to play our part in ensuring that the truths that people need to know get out there.

The post COVID-19 communications from behind the Manila lockdown appeared first on ICPlan.

What is a crisis?

A crisis is defined as any event or sequence of unwanted events that have a strong impact on a local or even global scale. It can be anything from a natural disaster, an outbreak of some disease, or generally anything that can cause physical, mental, and psychological disturbance to your workforce and business operations. It also brings with it the potential for escalated panic and worries when not properly addressed and dealt with.

Why it’s important to have a crisis communications plan

The key watchword is “preparedness”. When a crisis hits and hits hard, your employees are going to react like any reasonable person would: with fear and confusion. This can escalate into a full-blown panic—especially when there isn’t a word coming from their leaders within a company. Regardless of the specific type of crisis that you’re dealing with, having a strong crisis communication plan in place and ready to go ensures that you are able to mitigate even the worst of circumstances.

The challenges of crisis communications

In order to come up with an effective crisis communications plan, you need to first identify the specific challenges inherent to this particular aspect of internal communications. There are five that you need to focus on.

A flood of information

Major crises often come with a deluge of information—and not all of this can be reliable or verifiable. It can quickly become overwhelming when it first hits. If you aren’t discerning and careful in sifting through this information, you won’t be able to effectively condense things in a meaningful way. The key is to think ahead about where you’ll source your information from. This, of course, should mean going to credible first-hand sources depending on the specific crisis.

For instance, outbreaks and diseases will fall under the purview of the World Health Organization. Localized economic crises are likely to be monitored by your local financial authorities. It might seem like a lot to think about but it’s far better to have these listed well in advance so when a crisis hits, you’ll know exactly who you should be listening to. It helps to have a centralized dashboard where all this is organized and accessible to all so you can turn to them at the very onset of a crisis.

A lack of information

Some crises are so subtle in their buildup or so mysterious in their origins that you might face the contrary to the above challenge. Either that or you don’t have an effective means to disseminate information and it’s your employees who find the information lacking. For the former, it’s all about clear organization and having a far more comprehensive list of sources. For the latter, it’s ensuring that you have the best channel mix at your disposal and the proper management of each of these channels.

Crises often come unexpectedly and can create waves in your workplace. Certain channels might become less viable than others and you want to make sure that you have effective backups to stay connected with your employees. Social media is one of the most reliable and popular means to share information, but you should also consider SMS or even in-office newsletters which would be effective should your internet connectivity take a hit.

Inadequate contact information

If you look at your employee contact list, you’re likely to find all their work contact details, naturally. While that’s great for the day-to-day operations of your business, it could prove to be inadequate in a crisis. Apart from their work email, you should at least get one other email and a number that they can be reached via your crisis communications. This allows you to reach your employees in the event that their work email becomes inaccessible for whatever reason.

Most companies have their databases stored securely, often in the cloud, for easy access. This is a smart way to go, but you should also have at least one printed-out hard copy just in case. You can never tell what kinds of disturbances a crisis will bring, and it pays to have your contact databases on-hand to ensure that your communications aren’t disrupted. This should be given to specific people responsible for internal comms at a time of crisis.

Unpredictability

By default, crises are unpredictable—not just in their arrival, but also as they run their course. This might make planning seem like an impossible task. While it is difficult, it isn’t impossible to be prepared. You can take a look at historical crises that have hit us in the past as a more or less comprehensive guide as to what you can expect down the line. After all, there are several categories that have cropped up over the century that cover everything from financial meltdowns, viral and disease outbreaks, and even terrorism.

As a preparatory measure for your crisis communications plan, companies should craft placeholder messages that address your company’s policies for each incident. If you don’t have those yet, then they should form a central part of your overall planning efforts. These can then serve as templates down the line when a crisis of an identified nature actually strikes. These should be written with clarity in mind—detail where you stand, what employees should expect, and even who is in charge of ultimately disseminating official information.

Insufficient visibility

Crisis communications isn’t just about sending the message out. It’s just as important to remain visible. A company’s visibility in a crisis can serve as a strong anchor that panicked or worried employees turn to for strength and comfort. Make sure that you have a dedicated channel in which your employees can direct their questions or even just vent their fears and frustrations. Your leaders should also take point in a crisis because employees draw a lot of strength from them.

More than that, you need to more closely monitor the effectiveness of your crisis communications. You want to ensure that there is full understanding of what you send out especially if there is some desired response that you are expecting. Analytics will be particularly helpful here for both distribution statistics and readership. Complement these with follow-up inquires to ensure that your employees got the message completely.

Developing the plan

Crisis communications plans can be painstaking and time-consuming to undertake. The thing though is that they ultimately will save you time, resources, and even energy when a crisis does strike. So, any efforts put into making one are truly worthwhile. The key is to approach it thoughtfully. Here are the most essential steps that you need to take to make sure you have a smart crisis communications plan.

Form a crisis communications planning and execution team

The very first thing your need to do is create a crisis communications team. Apart from planning, they’re the ones responsible for the eventual execution of the plan when a crisis hits. Your comms team should be core members of this team, but it should also include a human resource contact, representatives from each department and team. You should make sure to include a senior leader also.

This crisis communications team should take time to consider the challenges mentioned in this post and craft at least a working outline of your crisis response plan. To start, you need to clearly state the goal of your plan. You should detail your expectations of the plan and what exactly are the desired responses when they’re executed in a crisis. This doesn’t just guide the rest of the planning effort, it makes the plan easier to execute by anyone else in the organization should the crisis communications team be indisposed.

List your affected stakeholders

The next task for your crisis communications teams is to identify all the stakeholders that you wish to keep informed in a crisis. You should also list the hierarchy and priority order with which communications is going to flow. This activity allows you to designate other point people to facilitate faster dissemination of information. More than that, it allows you to more easily identify which stakeholders are more affected by one crisis or another.

That said, it’s best to create hierarchy and lists for the different types of crises out these are each one is unique. Viral or disease outbreaks are likely to concern much of your employees, for example. Financial crises might affect your leaders and investors more initially. Terrorist attacks might affect a particular region where they take place. The uniqueness of many crises means that you can’t get it all right at the get-go, but having a framework makes it easier to adapt down the line.

Create holding statements for fast crisis communications

Placeholders are critical to crisis communications because they allow for a more expedient response just as a crisis hits. This expediency doesn’t just comfort your employees, it also imparts in them a sense of confidence in your ability to get them through a crisis. Again, it might be very difficult to anticipate every potential crisis out there, but you can at least craft general policies as a response to the chaos and uncertainty that a crisis brings.

With the recent NCoV and COVID-19 crisis, Google has enacted work from home measures to keep its employees safe against exposure to the virus. It’s an effective move and one that is worth considering for other potential crises or disaster. Other policies can cover things like evacuation procedures, company support for affected employees and the like. You can craft whatever works for you, just make sure that the messaging is detailed, understandable, and clear.

Select your emergency channels and educate your employees in their use

While there’s nothing wrong with using the most effective channels that you use day-to-day, you should consider that crisis communications might take place in a drastically affected world. Common communication tools like social media, the intranet, and even employee apps are sure to be affected by crises that cause the loss of internet connectivity. Old-fashioned SMS messaging can work as a great backup in a pinch.

Even then, being dependent on technology, it can still be vulnerable to failure. You need to be ready to distribute printed fact sheets that detail your stand in a particular crisis and steps that your employees might need to take. Support these with in-office bulletins. Remember: as effective as online communication channels are, they’re very vulnerable to disruption. List offline channel options in your crisis communications plan as a contingency.

Identify the biggest risks depending on a crisis and craft potential policy responses

It will help your planning efforts to identify the biggest risks to your company and your employees. Again, this might seem like an overwhelming task in the beginning but there are some common threads that you can study. Business continuance is a big one and has to do with how you keep the company operational and functional depending on the scenario you face. The health and well-being of your employees are equally as important—as is their income and job security.

When you start to realise the many risks inherent to crises, you can start by thinking up the appropriate responses to combat the risks. This task is best done with the participation of your decision-making leaders as well as your human resources leads. You might even end up with lasting solutions that you can actually implement when a crisis does hit down the line. You should be as comprehensive as you can in this exercise, making sure you cover as many potential crises as possible.

Test run your crisis communications plan

Before you wrap up your planning session, it’s very important that you test it in action. A quick dry run with a few employees—paying particular attention to simulating the speed by which information is spread through your chosen channels—should reveal how effective your crisis communications plan is. Make sure that you collect a lot of data. Analytics from the channels themselves should show some critical information regarding distribution and readership.

In addition, you should get feedback from your leaders. Their input can be invaluable in refining key parts of your crisis communications plan especially when it comes to response policies that you came up with. Get feedback from your employees as well, especially when it comes to the ease by which information is delivered, how clear information is presented, and even what they expect from the company during the crisis. All these details should go into revisions if necessary.

Face the future

To say that crises are unpredictable is an understatement, but there is no excuse to be unprepared. A proper crisis communications plan will ensure that your business and your people stay on their feet no matter what hits. Yes, there are a lot of challenges that will be faced as you sit down to think things out. In the long run, it’s all worth it as it can ultimately save you in time, resources, and effort. A great plan lets you face the uncertain future with confidence and preparedness and also help calm your employees and their fears.

The post Crisis Communications: Smart Approaches to Stay on Top appeared first on ICPlan.

Different companies, different reactions. Which one is best for your company, your teams and your operations? The first and most crucial priority of companies during this crisis should be strong coronavirus internal communications. Now, more than ever, it is on communication teams to provide accurate details, promote effective practices, and clearly explain your company’s policies and efforts to deal with the SARS-COV-2 outbreak.

Coronavirus Internal Communications: Five Critical Dimensions of Crisis Response

At the most basic, there are five dimensions that you need to balance out to ensure that your response to the SARS-COV-2 crisis is effective for both your company and your employees.

Communications

A lot of information can change hands pretty rapidly among co-workers—and not all of this will be entirely accurate. Businesses should take charge and ensure that policies, their company’s stance, and other key information is delivered in a clear and timely manner. Always have context for coronavirus internal communications—particularly changes in the way things are done to ensure that there is a clear understanding of what’s going on.

Employee Needs

The rapidly evolving situation around the virus spreading and any changes you have to your workplace practices will have a strong disruptive effect on the lives of employees. For example all non-essential employee travel may be banned, supplier visits may be canceled and town halls may be postponed. Companies need to not only have a clear set of procedures in place to account for these changes and they need to communicate these clearly to their employees.

Remote Work

In areas where SARS-COV-2 affects the population IBM has begun to allow workers to work remotely. The key to implementing this at a widespread level is being absolutely clear about the policies – specifically how to move from physical to virtual meetings, working hours, staying in touch with line managers and other key affected functions. Your coronavirus internal communications plans need to take these things into account.

Business Reporting

Any change in how a business is run or operates can cause stakeholder tension. This is why it is very critical that you pay special attention to stakeholder communication. Be more mindful and focused on key details that will put stakeholders at ease. Developing a cycle of rapid reporting will also allow you to identify key problem points that might arise down the line.

Cooperation

More than ever, your internal and external comms teams need to practice cooperation, especially with human resources to ensure that your company’s response is unified and decisive—while still being very conscious of the needs of your employees. On top of that, you need to cooperate and coordinate with efforts by your county or region’s responsible governmental body through whatever initiatives they implement to stem the spread of the virus.

Verify the Facts Before Releasing it via Your Coronavirus Internal Communications

While many companies will naturally provide updates on SARS-COV-2 to their employees, an issue that is key to consider is the source of the information they provide. In times of crisis, our connected world tends to be flooded with information. Whether it’s a result of panic or over-zealousness, there are a lot who—intentionally or not—propagate false information. When we ourselves are in a state of confusion, worry, or fear, it becomes easier to jump on the next compelling headline.

The SARS-COV-2 has thrown up its fair share of false news and false information. On social media, for example, there seem to be a thousand ‘cures’ and ‘prevention measures’ that have proven to be false. Companies—and their coronavirus internal communications efforts specifically—can’t afford to be careless. While a lot of this fake information is as harmless as it is useless, it doesn’t contribute anything meaningful either. At worst, communicating something that is untrue harms your credibility with your employees and could – ultimately – harm the colleagues themselves.

Rely on a primary source

The World Health Organization (WHO) is your best source for information on SARS-COV-2—including the best response measures that people can take. Apart from tips and even statistics regarding the spread of the virus, they provide comprehensive and very informative reports on their responses globally. You can even take short courses on SARS-COV-2 response practices for further information. Equally reliable are your governments’ disease response departments provided they also source their information from WHO.

Verify secondary sources

News outlets also make for great sources of regional information. The BBC, CNN, Washington Post, the New York Times, and others are very useful for companies that need information that is most relevant to them. Many of these even have sections dedicated to rolling updates on a regional and global level. It’s still however good practice for communication teams to verify the information before passing it on to your employees.

Carefully craft content

On a more practical note, it’s important when creating your content—be it an infographic, a blog post, or even a brief message—to be very accurate. Sources like the World Health Organization make all their content available under Creative Commons, meaning organizations are allowed to freely use the content. In fact this is encouraged to reduce the risk of misinformation. For other sources, it’s important to stay as close to the info you’re sharing and to have proper citations. This will allow your employees to fact check themselves if they want.

Preparedness & Planning in Coronavirus Internal Communications

Given how much the virus affects their workplace, this crisis goes beyond just informing employees, companies and their employees need to also be effectively-prepared. Employment search engine Indeed is a great example of preparedness. Though the Ireland office was based in a country with few cases so far, they preemptively ordered their employees to work from home. All of this after an employee in Singapore reported a potential third-degree exposure. In spite of all this, the company still reports effective continuance of its business without significant interruption.

Whether or not your company is doing similar and offering work from home opportunities or you have your own custom response plan, the role of communications is to ensure that people understand exactly what they have to do and where they can go for support. Remember that you need to be as detailed as possible with your coronavirus internal communications—covering key information like how leaders will issue communication updates, how to keep in touch with colleagues, and even how things like meetings will work. Processes and procedures clear up the chaos.

Evaluate your channels

In times of crisis like this, communication is more important than ever. And one thing that you need to look more closely at is the channel mix you need to use. This is especially true if you opt for measures that take your employees away from the office for a longer period of time. Employee collaboration tools like Workplace from Facebook and Microsoft Teams are particularly useful given the amount of media that you can post as well as the expedience by which information can be delivered.

Julien Codorniou, VP Workplace from Facebook, recommends creating an open and default group to provide a single source for daily updates and safety recommendations and then ensure these high-signal updates reach everyone effectively by marking them as important on the platform. You should also ensure that chat and conferencing channels are being leveraged also. Rachel Miller of AllThingsIC has created a useful guide covering a variety of options including Teams, Yammer and Microsoft Stream.

Messaging apps like Skype and Slack are good options for quick notifications should you need to get information out quickly in your coronavirus internal communications. Ultimately, your channel mix will depend on what has worked for you in the past. Just make sure to constantly check if your setup is effective for the situation.

Consider timing and gravity

Timing is critical when you’re talking about updates regarding the SARS-COV-2 situation. While you want to be up to date as constantly as possible, you also want to avoid spreading panic. Consider the timing of updates – perhaps once or twice a week depending on how things are developing on a local and regional level. What should be more constant are communicating tips from organisations like the World Health Organization regarding best measures to take to deal with the crisis.

Coordinate with authorities

It’s especially helpful if you also coordinate with your local authorities to find out what measures they have in place for the crisis. Particularly important are the contact tracking efforts that are being conducted globally. These are efforts to identify people who potentially had contact with anyone who has been diagnosed with SARS-COV-2 to stem the spread of the virus. This will provide employees with comfort and reassurance amidst the very real fear of not knowing who is infected.

Compassion Above All is Key to Coronavirus Internal Communications

In times of crisis, what employees look for is genuine care and concern for their safety. It’s something that you can’t really fake—and genuineness will go far. Cisco Systems struggled badly to reach out and care for its employees during the 2011 tsunami in Japan. There wasn’t a plan in place and so tracking their employees’ whereabouts was extremely difficult. They did care a lot for their people, however, and did much to incorporate this into their planning. So, their response to the Brussels bombings in 2016 was swift and compassionate— with their employees quickly accounted for.

As the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 spreads and brings out more and more instances of the disease (COVID-19), it becomes increasingly important for companies to place compassion at the centre of their thinking. People are afraid and the propagation of inflammatory headlines on social media and some media outlets isn’t helping. Because they play a prominent role in their employees’ daily lives, companies who make compassion central to their crisis response have a unique opportunity to make a positive impact in this challenging situation.

Listen

When people are stressed, they like to talk things out. In a crisis like the one being brought about by SARS-CoV-2, employees will have a lot to fear and be stressed out about. The most common people they’ll turn to at work are fellow colleagues, whether it’s at a one-to-one level or on employee collaboration tools. There they will likely share their worries, apprehensions, and fears. Many are likely to even open up about potential exposure. This kind of information is critical and will benefit a company and its efforts against the pandemic.

It’s important that you set up a dedicated feedback channel early on an establish it as something that is open. You’ll want to build up trust in this channel by actively listening and responding in a meaningful way. This will ensure that you’ll be the recipient of any key information that you will need to act decisively and respond quickly on during the course of the crisis. Active listening of this kind is ultimately beneficial to both employers and employees.

Respond

As far as coronavirus internal communications go, effective leadership communication is critical during a crisis. They can be a bastion of strength and certainty given the ever-shifting nature of the global situation. It’s important to take advantage of many different mediums and channels available. Video over your company’s social media can be a powerful tool—especially when you can complement this with online town halls via Microsoft Teams, Workplace from Facebook or any other video conferencing software used within your organisation.

While it is especially important for your leaders to be prompt in their response, there needs to be caution to avoid being inflammatory and contributing to the panic and chaos. Your leaders should, if possible, make a point of explaining any policy and practical changes that your company needs to undertake to manage through the crisis. This is especially true for more extreme shifts like remote working that can change the landscape of your company for the short, medium and even long term.

Prepare for the Future

If there’s one thing that’s certain when it comes to the coronavirus crisis, it’s that it’s going to be an unpredictable run. Now, rather than hope that things are going to blow over soon, it’s better to be prepared for any potential long-term situations. Google exemplifies this perfectly. What they’ve done is to use the coronavirus situation to test the company’s ability to have staff work remotely in the long term—in preparation, of course, for potential escalation of the virus.

You don’t necessarily have to mirror this move yourself if your particular line of business can’t really thrive by completely doing remote work. It’s food for thought, however, and is an opportunity to explore your options down the line. Perhaps you could try out a semi-remote work model with some days in-office. Or maybe you can even re-evaluate distribution of tasks. It really all specifically depends on your unique needs as a company.

Whatever you decide, however, you need to take to heart the key communication measures discussed here. As with all changes that can occur in a company, the key to successful implementation really lies in properly planned and timely coronavirus internal communications with your employees. Remember that in times of crisis like these, it falls upon communications teams to be the voice of truth, clarity, certainty, and even compassion.

The post Coronavirus Internal Communications: How Companies Should Respond in Times of Crisis appeared first on ICPlan.

Despite the unprecedented circumstances companies around the world are in, much has and continues to be expected of business leaders around the world.

One company that has had both a strong and effective COVID-19 response as well as a clear plan for the post-COVID-19 world is Deutsche Telekom in Germany. Much of this stems from Tim Höttges who has been very visible and vocal in his role as leader of one of the biggest telecom giants in the world.

An Overview of Deutsche Telekom

Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, Deutsche Telekom has been in operation since 1995. It holds stakes in other telecom companies globally—stretching its span of operation east to west—from the United States all the way to Russia and Japan, including well-known brands such as T-Mobile, T-Systems and – as of May 2020 – Sprint in the US. As of 2020, it boasts a workforce of over 216,000 employees around the world. 

The Power of CEO Presence in Crisis

Tim Höttges, its current CEO has spent a significant portion of his career at Deutsche Telekom, joining the company in 2000. He was was appointed to the board of directors in 2006, eventually becoming its CEO in 2014. What has stood out since his appointment is the strong emphasis placed on great communications—particularly through the efforts of Tim himself. As well as consistently posting on his LinkedIn page he also regularly engages those that comment. 

As the COVID-19 crisis runs its course, Höttges has been very visible both internally and externally. As Deutsche Telekom’s employees, along with everyone else, deals with the fallout from the unprecedented world events, Tim has maintained the engagement and communication efforts—striking a reassuring tone with employees and clearly outlining the course Deutsche Telekom will take in the days, weeks and months ahead.

Let’s take a closer look at what he and Deutsche Telekom have done for an effective COVID-19 response.

Effective COVID-19 Response is Easier When it’s Institutional

Many companies struggled to push out an effective COVID-19 response when lockdowns started to go in place around the world—Germany included. Everything was turned on its head: restrictions were placed on travel and movement, businesses were shuttered down, people were asked to stay at home, and mass gatherings were discouraged. That’s why Tim Höttges almost immediately made the decision to forgo Deutsche Telekom’s participation at Mobile World Congress.

While the annual industry trade fair eventually did get cancelled, Deutsche Telekom initially came under fire for the withdrawal. Detractors insisted that, rather than cancel participation, Deutsche Telekom should instead establish a digital presence. Tim Höttges was adamant that the safety of not just employees but also attendees was their top priority. That distinction in his LinkedIn statement is reflective of the deeper institutional duty of care to everyone in the company’s sphere of influence from customers to employees.

Compassion and Decisiveness

A few days after the entirety of Germany went on lockdown, Tim Höttges took to LinkedIn to post a very comprehensive video that detailed his and Deutsche Telekom’s take on the evolving conditions brought about by COVID-19 as well as what their employees and customers could realistically expect. This honest, transparent and – in places – optimistic commentary on the situation, is something that has been a stand out component of leadership communications at this time of crisis.

A consistent theme in Tim Höttges communications around COVID-19 can be boiled down to three key elements:

• Transparency – The fact that internal communications are being proactively shared externally and also the messages are realistic in tone underlines the transparency that Höttges and Deutsche Telekom as a whole are currently operating
• The role of the company – A consistent theme in all of Höttges communications is the role that Deutsche Telekom plays at a societal level during this time, and the importance of service continuance for customers
• Charting the course – The third element that has been present in communications from Höttges has been looking forward to what the next steps are. Whether it’s to the positive changes that can come to ways of working or more practical steps when it comes to returning to offices, the Deutsche Telekom CEO has consistently presented a forward outlook in his communications

Deutsche Telekom Supports its Workforce and Customers

Many companies were forced into remote work situation when lockdowns prevented people from leaving their home to report for work. For Deutsche Telekom, it wasn’t as difficult a transition for a large portion of the workforce due to the company already having flexible working options in place.

An extensive communication exercise was rolled out to ensure that their employees were well-prepared and well-informed to handle changes to ways of working. This led to noteworthy measures like the shifting of over 12,000 contact centre agents in the US to a work-from-home setup in less than two weeks.

But what about those that are unable to work from home? Tim Höttges acknowledged early that many jobs in Deutsche Telekom could not be done “from home.” Those jobs included line technicians and those in service departments—those in the field who essentially keep things actually running. For those affected employees, new measures and protocols for working were rapidly rolled out to ensure safety and continuance of services for customers.

Deutsche Telekom Gives Back to the World

Apart from the continuance of service that is at the heart of Deutsche Telekom’s effective COVID-19 response, they rolled out additional data at no extra charge for their customers. They also partnered with SK Telecom of South Korea to provide stronger conferencing and communications solutions to help other companies in keeping touch with their employees.

It didn’t end there, however. Deutsche Telekom was also tapped by the German government to assist in the development of a contact tracing app. This is a critical technology that enables health services to find out who a particular person has interacted with in order to follow the lines of infection of COVID-19, helping Germany’s efforts to contain the virus’ spread within its borders.  

Effective COVID-19 Response Cares for Wellbeing

While many companies have – out of necessity – focused on the operational and economic aspects by COVID-19, at its core it is first and foremost a health crisis. As part of Deutsche Telekom’s effective COVID-19 response, they opted to meet one of the most critical components that is coming to define the new normal: face masks.

Often the last lines of personal defense against the COVID-19 strain, face masks have become increasingly scarce in the pandemic. Deutsche Telekom’s response was simple: create cloth masks from old, unused, but nonetheless clean fabrics. In a video posted on his own LinkedIn page, CEO Tim Höttges himself is seen creating one with a Singer sewing machine. These were then sent off to their employees all over Germany.

Working Towards the New Normal

As much of the world prepares to move to what everyone’s calling “the New Normal”, it’s unsurprising that Deutsche Telekom is well-prepared for what’s to come. As well as the distribution of face masks—which are to be mandatory for those working on company premises—they’ve also adopted additional measures in-office to protect their employees from the threat of a second wave of outbreaks.

To start only 20% of their workforce is preparing to return. Secondly, within offices, workstations that don’t conform to the principles of social distancing have been physically cordoned off with adequate spacing maintained for those working in-office. Finally, as Tim Höttges himself puts it, there is a stronger push towards allowing for some home working setups to continue—with stronger support for better digitalization.

What We Can Learn from Deutsche Telekom

There are several things that can be learnt from Deutsche Telekom’s effective COVID-19 response. These lessons aren’t just applicable for a crisis—in fact, they can be carried over into the daily operations of any business and company.

Internal Comms Matter

The COVID-19 crisis has underlined that internal comms is critical in keeping the company together in a crisis. What Deutsche Telekom did right was to keep its comms momentum from the moment that the crisis hit and never slowed down. They made it clear what the situation of their company was and what their employees could expect. This assurance, in turn, helped maintain business continuity when customers were relying on the company.

There are signs that internal comms should, once beyond an effective COVID-19 response, will acquire a greater importance in companies. This will in turn feed the need for proper planning, budgeting, and resources with personnel who not only have the skills, but are also empowered within their role. This delivers on multiple levels, for example, not only in terms of an organisations crisis preparation, but also in building a strong base of engagement and dialogue within the company. All of these are critical as the world emerges into a truly changed world.

Visible Leaders are Impactful

Much of Deutsche Telekom’s effective COVID-19 response features its leader, Tim Höttges, front and centre. His vocal, personable and compassionate style shines through. This, coupled with his position within the company, means his reassuring and consistent messages resonate. This is reflected in the comments from employees to his many LinkedIn posts.

Agility is Key

A final lesson that can be taken from the Deutsche Telekom example is that agility matters when it comes to business success. Companies that have seemed to navigate the the COVID-19 crisis successfully are those who responded quickly at the outset of the pandemic. Quick and decisive action is what makes Deutsche Telekom’s response stand out among others.

The crisis has underlined that agility and decisiveness is something that companies need to make central components of their philosophy and thinking.

The New Normal

As restrictions start to be lifted around the world, one thing is apparent: things will be far from normal for a long time to come. While the COVID-19 crisis has put the world into a very tough situation, there is much that can be learned that will be taken into the future. Deutsche Telekom is a great example of things done right. Its transparency, strong leadership, and consistent communications have allowed them to remain in control despite the prevailing conditions, with an agile internal communication strategy and leveraging CEO visibility and presence.

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