How communicators can lead through and beyond COVID-19

All of the people I know are worried. All of our clients are worried. What do we say, when do we say it, how do we keep business going and get through COVID-19? There are a lot of ways to answer these questions, but the one I keep coming back to is “communicate.”

As simple as it sounds, it’s hard to do. In many ways, crises can make us freeze, but if we keep our thoughts and words to ourselves, we’ll just incite more panic. Information – even the stuff we don’t want to hear – gives us context, and that’s better than hearing nothing at all. Now more than ever, businesses have an obligation to lead through communication.

Communicators must keep these three things top-of-mind as we navigate the pandemic:

Here’s more guidance on how to lead today:

Prioritize communications with employees.

Be clear, transparent, thorough and supportive. Realize that every note you send or call you make can, and likely will, be shared with others internally and externally. On the flipside, make sure that any company news you plan to share externally, you give your employees a heads up first. Nobody wants to find out crucial information related to their job from a social media post or a press release.

Increase the frequency of your internal communication.