Internal Communication During a Crisis: Best Practices

In the face of a crisis, it is easy for an organization to feel overwhelmed by the sudden rush of urgent matters.  However, at the top of the new To-Do-List, leadership teams must be mindful enough to vault internal communication as a top priority. If your team was without a sound internal communication strategy when social distancing started, here are some strategic best practices you can start implementing today.

Internal Communication Best Practices

Outside of a crisis, 86% of employees and executives stated that ineffective communication or a lack of collaboration attributed to workplace failures. (Salesforce)

Reminder: When building your own Internal Communication Guidelines during self-isolation, it is important to remember that your employees will be relying heavily on communication with leadership to get through these challenging times.

Transparency and Honesty

Studies show that many employees feel under informed and disconnected from their companies on a regular basis. However, during a crisis the feeling could be amplified, and it may be even harder to recognize how employees are adapting. In fact, many of them might already be feeling left in the dark with what is going on with the pandemic. This makes it vital for leadership to acknowledge their concerns with open communications. As they look to you for answers, communicate with an open and honest tone.

Tip: Address how you have prepared and how you are tackling the situation with clear explanations, this may help ease their minds.

Offer Frequent Updates

In today’s digital world, we have the need to constantly stay updated with the latest news. The continuous cycle of sifting through conflicting articles, avoiding COVID-19 email scams, and watching for breaking news, means you will need to provide your team with regular updates to ensure they avoid any misinformation. This will also ensure they understand that their company is reacting appropriately.

Tips: For data safety reasons, updates should be sent out at a consistent time and day. Topics can include – how your organization is being affected, changes to their benefits, what to look out for, etc.

85% of employees said they are most motivated when they receive regular updates on company news from management. (Trade Press Services)

Facilitate the Conversation

Empower your employees with the proper tools to know where and how to ask questions. Having the right tools can provide anyone that feels lost or too intimidated to ask a question, with a support channel to speak up.

Today’s modern technology offers many professional tools to openly communicate and stay connected with your teams. Tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Sharepoint are all highly recommended tools used in many organizations. They offer multi-channeled options to collaborate with team members, as well as a chance to preserve the office camaraderie that gets us through the long days. 

Tip: Clarify when and how you can best be reached. This ensures that you can be efficient with your time while still encouraging your team to reach out and communicate.

When employees stay connected, most organizations notice a 20-25% increase in employee productivity. (Inc)

Resolve Issues Quickly

On top of the regular lists of things to do, more issues or tasks may end up on your plate. Be sure to stay organized and not let anything fall through the cracks. Encourage your team to promptly respond to all emails and missed calls. Timing will be crucial when resolving issues so nothing starts to pile up, especially priority requests from clients. Communicating with your team on progress and constant status updates will help everyone be aware of what needs to be done.

Tip: Making a voice call can be the quickest and most concise way to deal with situations. Clarification can be achieved instantly without misinterpretation or reading without context.

Continue Team Collaboration

When working in a remote environment, aside from redundant conversations and micromanaging, there are seldom times where teams experience too much communication. Ensure to provide teams with the proper tools to share files, ask questions and hold virtual meetings, so they can continue to collaborate like they would at the office.

Tips: Zoom and Google Hangouts are great tools for virtual meetings. If your team is without cloud services, Google Docs and Dropbox can be made useful in a pinch.

A recent Alfresco survey found that nearly 83% of professionals depend on collaborative technology.

Customize Your Approach

It is important to recognize that not all employees need the same amount of support, therefore, communication tactics will vary dependent on each employee’s situation. Certain roles will require more communication and guidance than others. Likewise, some employees may need more help transitioning into a technology based, non-traditional work model.

Tip: Separate your department’s roles into group to see which group needs more attention than others. This way you can prioritize your time and keep from spreading yourself too thin.

Don’t Forget to Listen

Finally, be sure to actively listen to your team and use their feedback to help you customize and continually improve your Internal Communication Plan accordingly. Communicating at a high level will help your team stay productive and engaged throughout social distancing.

Tip: During a crisis, it’s okay to offer distractions while working. Take some time to spice things up with some creative and fun meetings. Click here for more tips on keeping engagement high for remote employees.

Let’s Start the Conversation

If you are a happier IT client and would like to start a conversation with your happier IT vCIO, please reach out to team@happierit.com.

If you’re not yet a happier IT client, but you are interested in becoming one or have questions on how to incorporate new communication tools, please contact sales@happierit.com.