One of the most important responsibilities of a crisis communications expert during a crisis is to be the voice of calm during chaotic times. And internal communications during a crisis needs to be a priority.
Let me set the stage…
There are as many opinions as there are people to give them. You likely have tons of information coming at you at any given time. Your phone is ringing, texts are going, and you’ve silenced your email notifications because you can’t keep up. Your stakeholders are looking to you for answers and expertise.
The impact of the crisis on your organization is seemingly riding on your shoulders.
We’ve written before on how to manage a crisis. So, today we’re talking about internal audiences to ensure you remain the voice of calm and keep rumors, speculation and fear from spiraling.
While everyone is worried about national cable news calling or that investigative reporter showing up at your doors, there’s an audience that sometimes becomes an afterthought!
Your employees and internal stakeholders.
The coronavirus is the latest example of how companies need to straddle that line between communicating to the public and external audiences, and to the internal teams that keep your business running.
While the coronavirus may be an extreme example, it does highlight some key elements for how you should communicate internally during a crisis:
Transparency
It’s more important than ever that your employees feel like they know what’s happening with the organization. While it may not always be practical to share all the information, transparency is about open lines of communication, not giving all the facts. Explain what you can, and be honest about what information you can’t share. Don’t just tell them how the company is responding, show them. Bring them in to the fold and let them be advocates for the organization.
Use The Experts – Answer their questions!
In many cases, during a crisis you are the expert at what’s happening and how your company is responding. However, that’s not always the case, as with coronavirus (with a few exceptions). The worst thing you can do is pretend you’re an expert on something and not be able to answer questions or worse, get called out for lying to your team. If you’re not the expert, don’t pretend to be. You need your team to respect what you’re saying, and if you try to make things up because you’re not the expert, they’ll see right through it. Stick to what you know and how your company is responding and focusing on your audiences (i.e. your employees) and make sure you use the experts when needed.
Act, Don’t Just Tell
We’ve all seen it and it’s always frustrating. Someone talks about what they are doing, but it never happens. Don’t let this be you. A crisis is a time for action when you promise action. Part of managing a crisis is showing a path forward and acting to make it happen. Likewise, for your team, in order to reduce fears from your team during a crisis, you need to show them the steps you’re taking and update on the progress being made, just like you do with external audiences.
Be Empathetic – It’s About THEM
It’s easy to get lost in the craziness of a crisis, but remember that for your team, they are thinking about how this is impacting them, their jobs, their families and their lives. Even during a crisis, you have a business to run, and you need your team to be on board with getting the job done. When communicating with your team, remember that their fears can extend beyond the office, so be empathetic and put yourself in their shoes before conveying your message.
Be Flexible
Flexibility and responding to changing situations are key elements of managing a crisis with any organization, any crisis and any audience. As new information comes in, the situation changes, and you must decide the next steps. First and foremost, this is why it’s crucial to have a plan and a strategy in advance. But you need to be flexible with how you’re communicating and what you’re communicating so it resonates with your team members while reinforcing your core messaging. Remember, your team is likely getting information from multiple sources during a crisis (blogs, media, friends, etc.), so be ready to change gears at any moment.
Different Audiences Have Different Needs
Just because they are all employees doesn’t make them one singular audience. You have different people with diverse backgrounds who communicate, and more importantly consume information, in different ways. Find the channels they prefer to communicate in, set up ways to provide information through those channels, and give your teams multiple ways to get the information. Remember, if they don’t get it from you, they’ll get it somewhere else – chances are they are doing that anyway.
You’re Human, So Show It
It’s easy, especially with larger organizations, to send an email, make a video or post a notice with information, and then move on to the next thing. Don’t forget that humans naturally look for connections, and even more so during a crisis. Face-to-face communication can go a long! In addition to reassuring your teams, it helps you deliver important messages and reinforce that they are important enough to take the time to meet with them in person, answer their questions and address their concerns.
Timing Is Everything
When you communicate to your internal teams can be a difficult thing to navigate. You don’t want to provide information that could potentially leak out to the general public. But you don’t want them hearing information from outside sources first. As a best practice, keep the lines of communication open with your internal teams, even if you can’t share every piece of information. If you’re making a statement to the public that includes details not yet conveyed to your team, make sure they hear it from you first. Use your established communications channels, train your managers to ensure their teams are informed, and prioritize bringing your employees in to the fold early in the process.
Internal communications can be extremely difficult, especially during a crisis. But it’s vital to surviving the crisis, minimizing the damage, and keeping your business moving forward.
As you’re working through your internal communications plans, here are some recent blogs to help you out:
– Tips For Working With Media
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– Tips For Nailing Media Relations
– Creating The Best Media Hook
– Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of Effective
– Wake Up. Kick Ass. Repeat.
– How to Create Content That Engages Audiences and Builds Brand Trust Quickly
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