The coronavirus crisis has forced us all to adapt our communications and focus on how we survive in the short term to prepare for long-term success.
Things are shifting daily as this crisis unfolds, but one thing that is true for everyone is that we all have an opportunity to prepare now to succeed when the crisis is over.
We’ve been discussing using the RADD approach to make that happen – Recognize, Adapt, Develop, and Deploy.
Take a look at our previous blogs discussing the RADD approach and diving in to recognizing the situation you’re in:
– Get RADD And Plan For Success Following Coronavirus Crisis
– Prepare for Success and Get RADD, Part 1: Recognize
Adapting
Today we’re taking a closer look at how you can ADAPT now to position yourself for success.
Albert Einstein once said, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” And if there’s anyone who knows about change (relatively speaking) it’s Einstein.
Adapting for the short term
Even as you are developing your larger plan, you shouldn’t wait to make the short-term changes that are good for business.
It’s true, you shouldn’t run your company with short term objectives. But in the midst of a crisis, you should make the immediate adjustments that will help give you the time and resources to develop a long-term communications plan.
Communications items for consideration:
What’s happening with your audiences right now?
Ask yourself, how are my key audiences being impacted right now? By understanding what your stakeholders are going through, you can home in on a key element of communicating during a crisis – empathy.
If you can put yourself in their position and understand what they are going through, you can determine what are they expecting from you in that moment. And setting expectations that you can deliver is key to weathering a crisis effectively.
You should also look at what’s happening internally – employees, investors, seasonal team members, part-time, fulltime, etc. What sort of impact is this having on each of these audiences, and what are they expecting from you throughout the crisis?
Finally, look at which part of this crisis you can actually impact in a positive way, or what areas you can mitigate. Ultimately, your goal is to level out as much as possible so you have a solid foundation to create your long-term plan.
The answers for each of these differ from crisis to crisis, or audience to audience, but the point is you need to minimize the damage in the short run. By stemming the negative impact now, you are setting yourself up to be able to plan long term.
Ignoring the short-term problems in search of a greater plan will only give you bigger long-term problems.
Adapting for the long-term
We’ve heard many experts claim that the Coronavirus crisis has forever changed the way we do business, especially in the communications industry (including on this channel).
That means we need to adapt to the changes we’re seeing now so we’re prepared to take advantages of the opportunities for growth in the future.
But, how can you make changes now even though things are still changing?
The answer – think big!
Don’t get lost in the specific details of how things are changing. Yes, they’re changing now, but they’ve been changing for a long time.
There’s an old saying – “you can’t see the forest for the trees.”
Basically, don’t get too overwhelmed or involved in the minutia of what’s happening. It isn’t about what piece of technology or tool you’re going to use. It’s in what way are you going to communicate with your audiences. How are you going to make them feel?
An Adaptation Culture
It comes down to setting up a culture of being able to adapt and evolve better than your competitors, especially on a communications front.
Is your team ready to pivot when the time comes? Are they constantly looking for ways they can evolve and adapt before it’s a necessity?
All teams essentially have the same tools, but those who evolve more efficiently and adapt to the ever-changing scenarios and expectations of their audiences will win.
As we’ve said, this crisis will end at some point and you need to be ready for the growth and success that is waiting on the other end. The first steps are recognizing the situation and start adapting to it now!
Here are some additional resources for your crisis planning efforts as you adapt to your new worlds:
– There’s Still Time To Communicate During the Coronavirus Crisis
– Isolation Is Actually Connecting Us In Meaningful Ways
– Is Pitching Media A Good Idea During COVID-19?
– Internal Communications During A Crisis
– The Art & Science Of Making A Public Apology
– A Meaningful Message, Or Pandering Without Purpose
– Tips For Working From Home As Your New Normal
And here are some additional blogs to help with your strategic communications planning:
– Pitching Media Like The Pros
– 7 Tips for Successful Media Interviews
– 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
– 7 Tips to Measure Your Strategic Communications Campaigns
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