The Best Communication Adaptations
A daily commute in rush hour traffic, vying for that convenient parking spot, pop-up lunch meetings with colleagues and clients, and a whole host of other ‘normal’ business activities were upended with the emergence and spread of the coronavirus. Instantly, businesses were forced to pivot, adapt, and adjust to meet the demands of a pandemic. While forced transitions are difficult, the end result can be an overall improvement.
Communication was one area of business operations that was forced to rapidly evolve in response to the economic chaos and uncertainty of the pandemic. Specifically, the best leaders began to communicate:
More frequently,
With greater transparency,
Proactively as opposed to reactively,
From a position of deeper understanding and empathy,
And in a style that blended both data and humanity.
Our clients adopted or increased the frequency of recurring town halls, virtual coffees with leadership, remote office hours, and ‘state of the business’ updates. Leaders invited questions and answered ALL of them. In general, they embraced communication and reaped the benefits.
This new era of communication improved trust, authenticity, understanding, and relatability—even when the communication brought bad news.
Of course, not all institutions and organizations made these communication adjustments. Some organizations only communicated when there was ‘big news' to report, others purposefully prioritized secrecy over transparency, and some simply left their audiences in the dark to wonder, speculate, and worry. Across the board, these less agile companies saw morale decline, trust diminish, and customer accounts expire.
But it’s not too late. Companies still have an opportunity to embrace new communication pathways. And even those companies that effectively adapted their communication routines must maintain these improvements when the coronavirus is contained.
To ensure your organization builds on the strength of recent communication adaptations, consider the following five pieces of advice:
1. Maintain Frequent Communication Pathways
Even if there is ‘no news to report,’ regular communication with employees, customers, and clients builds familiarity, confidence, and trust. It also establishes a foundation that makes the delivery of difficult news that much easier.
2. Strengthen Human Connection
Continue prioritizing communication mediums that strengthen human connection. This means a short, recorded video is better than an email, and a live presentation is better than a pre-recorded video (assuming, of course, it is well planned and effectively executed).
3. Preserve a Commitment to Transparency
Whether this is opening the financial backroom or answering all inbound questions, transparency breeds trust and trust breeds loyalty. Transparency is also a safeguard against burying bad news and allowing it to fester until it becomes impossible to hide—it forces accountability.
4. Listen
Your audience isn’t a passive body waiting for information; they continually telegraph what they care about in both subtle and direct ways. Listen. Continually take the pulse of your employees and team members and communicate to address what’s on their mind.
5. Talk Person to Person
Most importantly, remember that your audience—your employees and team members, your clients and customers – are all people. They are human beings. They have aspirations, but they also have fears. They want reassurance, but they also desire the truth. Speak to them in clear, authentic language. Tell relatable stories, and don’t drown them in sterile business terminology.
Before this pandemic is over, take stock in those communication adjustments—the ones that elicited a “thank you,” “I understand,” and “I’m glad to be part of this team,” reaction. These are the communication silver linings of the dark cloud of COVID-19.