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The Importance of Clear Communication in Times of Crisis in Your Business
Business leaders know that during a crisis, communication is crucial. For the most part, that doesn’t mean having to use a Dräger Mask Communication Unit in order to keep yourself and others protected from danger. Leaders who communicate with urgency, empathy, and transparency help the people around them to adjust to the changes around them that a crisis can bring.
However, beyond those basic attributes, there are some other tips that can help members of your team feel informed, reassured, and as an integral member of the team.
Make it frequent
You should try to communicate with your teams much more than you feel is necessary during times of crisis. This frequent contact helps to reduce feelings of uncertainty, as well as assuring that the message has been received by all of your teams.
While it can be tiring having to repeat yourself, different people will need to hear things communicated in different ways in order to absorb the message.
This doesn’t just mean communicating the negative things, however- leaders also need to remember to highlight positive things and communicate the things that can act as a reminder to people about times they overcame challenges in the past.
Help employees work at home effectively
Several months after the working from home transition, it’s even more important to make sure that employees are comfortable. Giving them everything that they need to remain productive while working remotely, they are more likely to remain satisfied with how your organisation handles difficult challenges. So, this may mean investing in more working from home equipment for example extra monitors, ergonomic chairs and desks, and headsets.
All of these can help to create an effective at home working environment and increase the productivity of your staff.
Adapting to a culture of frequent video calls can be challenging, so it’s worth encouraging small group meetings so that employees can get to know each other on a more personal level rather than only being involved in large, corporate calls where their voice is seldom heard.
Acknowledge concerns around job security
People are worried about their jobs. Keeping that in mind, it is the job with a leader to reassure them that their employment is secure if that is the case. However, with the current economic climate, when jobs are not secure, employees need to know this so that they can make appropriate plans for their futures.
Communicate plans for the future
Related to job security, many people will become anxious about their own company’s future and will look to their leaders for assurance around the business contingency plan. Therefore it is important while communicating to communicate what is going well for the business as well as sharing what you can about the plans for the future of the business.
Employees need to know what is going well as well as what could go wrong so that morale is kept high. The pandemic has drastically changed the lives of people in both their personal or professional lives. With so much uncertainty laying ahead it is the job of the leaders to guide and support their teams through times of uncertainty.
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