Within one day everyone had to face the fact – crisis caused by pandemic is real. Initial romance about work from home or “different kind of work” raised more and more questions minute by minute about internal communication in organization.
What and how much to say to employees? How to motivate your tesm working from home, so that they doesn’t face over work and longer working hours or the opposite – to avoid apathy? How to express unpopular decisions and why does this crisis put employees in the centre?
#1 Let’s establish accurate information flow!
The worst case scenario every employee can experience is to find out news about their workplace from media. About the fact that the company has temporarily stopped it’s actions or laid off employees. Unfortunately, miscommunication with employees, problems with the circulation of information are one of the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs that is hard to hide in the age of social media. Don’t wait for “life after the crisis” but introduce operational communication with team leaders on WhatsApp! Organize weekly telephone conferences on Zoom, Skype, Microsoft team etc. platforms and make sure that each team uses this practise. Send out an electronical newsletter every morning or as needed for internal notification!
#2 Develop various scenarios!
The nature of health crisis calls for different scenarios to be developed because no one can say how the situation will evolve. Executives shouldn’t model possible scenarios on company’s future alone. Involve your team, analyse situation and get feedback from colleagues. Team will be involved, follow the situation more rationally and understand your decisions even if they will bring long-term changes.
#3 Taking care of employees needs to be set on the first place!
Care about health of your employees must be above business interests. Before selling, the question whether the process is organised under the highest safety and precautionary measures should be answered. Don’t wait until employees or clients point out the imperfections face-to-face or on social media, act proactively and most importantly – inform about the measures taken or planned steps to make them feel needed and safe.
#4 Daily rituals from a distance.
Working remotely doesn’t mean abandoning company’s habits. You used to exercise together or warm up with some brain games before the meetings? Transfer these activities to digital, so that employees feel like they belong to a team and can continue sharing their experience! If you used to congratulate colleagues on birthdays or other important life events, but you’re currently confused how to do it better than just a forwarded WhatsApp message, introduce a personal and printed greeting card and deliver it to your colleague at his home and surprise! Also, meet your colleagues virtually by organising virtual picnic or start a challenge game!