Many in our industry are discussing the increased exposure and credibility communicators have received as a result of Covid-19 and its associated communication challenges. You’ve been able to add your expertise and value at the highest levels as organisations have battled miscommunication, increased noise, and employees’ own internal struggles to stay positive in a challenging environment. The most recent Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that employer communication is the most credible source of information about Covid-19.
We’ve waited decades for this shift in understanding about just how valuable an impact communication, when done well, can have on an organisation. It’s unfortunate that it happened this way, but what it does indicate is that when the going gets tough…the communicators get going. And, others listen.
This is not an opportunity to be wasted, even if you’re still in overwhelm. To get started, reflect on what’s worked especially well during this time. Questions to consider are:
- How have stakeholder requests changed from pre- to post-Covid-19 communication?
- How have your conversations changed as a result of the shifting requests?
- How have your workflows improved? Faster? Fewer sign-off requirements? More autonomy?
- What behaviours have you and your team modified to be valuable at this time?
Once you’ve reflected on the positive changes to your work, think about how you can incorporate them in the future to capitalise and improve on them even more:
- What criteria can you develop to prevent yourself falling back into tactical fire-fighting?
- How can you continue to improve the conversations you’re having with your leaders?
- Are there process improvements that you should continue post-Covid-19?
- How can you encourage our effective behaviours to continue?
Finally, think about what you need to stop doing – you can’t do it all, so be brave about letting things go.
At Kademy we’re working with our members to identify actions they can take now that will enable them to identify and seize opportunities, while still dealing with a heavy and unpredictable day-to-day workload:
- Taking a phased approach to building back up to capacity to encourage effective prioritisation and manage stakeholder expectations.
- Balancing Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 related comms to pave the way for what comes next.
- Optimising time in front of leaders and agreeing new ways of working to change perspectives and eradicate low value requests.
- Equipping managers with what they need to be effective communicators.
- Cutting through noise and minimising attention attrition as people move out of acute crisis mode.
To find out more email us at hello@kademygroup.com or call +44 (0)207 157 9787.
