Are You ‘Tunnel Visioning’ Your Employees?

With internal communicators struggling today to reduce information overload and help employees ‘get what they need’ there is a contrarian view at play! That of making information ‘self discovery’ a joy for your staff.

This thought was further cemented when I read an argument by a leading educationist fighting against the spread of ‘coaching institutes’ in India that make Indian students ‘brain dead’ (November 9, 2009 – Business World). Professor Yash Pal is of the opinion that we make the learning process simple enough for students to ‘meander’ through the syllabus rather than learn by rote.

From a distance

In India, professional course admissions (medicine, business management and engineering) are sought after by students resulting in mushrooming ‘coaching’ institutes that promise to ‘get you in’. I find the same mind-set when I teach MBA and media students. Even if I provide themes or ‘keywords’ hoping that students will explore further either by reading more or ‘Googling’, most often they are keen to focus on the ‘content’ taught in class so as to score higher marks in their examinations! Instead, I always believe that what you ‘learn by exploring’ is what takes you further in life – over and above your grades.

Applying that thought to internal communications I truly believe we can avoid ‘tunnel visioning’ our employees by enabling them to make suitable decisions based on ‘discovered’ information. Rather than force feed what they need to read and see.

In our quest to provide suitably crafted messages that resonate with what we expect of our employees and to get them ‘up to speed’ on what the organization stands for, we are probably obstructing our employees from growing as individuals. As internal communicators I see an opportunity to allow more interaction (face-to-face meetings considered by research to be by far the most effective form), connecting leaders with people, sharing ‘real-life’ examples of those who live the core values and allowing employees to truly discover how the company operates by experiencing it.

From induction programs to alumni forums we may often be placing information in front of employees although it might be ‘intrusive’ and ‘in their way’. Rather employees expect to be treated like adults who prefer to ‘find out’ for themselves and thereby trust what they get.

Here are some ideas I had which will help your employees get better at discovering your organization.

a)       In a large multi-national banking product company where I worked previously, we ran an ‘online treasure hunt’ and clubbed it with an ‘offline’ one as well to launch the intranet and also get employees to ‘know their organization’ better. The response was overwhelming.

b)       Leverage blogs and other social media tools to help make information accessible and less ‘intrusive’. Tag clouds and ‘hot topics’ can give employees an idea on what is getting discussed widely and therefore pay closer attention.

c)       Plan offline ‘socials’ that help employees figure out information from key stakeholders.

d)       Recognize employees who mine and share information – they form the backbone of any ‘discovery’ process in the organization.

e)       Remember to update information across the spectrum (induction to alumni) so that your employees are getting consistent chunks to bite off

f)       At a global interactive and consulting firm new joiners are allowed open access to the organization’s workspace and employees to ask questions about the values,  culture,  environment and functioning

Have other suggestions? Share them now.

Helping Employees ‘Get’ Your Message Through Effective Writing

I recently ran a writing workshop for a group of internal communication ‘power’ users and came away with a lot of interesting insights.

As an internal communication professional I get to vet messages hitting large groups of people everyday. These range from simple office updates to complex change management roll-outs. With the speed at which communication is expected to be churned out, many of these communicators hurriedly prepare drafts that fail to address the essence of what they want to convey. I therefore felt a need to educate communicators on ways to reduce rework, improve recall, build credibility, shorten turnaround time and increase readability.

Tap

The workshop shared context on best practices, trends, templates, tools, the ‘Twitter’ style of communicating, web writing techniques and hands-on exercises. As business consultants we are expected to communicate effectively using this widely accepted language though it isn’t our mother tongue in India. Research also indicates the benefits of effective writing in reducing ‘info-obesity’. On an average a professional worker receives close to 178 messages in a day and this is known to increase by 2% every month! By using plain language techniques we can reduce writing and reading time by 25% and 50% respectively.

I found participants eager to learn this critical skill that focuses on the reader’s expectation.

Here is a sample of the questions that were posed during the session.

a) How can we be sure employees are getting the message?

b) Do we consider cultural nuances when we write our messages?

c) E-mail writing and etiquette – what works for personal vs official communication?

d) How do we respond to someone who is ‘flame baiting’ on e-mail?

e) When do we not send an e-mailer?

Strangely, most never measured their communication nor were aware of ways to do so. Some weren’t aware of how to ‘touch’ employees via other forums apart from e-mail. Also the ‘mechanism of communication’ was barely understood by writers – i.e., the process, the steps to review and edit messages. Testing messages, such an important piece of creating communication is rarely used.

My goal is to increase the pool of ‘internal’ writers and excite them to participate in larger company-wide communication. In the long run, I believe it will result in better quality of communication and greater visibility for those employees as well.

Who wouldn’t want to communicate with people who write well?

Are you Embracing ‘Employee-Led’ CSR and Communication?

‘A small favor’ said the subject line. An e-mail winged in from a motivated employee calling interested individuals to chip in aid of the victims of the worst floods South India has seen in decades. The mail goes on to articulate the project, the effort, the expectation, the plan and people involved. Right down to the finer points of how ‘aerial surveys’ and ‘fund transfer’ can get done online on the website. What was interesting about this initiative was the passion and creativity which the mailer communicated. All within a span of a few days – the floods situation worsened in the last week or so.

I am sure most organizations would love to have something so well thought through and ‘employee-led’.

Beware

 The recent NASSCOM Foundation report ‘Catalyzing Change 2008-2009, Towards Inclusive Growth’ however points to a maturity model that highlights ‘engaging employees’ but does not call out ‘supporting employee-led initiatives’. Out of the 6 factors in the model only one relates to employees, the rest focus on funding, policies, interventions, and domain expertise and resource allocation.

Interestingly, out of the total of 42 large Indian companies who participated in the survey only half have a full fledged group or resources driving the agenda, only 26% have a structured CSR policy in place and 29% have a sustainable model for CSR.

For many companies, contributing to corporate social responsibility can pull them in many different avenues. What constitutes CSR and who owns it is still a grey area in organizations. One of my students raised this pertinent question – was it HR, the CEO, the Communications team, a dedicated group or external agencies who championed CSR? As far I know companies which truly believe and practice what they preach a dedicated resource or a group of individuals manage this very vital function in the organization. In some cases, a core team from various functions come together to jointly run the program. I have seen the latter run well only when it is ‘employee-led’ and ‘enabled’ by the business. Without a strong commitment from the leadership employees often see these initiatives as eyewash.

In the October 5 edition of Business World, one consultant puts it aptly – ‘it has to be seen in a value framework that determines the way the organization works.’ Otherwise it is a ‘ritualistic undoing of guilt’!

As an internal communications professional I have driven and closely supported large scale CSR interventions and employee volunteering initiatives in the organizations I have worked for. Apart from the immense impact it has on employee engagement the sense of belonging and team spirit such programs create is enriching. Unfortunately, very often communication professionals are involved too little or too late in the overall scheme of things.

Like the example above, oganizations can tap and channelize energies on key initiatives that are close to employees’ hearts and have a relevance to the business and their existence.

With the changing new media environment where collaboration and equal involvement are key factors, partnering with your employees’ CSR beliefs is most conducive for a better world.

Grassroot’ Employee Engagement Way Forward For Organizations

Over the last few months I have observed closely as employees took ownership to drive various engagement initiatives across the organization I work in. Unlike other organizations where dedicated teams are assigned to create a fun place, employees here leverage their ‘collective wisdom’ to uplift the mood in the offices.

What started as a ‘community event’ to build connection and improve the ‘buzz’ in the office grew into a twice a month engagement calendar event focusing on the company’s key milestones. There are now more and more employees volunteering to chip in with events! Despite the slowdown and pressing demands, the focus has always been on creating a positive workplace.

Looking glass

Inspired by the team of enthusiastic individuals who championed the first event other employees stepped forward to do their bit. Not just the event, they also immersed themselves in communication, promotion and measurement! From sharing updates about the company’s strategy to articulating progress on initiatives. From highlighting values to recognizing high performers. A successful ‘shared responsibility’ model. When asked what drives them, the response is that they like the ‘culture’ and ‘want to contribute more’ to make it better.

So while most organizations rely on the human resources group or a ‘dedicated’ counsel for employee engagement or the cool sounding ‘Chief Fun Officer’ to own and drive engagement, I strongly believe a grass root approach works best. ‘Grass root’ engagement to me is a movement from within and from the ‘bottom-up’ rather than a high level view of what engagement should be.

In their white paper titled ‘Market Research: Voice of the Employee” Globoforce discusses how engagement can improve morale and remain a priority in good or bad times. Communication and recognition are highlighted as essential elements for success.

While surveys agree that engagement drive productivity and improve the bottom-line, it is the final lap of the equation that matters to employees. Employees seek on-the-ground tangible effort that is direct, transparent and visible.

Rather than see a top-down initiative to drive engagement employees usually ask:  

a)       How can I contribute to the effort?

b)      What more can I do to make a difference to the organization?

c)       Can I do something now to improve connection?

So how does this work and how can you as human resources or communicators play an active role?  Here are some thoughts.

Provide a framework: As the internal communicators, you can help define templates for running local connection programs. Basic planning sheets, budget trackers, communication formats, post connection feedback questionnaire, promotion outlines among others. Even communication documents to reduce turnaround time. Discuss and arrive at a formal process for content and design reviews so that you can avoid reinventing the wheel.

Lead by action: Participate in planning meetings and call out the role of internal communication for the success of connection programs. Such as review of communication, support for promotion and internal branding guidance. Work closely on a couple of connection programs to seek more opportunities to pitch in.

Empower: The organization must empower employee(s) to take decisions and thereby evolve their own guidelines for connection programs.  The event owners much be provided all support be it with budgets or with relevant tools and resources.

Recognize instantaneously: I found employees seek recognition and soon. It is the responsibility of local leadership to take action as soon as they see tangible results and effort on the part of employees to go over and beyond.

Communicate widely: We leverage our intranet to showcase the connection events and how employees have contributed. The weekly newsletter carries snippets which the entire organization can read at a glance. This is in itself a wonderful form of recognition.

Plan ahead: When employees see a long term plan they believe there is commitment from the organization to invest in engagement programs. Share the calendar in advance and seek ideas to improve the event formats and feedback mechanism.

Finally – let employees have fun! The most recent event had an interesting connection exercise called ‘Festival of Joy’ as well as a relevant ‘Know Your Colleague’ Contest. The participation it drew was testament of this excellent engagement model.

Culture Deep Dives and Focus Group Facilitation Ideas

I recently sat in on a focus group session on ‘culture’ that sought employees’ perspectives on the organization’s traits and thoughts on how to retain or strengthen the organization’s DNA.  The forums held across the organization are an attempt to gauge the role ‘culture’ plays on engagement and align employees based on an action plan.

The insights and the power of the forum impressed me. I wanted to pen down and share my views on effectively conducting such sessions.  Also articulate how communicators can gain from participating in these discussions or play an active role as observers.

Effective context setting: To begin, it is important to get a cross-section of individuals across roles, levels and tenure. Hand picking ‘vocal’ (those whom you know have strong opinions and are open to voice them) employees also helps. Include if possible, individuals who have experience or ongoing interactions with teams in other geographies. Prep for the conversation early. Share the background, the initiative’s objectives, the leadership commitment and how the organization benefits increases the participant’s comfort levels. Ask employees for their definition of culture – I discovered that the organization’s thinking may not completely match with their idea! At the end of the discussion, you are seeking insights and ideas that can trigger improvements to the engagement and culture.

Plugged In

Stay positive: You must be ready to hear ‘not so good news’ about the organization, internal groups, specific leaders or unpopular programs. Avoid reacting or getting defensive. Although the forum isn’t a ‘crib’ session, there might not be many other avenues for employees to let their feelings show. By being sensitive to employees’ views and staying neutral, you are also indicating your openness and maturity as a leader and facilitator.

Pause, confirm and proceed: I observed participants speaking from their ‘experience’ of how they perceived the organization. It is vital to know from where they were viewing ‘culture’. Understand their line of sight. For example, one individual explained in exasperation on the ‘slow and bureaucratic methods followed by the organization’ when he was referring to the ‘experience’ he faced with one internal team when he joined the organization. That one experience colored his impression of the entire group and office. So was it a substantial lead? Was it a pattern? Good to probe further.

Keep the discussion grounded: While facilitating, try to differentiate the wheat from the chaff. Avoid getting waylaid by ‘feedback on feedback’ – that is referencing a comment or a statement heard recently as a crutch to discuss a ‘culture’ issue.  For example, if one participant discusses ‘hierarchy’, there can be another who takes the thread further by adding their personal feedback to how they view it. Keep your ears open for sentences starting with ‘I heard this from…..’ or ‘My friend mentioned……’.  That diverts the course of the conversation. Allow participants to talk at their own pace instead of going ‘round robin’ which puts pressure on participants to share ‘something’ just to get over their turn! Identify a good note taker who can ascertain what each participant meant before penning it down on paper.

Share next steps: Very often the complaint is that we ‘take feedback but we don’t inform what is done with it’.  Before closing explain how this information will get sifted, who will be responsible and when there will be a report out to employees. Invite them to continue the dialogue and keep sharing feedback.  This helps to quell the ‘bad mouthing’ that often follows surveys when employees all their valuable inputs have been ignored. Summarize and ask for ways to improve such sessions.

As communicators, you will also hear cool ideas on how employees perceive internal communication and their recommendations to improve reach, understanding and frequency.  One suggestion which I found intriguing was the need to ‘incentivize’ communication specifically around large change management programs. Again, a ‘culture’ pointer – as compared to other geographies such as the States or EU, in India, I was told it helps to draw participants with more ‘what’s in it for me’ elements.

Can Effective Communication Create an ‘Entrepreneurial’ Workforce?

An article ‘Happier your folks, the better it works’ which points to Deloitte’s research, ‘Employee engagement in recessionary times – a changing talent perspective’ corroborates this thought.

The findings indicate that while the recession has brought about changes in ‘job roles’, ‘job competencies’ and ‘key performance indicators’, employees are asked to contribute more on ‘cost management’, ‘innovation’ and ‘quality’.

To me, aren’t these elements something we think of when starting up or aiming to be entrepreneurs?

Calling

So in effect, during the recession, organizations have been inclined to get employees to display creativity, leadership and entrepreneurship. Excellent signs.

So believes the Reebok India Head, Subhinder Singh Prem, who says, “We do not believe in creating an employee-boss relationship rather we have focused on creating an entrepreneurship model, where all senior employees act as businessmen.”

Another senior leader vouches – “Employees who receive organization decisions and strategies and employees start demonstrating more ownership in everything they do.  The level of trust within the organization also improves significantly. All of this has a very high positive impact on employee morale and retention. Employees feel they are part of a larger family and part of the decision making process.”

Interestingly, the article also indicates that engagement as a concept is understood differently across organizations. For some rolling out an employee assistance program, running fun events, investing in leadership development, defining a referral program or rewarding employees are considered to aid engagement.

What employees expect is not just a set of ‘people oriented’ programs but transparency, direct communication, consistent messages and easy access to the leadership. 

See this – ‘most companies surveyed felt that senior management should be clearly visible in building excitement about the future and creating a positive environment that boosts employee morale’.  

The spike in the number of companies using Town Halls and face to face communication as compared to newsletters and blogs further demonstrates how Indian organizations are tuned to addressing their employees.

 Have a different viewpoint? Share it here.

Communicators as Coaches to Build Your Organization’s Culture

“Coaching is for professionals”, “I am not qualified to coach”, “So much work – who has the time to coach?”, “I rather tell my team what to do rather than do this time consuming coaching bit”.

Heard these before? Sounds familiar?

The Times of India Ascent (September 2, 2009) front page story on mentorship and coaching highlighted how senior leaders have learnt and shared knowledge during their careers. Quite inspiring.

Surprisingly, a recent study by BlessingWhite paints a different picture on coaching.

Called the Coaching Conundrum 2009, it draws from research that reflects interviews with 60 HR and line leaders, survey responses of 2,041 individuals in North America, Asia, and Europe, and analysis of coaching profile assessments for more than 8,000 managers.

Hue and cry

Some of the findings stand out for me, that is, when I relate it to organizations I have worked for and how internal communicators can leverage it for building a growth culture.

a) Most managers love to coach, and most employees like to be coached but only 1 in 2 survey respondents in North America and Asia receive coaching

b) Managers who coach regularly describe tangible benefits (e.g., increased team productivity) and 2/3rds of employees who receive coaching say it improved their satisfaction and performance

c) Organizations and managers talk a lot about coaching skills and processes but a trusting, supportive relationship appears to be the most important ingredient in effective coaching.

It is important to understand the difference between mentorship and coaching before we can embark on how these tools can be build into your organization’s DNA, if not already so.

Mentorship refers to a developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person –who can be referred to as a protégé, or apprentice — to develop in a specified capacity.

While Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills. Not to be confused with ‘supervising’ which is defined as ‘to have the charge and direction of’.

In the realm of organizations, a coaching culture is easier to build than mentorship and more tangible.

So does one need to be formally trained to be a coach or can you begin coaching anyone, anytime?

I think the latter holds good. There isn’t a reason to wait since you don’t need any specific infrastructure to begin. Before you begin though, you need to understand your objectives.

Are you hoping to grow your employees? Do you think you can create capability in your team?

Can you free bandwidth to take up strategic roles? Is there a something you want your team to unlearn? How can you see your team successful? Have you seen a best practice that can be imbibed by your employees?

So how can you begin and build it into your organization’s culture? What is the relevance of it for internal communicators?

It does not matter if your organization is a private or a public enterprise, a college or a start-up, I believe the opportunities to coach your immediate team members, your peers or other colleagues exist. As internal communicators, you can help your team look at approaches freshly, revise the way communication is perceived or created and build specific skills and competencies. By practicing coaching, internal communicators can also step up as ‘ambassadors’ and demonstrate value to senior leadership.  In internal communication teams specifically in India, I know this is much needed.

Build from a position of strength: To start, it is important to be viewed as a credible resource and someone who is established as a ‘leader’. ‘Leader’ in this context is not someone with authority but someone who ‘gains the respect’ by adding tangible value over time.

Identify coaching opportunities: Understand that each member of your team brings certain strengths and growth areas and it is vital to identity where you can play a pivotal role. It can be something as simple as helping a person to write effective e-mails. Or, how to improve visibility among stakeholders.

Demonstrate value: Remember that coaching does take effort. Be sure of how much time you can commit but once you identify that chunk of mind space, spend them judiciously. Have a plan to define goals, outcomes and milestones. Give feedback often and directly. Link it to performance and benefits. Help your ‘coachee’ see results.

Popularize coaching success stories: Are you aware of senior leaders in your organization who exhibit coaching prowess? Can you make them your ambassadors? Create podcasts and news articles based on their insights and experiences. Encourage them to share their perspectives on what worked and what does not.

Outline guidelines:  Prepare from your experience templates and ‘cheat sheets’ which can help others run their own coaching programs. It can be simple ‘notes capture templates’, ‘plan definition’ charts or even simple ‘feedback forms’ to collate inputs.

Assess changes: It is in your interest to ensure the success of your coachee. Find out obstacles which are coming in the way, give them inputs on overcoming them. Not ‘overcoming’ them on their behalf! That is a trap coaches often fall into in our enthusiasm to achieve our goals. Conduct a survey to ascertain quantifiable value.

Communicate wins: Share progress with other stakeholders so that the ‘coachee’ knows how much distance got covered. By communicating regularly, I am hopeful you can build a culture where coaching is embedded into the organization’s thinking.

Keen to try coaching from today? It’s worth the effort to try to make this happen. Give it a shot and I am sure you will see results emerge from your effort.

Sustainability and Communication – Fostering a Trusting Work Environment

How closely you engage your employees can be the difference between sustaining through tough times or sinking into insignificance.

Unlike ever before the barometer of engagement is been tested so intently by employees in organizations world over.

Sustainability means different things for different organizations – ranging from work-life balance to being a great place to work, from better opportunities to quality of work and from retention to social responsible behavior. Leadership, respect and culture also play important roles.

Perspective

According to Nielsen’s bi-annual Global Online Consumer Opinion Survey, work-life balance ranks among the highest concerns for Indians. Despite communication technology proving to be a boon in overcoming work-life imbalance, it has far reaching consequences which come out strongly in every organization’s engagement surveys.

I was struck by how in an organization ‘sustainability’ became an issue only because there was pressure to do ‘more with less’. Context:  the current economic environment. While the same practice in ‘better’ times was considered normal by the very same employees. In this context, sustainability was equated to ‘not being able to cope’ with pressure, cases of burnout, absenteeism among other symptoms.

A recent study – ‘human resources and sustainable development’ recommends going deeper into what motivates the employees and articulating a culture transformation. What makes it more complex is that ‘sustainability’ has multiple stakeholders and owners – HR, marketing, communication, public relations and finance to name a few.

It is vital to first understand the sources of employee motivation – be it achievement, advancement, challenge, belonging, contribution to society, involvement, financial reward, growth and development, intellectual interest, job security, pride in organization, recognition and respect, responsibility and work environment. As an organization if you are able to provide most of these wants, chances are that your engagement score is higher than the rest.

It easier said that done to provide for all these parameters. Accountability for sustainability need to be within each organization.  ‘Outsourcing’ to third parties for ‘organizational interventions’ is a route taken but very often results in mistrust and cynicism.

As internal communicators, supporting large scale sustainability improvements means also playing the role of mentor and sounding post to human resource professionals who face reluctant supervisors and other pressing issues that tend to overshadow the purpose.

Providing avenues for dialogue, highlighting best practices, creating communication toolkits (presentations, messages, posters, contests) which sustainability leaders can leverage, reporting progress and metrics, and championing community initiatives with the CSR contacts are areas where internal communicators can support.

By encouraging employees to step back and understand the causes of ‘un-sustainability’, you help create an inclusive culture to problem solving.

That said, sustainability take time to seep through an organization and staying focused on the outcomes is key to success.

Calling Communicators – You Have a Responsibility As Educators Too!

As communicators, I believe we are truly honored to watch how communication gets created and experienced at close quarters – especially internal communications. Since internal communications is rarely discussed at external forums or shared due to company confidentiality issues it is by far a greater challenge blurring what students or newbie communicators get to learn.

Hybrid

From my understanding and experience, most internal communicators come in from a wide range of domains such as public relations, advertising, journalism, event management and direct marketing to take up responsible positions in their corporate or marketing communication groups.

Considering the gap between what is taught at institutes and what is practiced in the industry, I am not surprised by the perceptions students have of this field.

Recently, while addressing students of a leading media and communication course at a South Indian institute, I was asked some basic questions which got me to think if we are really doing enough.

Sample these:

a)       How is it like in the corporate world?

b)      What is a fresher or a newbie in the field of communication expected to do when you start out?

c)       How do we know if we are cut out for the job?

d)      How do we know if we are in the right assignment?

e)       Which are the different roles and designations that exist?

There are a few themes which emerge from these questions –

a) The basics of what this domain stands for

b) Expectations from communicators in organizations

c)  Success parameters in this role

From my interactions, it is evident that students are expecting us to be sharing our personal experiences, how we navigated the system, what we learnt along the way, how we applied our knowledge, what ticks and what doesn’t work.

I believe it is imperative that we as communicators do our bit to spread the word on the communication function and why it is so critical to the organization’s health.

So what can you do?

Spending a few hours talking to them can build confidence, encourage them to read more about the subject and contribute towards the development of the domain. Share articles and trends which shape the way communication is done today. Be a mentor to a few students so that they can prepare themselves better. Guide them on how to draft their CVs.

The industry also stands to gain from having enthusiastic people with cool ideas joining the workforce.

I must admit that the industry really needs to add fresher ideas by having committed individuals take up larger responsibilities.  I guess it applies to many other functions and industries.

What do you think?

Overcoming Swine Flu Pandemic Myths and Fears – Communicators Lead the Way

India has got the chills. The swine flu pandemic which was distant to our shores is now a national crisis.

While the government is taking measures to prevent the spread, there is inertia among most organizations in India in getting the message out to employees.

Some companies have been proactive – sending out mailers, placing posters, inviting medical professionals to address their staff, requesting sick employees to undergo tests and sanitizing the workplace. Clients have begun seeking answers on how they can continue to get their business running without delays.

Twin Cover

The usual question arises: who owns sharing these updates? Is it the human resources team, is it the facilities or office team, the marketing or PR team, is it the leadership or is it the project team?

While this debate carries on, employees get perturbed at the lack of information or fume at the apathy in protecting their interests. This leads to discontentment and resentment.

Most employees are seeking information at 6 levels:

a) What is the current scenario globally?

b) How badly is India impacted?

c) What is the industry/organization doing to stem the spread?

d) What can I tell my clients?

e) What is their immediate leadership doing to support the efforts?

f) Finally, what can they do to help out?

It is also important to educate your managers on how to address queries from their teams. In one case, the manager told his sick employee ‘not to come near him’ causing the team to get extremely upset at the high handed response. In another incident, a manager forced his employee to travel despite fears of getting affected.

In both these scenarios, sensitivity may have helped the employee and the team involved to feel valued as individuals.

The manager could have requested the individual to seek immediate medical support and personally checked on the situation. In the second case, a face to face session on how travel and the spread of virus are not interrelated may help in alleviating fears.

Instead of resolving the ownership issue, it is imperative that communicators do their bit to get the message out soon. Based on the 6 levels of information needs, there are numerous credible resources such as the World Health Organization website or the Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to refer to get basic inputs.

Work with your leadership to understand the point of view and steps to inform clients. Understand what the industry is doing to support the measures. Look up NASSCOM’s update.

Prepare a short key messages draft for all your stakeholders to communicate consistently. Follow-up on the impact and reactions.

Lead the way communicators!