Wednesday, February 25, 2009
How to manage communication during a crisis/hardship
A day doesn't go by where you don't hear about companies laying employees off due to the recent economic crisis. While it's never easy to cut employees, maintaining an effective communications plan during these times is vital to your company maintaining a positive image.
A few areas that need to be addressed immediately:
A few areas that need to be addressed immediately:
1) Be open and honest. Don't hide information. Even if you don't have all the information available, report what you do know and inform your audience that once the rest of the information will be made available when it arrives.
2) Don't forget your employees. Managing internal communication is one of the most important areas you need to address. Not addressing your employees opens the door for incorrect, and possibly damaging, information out to the public. Also ensuring a high level of employee moral is going to make getting through the crisis a lot easier.
3) Know when to talk and when to be quiet. Treat each crisis/hardship individually and as they come. Opening your mouth and talking about a crisis has the potential to make the situation a lot worse than it should be. Don't hide information, but don't go rushing to every media outlet.
Anyone have any experience dealing with a crisis at their work? How is your employer handling the economic crisis we are currently experiencing?
Labels: Crisis Communication, Economic Crisis, Employee Communication, Internal Communication
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