9 Tips for Communicating During Challenging Times



Communicating during times of stress is not simple. Your organization might be involved in a merger, you are hearing rumours about the economy or you are in the midst of a pandemic or weather evacuation. You may want to “hunker down” and “ride the storm” but your staff need to hear from you.

Here are 9 tips for communicating during difficult times:

1. Provide staff and external stakeholders with open, honest communication. Don’t hide things, people will find out eventually and your reputation will be harmed.

2. Communicate often. In fact, aim for over-communicating. People won’t “hear” every message you send out – they are busy and worried about other things. So repeat your main messages – 4-7 times! Employees prefer a regular update – either daily or weekly, depending on the situation.

3. Be clear in your communications. The title or subject line in emails should clearly state what is in the rest of the message. If you want people to take action, be clear about what you want them to do and when. Don’t make people guess!

4. Ensure two-way communication. Good communication has a feedback loop. Make sure your staff and customers know how to connect with you to ask questions and share ideas.

5. Respond to questions and concerns. You should never hide in your office or behind your screen, but during times of stress especially, you need to be seen “virtually”. Adapt your communication to the questions and concerns that are being shared with you and your staff.

6. Provide “speaking notes”. Give your employees the important points to share with customers, and provide leaders with the messages you want them to share with their staff. This ensure that the messages that your people are getting is consistent.

7. Be proactive in communicating. Don’t wait, communicate often. If you have regular meetings with your staff and customers in person, then develop regular virtual communication channels. Use email, social media, your website and technology to continue communicating. If the issue is large enough, dedicate pages on your website to sharing information, providing resources and answering questions.

8. Update your strategic plan. If you are one of my clients, you are regularly monitoring and updating your strategic plan depending upon what is happening around you. If you haven’t been updating your plan: scan the external environment, review metrics, check your current situation and update your plan today!

9. Consider the impact on others. If you make changes in your organization, it will impact your staff, your customers and your key stakeholders. Think about the potential impacts before you take action. This will help you alleviate many unintended consequences and is one of the important principles of Systems Thinking!

Good communication during stressful or difficult times is vital to the mental health of your staff and to achieving your goals. Great leaders work at communicating to their staff often and check in on how the messages are being received.

If you have any questions about how and what to communicate, please contact me!