Tips to mitigate anxiety and uncertainty

Content Management

• Establish a single point of contact for all COVID-19 related content requests
• Develop a governance process to evaluate priority of all inbound requests, determine most effective vehicle and assign content owner
• Identify specific SMEs for all core COVID-19 related topics and coordinate all content development and approvals with those individuals
• Develop and utilize a channel selector tool to provide consistent guidance to assign types of information to types of publication
• Create a repository for communicators to access all final drafts

Organizational Communication

• Develop a devoted COVID-19 microsite to serve as a single source of truth
• Develop short summary papers and FAQ documents detailing policy and providing background on critical topics
• Summarize general COVID-19 related developments to honor employees’ hunger for credible information
• Develop a predictable cadence for newsletters, executive messages and microsite updates and communicate expectations
• Host regular calls for top leaders (e.g. VP & above) dedicated to COVID-19 updates

Listening

• Create short pulse survey (<5 minutes) to be distributed to samples of employees (~500) every week to track confidence, anxiety and engagement
• Give managers intake guides to identify employee issues and quickly surface those to top leaders
• Assemble focus group participants and/or established employee communication council to provide deeper insight to high level empirical findings

Wellbeing

• Create a library of wellbeing resources (e.g. guides to mindfulness, yoga, “six minute workouts”, meditation, etc.)
• Create contests to promote activity, such as a daily steps challenge
• Experiment with wellness activities at the beginning and/or end of meetings (moments of gratitude, recognition, reflection, breathing, etc.)
• Help executives model wellbeing priorities (reinforce work-life balance, promote exercise, be comfortable showing emotion and vulnerability)
• Publish external resources, such as mental health hotlines

Executive visibility

• Identify a C-Suite executive with credibility, appetite and communication skills to serve as public face of response
• Develop “signature vehicle” suited to that leader’s authentic communication style (virtual town hall, video, short podcast series, email, etc.)
• Utilize executives to show commitment to work-life balance and support for the “whole employee” (e.g. videos of executives reading children’s books)
• Demonstrate commitment to new digital collaboration tools by executive relentless adoption (Slack, Teams, etc.)

Manager support

• Create a dedicated manager microsite (if one doesn’t exist) or convert existing platform to COVID-19 focus
• Prepare resource library with articles, tip sheets, meeting guides on how to practice empathy, communicate transparently and connect decision-making to purpose
• Pre-populate resources for various business continuity scenarios
• Daily digest: special newsletter released each day recapping key messages and new resources (no more than 5) and providing outlook for upcoming milestones
• Create manager-specific channels/forums in digital workspaces

Remote work enablement

• Create instruction resources for all technological matters of remote work (checking computers out of office space, establishing direct deposit, etc.)
• Establish a “white glove service” center for IT support for employees utilizing remote work technology for the first time, or struggling to set up home office spaces
• Develop a remote work onboarding program for both new hires and existing employees
• Adopt “open sync calendar” system to help employees block availability during periods where they have personal constraints
• Publish resources in newsletters with tips for effectively working from home

Virtual engagement

• Create events such as digital coffee shops, digital water coolers and digital happy hours to capture the community of the office online
• Reinforce rewards and recognition programs to ensure employees feel seen, recognized and valued while working from home
• Utilize mobile apps to share news and foster community in the absence of personal proximity
• Create personal interest Slack/Teams channels