The post-COVID-19 landscape will undoubtedly look drastically different to the way of life we historically became used to. Teams that used to work in office settings are now telecommuting, a task which many of us have learned, comes with its own set of challenges, and communicating with a distant workforce is often easier said than done.
Businesses are now scrambling to engage, develop and message their teams:
Handwashing guidelines
Change programmes
Revised ways of working
Modified sales directives
New operating procedures
What is increasingly apparent, however, is that the haste in getting talking points out quickly leads to inconsistency, and an overall disconnect. Just because your messages need to go out quickly, does not mean they should be off brand with immeasurable benefit.
It is for this exact reason that we cannot just apply the same old principles to our engagement techniques and hope that they work. In this ever-changing environment, the margin for error gets smaller every day, which is why the need for pragmatic, targeted, here and now solutions have never been greater.
In times like these, do you want to work with a traditional communications agency, or a contemporary communications ally? Are you looking for generic puff pieces, or do you want succinct messages that cut through the noise and get to the heart of the issue? A modern communications partner should be just that; a partner, with no ego, no over engineering, just a desire to help you to deliver the right message, exactly where it is needed, when it needs to be delivered.
Bruce Lee famously said, “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle.” This speaks volumes today; if we choose to take on a single form, we will never fully adapt to new surroundings, but, fluid, agile organisations, can take on whatever form is required of them. This is the philosophy that all businesses must start working towards with their internal communications, otherwise recent history is doomed to repeat itself.