Communication in the "New Normal".

As the waves of COVID-19 recede in some countries, in others they continue to ebb and flow. The levels of disruption that began in March of 2020 are now stabilising as people try to get used to the "new normal". What is the new normal? We still do not know. What we do know is that it will not look like the "normal" we have known and been used to as we go about our daily business of work and life. Communication practitioners have had a downpour of requests to communicate and engage employees, customers and other stakeholders to show that their organisation is on top of the COVID-19 crisis and cares for the well-being of their staff and clients. Are we, the practitioners taking a moment to review and update strategies to balance the quantity of communication and demonstration of care and robustness of the organisation?

Rules of Engagement that will need a new approach from Communication:

• Old ways of working and engagement will no longer be productive- a new balance of calls and building trust to let teams get on with their jobs is the new trend.
• Remote management of teams is going to be the new reality- Learning to motivate, engage and assess performance from a distance will ask a new mindset from managers.
• Remote Sales and negotiations will need a new approach- Marketing and Sales need a new way to communicate and get results. Brands are using technology, refreshed graphics and short bites of content to hook and pull in customers (B2B/B2C)
• Face to Face contact at the work place will be limited- Going back to work will not be the same. People who are yearning to go back to office, will be surprised with the experience. Best to prepare them mentally for it.

Business strategy and organisational development shifts that communication practitioners can be prepared for:

• Organisations need to find ways of creating cash flow to stay robust- this is what is top priority. Reorganisation, transformation and defining a new culture are the buzz words in the executive suite.
• New opportunities for income need to be creatively deployed- Think tanks are being pulled together to come up with new opportunities in this environment that can generate cash with people working from home and being more home-bound- IT and technology is the tool being seen as the driver of new services and support.
• Dimensions of the organisation will change- Vision, assets, resources. Organisations are deep-diving into their strategic ambition to align the assets and resources for a new course in the future.
• Business continuity is a priority at large- how to keep things going is a challenge that is ongoing- cost versus continuity is the question being asked more often than we think. Employees and Customers are most affected by this.

As communication practitioners we need to be able to build our own capacity to find new ways of communicating so that the content lands and hooks our target audience. Are we reviewing content structure, demographics and the channels we can use to reach the spectrum of our stakeholders? According to Aninda Das, Senior Desk Editor at Times Network, "Listicles" and buzz stories are getting high uptake. To reach the younger demographic, websites like Buzzfeed, BoredPanda and Mashable are a resource for trending content. These websites turn social media posts into quirky stories that connect with the millenials. Photo stories according to Aninda have more "shareabilty" for all demographics. In short, visual content is the way to grab and engage.

Another good resource article on Communication playbook for these times.

#newnormal #communication #bestpractice