8 internal comms tips during Covid-19

As Covid-19 has forced thousands of people to work remotely, making choices about the best ways to communicate has become increasingly important. Here is a short summary of some tools and resources available online to support internal communications during the crisis.

1. Gartner have produced a useful channel selection guide which can help you identify the channel/s that best support your objectives and a four-step process for optimising your channel strategy.
2. Edelman has produced a how-to guide which sets out seven practical steps on how (and when best) to communicate with your employees. Tips includes the importance of expressing empathy and being ready to evolve your communications with the continuous updates in government advice and guidance.
3. Poppulo’s recent blogpost includes tips on how to develop an internal communications plans during Covid-19 and what to say to employees. They have also collated advice from trusted sources: a collection of articles, blogs, videos, webinars and online courses aimed at HR and comms professionals.
4. For tips or guidance on what to include in organisation-wide emails, there are various online templates such as Workable’s action plan email template.
5. Virtual meetings (using software such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom) are suddenly the new norm. If carried out effectively, they can be a close match for face-to-face meetings. Harvard Business Review has developed helpful guidance on what it takes to run a great virtual meeting.
6. Instant messaging platforms are an effective way to connect quickly with someone and get the information you need. Slack, WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams frees up email inboxes. Most instant messaging platforms store messages, so you can still refer to them at a later date.
7. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have developed a number of online resources in response to the coronavirus, including an employer response guide.
8. Poppulo is also running a webinar today (16 April) on what behavioural science can teach us about employee wellbeing which may provide some helpful tips on how best to support and communicate with your staff during this time.