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Building back better:
what we can learn from communications during the pandemic

Our viewpoint

“Be careful what you wish for” is a lesson that Aesop taught us. I have often written about the need for a revolution in the way that companies communicate with their employees. Given the tools and technologies available, and our increased understanding of the psychology behind good communication, most companies should be doing much better – and at least as well as they communicate to prospective customers. 

Well, 2020 saw the communication revolution happen, but not in the way anyone could have predicted or indeed  wanted. The pandemic and lockdowns are rightly viewed in terms of their awful impact on human life, but they are also responsible for a great many other changes to our society, one of which is the way that we’ve all needed to communicate differently. 

As we’ve helped companies to communicate with their employees over the lockdowns, it has been an era to try new ideas, new technologies and new ways of communicating. Some of these have worked really well and we mustn’t lose those ideas as we return back to normal – we should capture and continue to use them.

The pandemic and lockdowns changed everything for communications. OfCom’s Online Nation report has highlighted some amazing facts:

UK adults increased their average internet usage to four hours, up almost an hour from June 2018 – more than half of this rise is attributed to the burst in online communication when the pandemic hit.
In April 2020, at the height of the first wave of the pandemic, video call usage doubled, one in three people watched online TV on demand rather than traditional TV, and two in five people made videos themselves. The revolution is here – but the question now is, how do we capitalise on the opportunity it presents as the vaccine rollout allows us to dare to think about life post-pandemic?

Keep reviewing the way you communicate

Many organisations have been forced to think of new ways to communicate to their audience because their traditional methods wouldn’t work. Communication technology progresses at an extraordinary rate – it’s worth taking stock once a year and asking a professional communicator to provide an update on the art of the possible.

Keep the bits that worked

One client called and asked how their organisation could replace face-to-face presentations. The campaign we put in place for them used far more digital capability than they were used to, but it worked. I’d like to think that digital will remain a channel even when everyone can get back into the same room – a blend of approaches will always work better than relying on one.

Make things personal

Personalised video content has finally come of age. It has become much more affordable to enhance video communications with a personal message, such as the value of a benefit. Online video benefit statements are not yet common but will be soon. And data-driven communications will mean different segments of a population receive different communications to great effect.

Retain the approach of providing more open and more frequent communications

It has been essential for employers to tell their employees very fundamental things about the workplace, and generally this seems to have been done well – when it comes to people’s safety, no one has taken any chances. Open and frequent is as good a communication strategy as I can think of, and hopefully this will start to become more normal in projects going forward. Remember, when thinking about the question ‘should I communicate with my audience?’ the answer is generally ‘yes’ – although what you communicate may be much more challenging to decide.

Put the audience at the centre of your communications

During the pandemic there has been less telling of messages that need to be said, and more consideration about whether those messages have been clearly understood and actioned. This might seem obvious when we’re talking about how to let people know whether to return to work or how to disinfect their working area, but the same could apply to all forms of workplace communication.

Put your people at the heart of the communication and you will communicate more effectively. Communication should not be judged by whether it says what you want to say, but how that message is understood by the audience and how they act on that message. And your communication consultant will help you determine which tactics will work best under which circumstances.

Use your audience to generate content

The trend to create video has certainly been accelerated by the pandemic, which has not only provided much more home-made content from celebrities to act as prompts, but also provided more time for people stuck at home to explore the powerful tools that have sat unused on phones and computers. The upshot is that every employer now has an army of video blogging experts ready and willing to create and share content. You could build a campaign which encourages content from your audience which sees them engage your peers for you – a cost-effective and long-lasting foundation for success.

As a last point, it’s worth remembering that, fundamentally, nothing has changed in terms of what drives human interaction – our audience hasn’t changed, and the old rules about communication best practice are still the rules about communication best practice. What has changed is the technology and our approach to communication. It’s these areas we need to explore further and use these to continually improve our communications.

DC and Financial Wellbeing Conference 2023

DC and Financial Wellbeing Conference 2023

Steadying the ship in challenging waters

Please join us on Wednesday 17 May at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) for our in-person DC & Financial Wellbeing conference.

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