How SMEs and start-ups can make sure their communications plan is Covid-19 specific

As a business owner or start-up founder you need to be able to communicate in a timely fashion regarding the practical changes that are being forced on you by the nature of Covid-19 and also the updating of regulations from the Government, with which you need to comply.  

These realities mean you need to have a communications plan that is well organised and enables you to share important messages quickly and consistently ‘ without taking up huge amounts of your time.  This may be a question of adapting your existing plan or starting from scratch.  So, what you need for an effective communications plan?

Toolkit

The easiest way to deal with the communication needs of your SME or start-up is to create a package of tools that will help you stay on top of the changes and the ever-increasing regulation and actions you need to take. Or you can use, for example, Thomson Screening’s C-19 Business Toolkit to work through what’s needed and how to action it.

How do you create a toolkit for your Covid-19 specific communications plan? 

Let’s start with: 

The basics of good business communication

Efficient and effective communication is a feature of running any small business.  It becomes absolutely essential during an unusual period such as a pandemic.

Your plan should be based on the following features: understanding and focusing on what your audience needs, taking time to listen actively, being clear about what you want to say and getting your messages across simply and directly, using the appropriate channel(s) for your audience(s), keeping your communication up-to-the minute and timely.

Your Covid-19 specific communications plan

Particularly in the current situation you also need to be sure which sources of information you can trust and which you can base your communication on.  For Covid-19 the government and NHS websites are going to be the most useful.  You’ll need to check them regularly to be absolutely sure you have the most up-to-the-minute information.  For example, https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus and Office of National Statistics, Coronavirus Roundup 

Now, let’s take a look at each feature and how you can adapt it for Covid-19:

1. Understanding and focusing on what your audience needs

   In unusual and difficult circumstances people do not always respond in the way that you expect them to.  You know your team, your key customers and suppliers well, but you may find that they are much more sensitive (and reactive) to different types of communication at this time.

   It is a fact that some individuals are willing to rely on science/authority, some are extremely risk averse, whilst some are cavalier in their attitude and behaviour.

   Taking this into account your business communications plan will have to cater to the different needs of groups within your audience. You will probably need to write and verbalise the same message taking into account different perspectives in order to get the important information across to them.  You’ll need to develop your understanding by listening actively to your audience.  

2. Taking time to listen actively

   Through active listening you will be able to pinpoint what particular people are most concerned about.  For example, in a retail business your customers may be most worried about social distancing or about cleanliness of surfaces.   

   What is very important is that your staff, customers and suppliers recognise that you are listening to them and are taking their concerns into account.  Demonstrate that you have been listening to them in the actions you take and how you communicate what you are doing and why.

3. Being clear about what you want to say and getting your messages across simply and directly

   If any member of your team develops Covid symptoms (or someone in their household does) you want them to stay away from work.  So, make this message clear and simple; if you have any symptoms stay at home and call/email me or your manager.  Give everyone the appropriate contact details to use in this situation.

   Inevitably people won’t always get the message the first time. So, keep your communications as simple and direct as possible and repeat them. It is a good idea to avoid acronyms and abbreviations as not everyone will be familiar with these.  Clear, simple, direct and repetitive is best.

   Finally, it is always a good idea to include some specific examples and personal touches that demonstrate to people that they are included.  For example, show that you’ve considered what wheelchair users need, or a what a customer who relies on lipreading needs when communicating with your staff. 

4. Use the appropriate channel(s) for your audience(s) 

   How many communication channels does your business have?  Alongside your email, website and social media such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and WhatsApp you’ll probably have non-electronic communication as well!  These might include paper newsletters or flyers, training materials, signage on the gates of goods entrances.

   List all the channels you can think of.  Then you can use as many of them as you can to get your messages to your audience. During ‘business as usual’ you might be using slightly different approaches in the various channels. However, when it comes to Covid-19 messaging you want to be consistent across channels to avoid any misunderstanding.

   To help you achieve this consistency is it a good idea to use templates.  It will also save you time.  Make sure that everyone involved with communications e.g. the person who puts together your customer newsletter and your web editor, knows what your business messages about Covid-19 are and how they should be including them.

5. Keeping your communication up-to-the minute and timely

   You need a system to ensure that you don’t have out of date Covid-19 information hanging around e.g. on a flyer, an email footer or any other communication.  To may sure you are sharing only the most recent Public Health or government guidelines or regulations here are some familiar quick tips to use:

   In all your electronic communications (e.g. newsletters, social media, website, online chats) include links to the relevant government websites (as per the list above)

   Make use of shared file systems (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive) for templates and drafts

   Have a log of where these templates are used. This will help ensure that you don’t miss one of them out

To start with it will take a little additional time to get everything in one place.  However, this will be well worth it particularly when there is an important change and you suddenly need to communicate it.

Once you have your communication plan set up and adapted specifically for Covid-19 set a weekly diary reminder. This will make sure you check that your business messaging is still up to date, and alert you if you need to communicate any changes immediately. 

Sources:

• https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works#people-who-develop-symptoms-of-coronavirus
• Ethnicity and mortality rates up to 15^th May 2020 in England and Wales: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/coronaviruscovid19relateddeathsbyethnicgroupenglandandwales/2march2020to15may2020 

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