ADAPTABILITY IN BUSINESS COMMUCATION DUE

TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Covid-19 has changed the world irreversibly. The global crisis it created has forced
businesses to reconsider their normal ways of functioning and has brought forth a drastic
difference in the means and methods of communication at workplace. Accommodating and
adjusting to the new normal of remote work and social distancing has not been easy, but as I
quote a common saying, ‘What comes easy won’t last long and what lasts long won’t come
easy’, Covid, the shorthand for Covid-19 continues to maintain its lead as to having the most
citations ever recorded in the 21st century (What’s the top word of 2020, 2020).

Source: Science in a Time of Crisis. Frontiers, https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/15058

Even though, industries and organizations are slowly getting back to their usual tracks, work
from home remains the most favourable working option wherever viable. Most business
trips still stand cancelled and hiring freeze and employee layoffs still appear as caveats on
organizational fronts.
Consequently, businesses are continuously adjusting and redefining their organizational
structures and the ways their employee communicate. Communication plays a critical role to
enable a successful business structure. Effective collaboration, flawless transfer,
empowerment and engagement remain a few of the key pillars of support.
Kriti Pradhan, A digital HR Brand representative from BCCL (The Times Group) in an
interview said that to ensure a sense of comfort and trust while ensuring business continuity,
the organizational communication landscape, both physical and largely virtual can be broadly
divided into four areas, namely Learn, Engage, Aware and Praise, abbreviated as LEAP.
It not only helps to address the employee population but also defines the work areas. (Experts
Explain How, 2020)
There are a plenty of tools available to cater to the needs of establishing a secure and
effective communication, but choosing the one that suits your organizational needs and
demands while complying with the organizational security protocols remains the key point
for consideration.
Emails, which are one of the oldest forms of business communication, now need to even
more be clear and crisp, to avoid any form of miscommunication. Not only the internal
employees but also the external stakeholders and customers need to be regularly updated
and followed up with all necessary happenings and beginnings.
Most companies have prioritised their internal communication with their employees for
ensuring their health and safety and balancing the resources which people would need to
continue their job, both on and off site. The major adaptations in business communication
have been in form of the following broad specificalities described. (Ward D., 2020)
Increased communication from the top – The top management of the organisations have
prioritised quick, clear and sympathetic communications to their employees with an aim to
alleviate fears, dispel rumours and showcase the path ahead. Company communicators have
made sure that messages cascade down to people managers, making sure company leadership
stays aligned, reducing chances for miscommunication or confusion.
Personal touch to communications - In such challenging times, organizations have
identified that employees need an authentic and relatable voice that they believe in. Many
organizational leaders have chosen to be forthright with their employees about the situation
while also making clear their own personal challenges or concerns. Some have even invited
employees to submit stories of their own challenges, new activities or hobbies they’ve
discovered, or recipes that they’ve enjoyed as they make more meals at home. Sharing these
with the broader community shows other employees they are not alone in this
Diversified content - Initially, several organizations adopted to daily emails to inform their
employees about the latest updates as they tried to make sense of the situation. As they
slowly began to settle into “a new normal”, these messages became less regular and slowly
changed into a weekly letter or video message by the CEO. Some organizations have even
held live, online town halls with their employees to interact in a more engaging atmosphere.
Tapping the available technology through collaborative platforms, most popular being
Yammer and Microsoft Teams. These platforms enable organizations to share contents with
their employees through a social media type interface, allowing for community discussion.
WhatsApp groups have also emerged out as reliable and readily available tool for quick
communications with a larger group of targeted audience.
Organizations have also communicated proactively through existing local governmental
contacts and associations of Covid-19 response toolkits to bring any known positive case
into the books of the government record for a systematic and by the law compliance.
Storytelling has gained significant grounds as medium to motivate, inspire or simply share
an organization’s good deed with others in such challenging times. These stories serve as
means to bring forward an act of kindness in times of such global crisis. Organizations have
published stories through online platforms about how did they repurpose their production
lines for creating additional or new PPE kits to cater to the needs of the front-line pandemic
fighters or about how did they opt for a policy of no layoffs.
As a direct consequence of the pandemic, people have now realized the importance of
communication and communication teams in an organization. Communicators ensure
effective communication and collaboration between departments, cross functional teams and
all other internal and external stakeholders. They make sure that each one person has a good
understanding of the business goals and values and is aligned with the company strategy.
They are a critical resource to embrace digital transformation and drive employee
productivity. Henceforth, communicators have a direct impact on the success or failure of a
business and it took a pandemic to allow organizational executives to give the communicators
the attention and importance they deserve.
Covid-19, has made sure that an effective communication strategy remains one of the top
listed priorities of organizations and businesses. New ways of communication have
captured the market interaction perimeters and have opened doors for further innovations and
developments. Communication, with an aim to ensure employee health and safety while
maintaining production standards and quantity; stands out as a direct response initiative
to the threats posed upon by the devil under the disguise of Covid-19. New limits, new
restrictions and new challenges pave the path for new opportunities. There is no doubt, that
the pandemic has changed the world forever, but how we come out of it and what we bring
out of it is what would define us in the days ahead.

References:

What’s the top word of 2020? (2020, Jul 07). The Irish Times, Retrieved from
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/what-s-the-top-word-of-2020-oh-you-guessed-that-one-easily-1.4298315

6 Experts Explain How (2020, May 07). Smarp, Retrieved from https://smarp.com/experts-explain-how-covid-
19-is-changing-internal-communications

Ward, D. (2020, May 18). How Covid-19 is changing how companies communicate. Association of Equipment
Manufacturers, Retrieved from https://www.aem.org/news/how-covid19-is-changing-how-companies-
communicate