QUOTE OF THE DAY “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson COVID-19 UPDATE At the time of reporting on Thursday, The New York Times reported at least 429,000 cases in the U.S. and at least 14,000 deaths. According to Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker, 434,861 cases were reported in the U.S. and 14,814 deaths. Globally, cases reached more than 1.5 million. The number of deaths is expected to spike as numbers will include people who died at home, likely from COVID-19, but weren’t tabulated in earlier estimates. Fauci says the projected U.S. death toll has been revised down to 60,000 (from earlier estimates of 100,000–200,000) due to successful social distancing measures. The Senate will adjourn until Monday after failing to reach an agreement on another round of financial aid for small businesses. The COVID-19 crisis has cost the U.S. economy 10% of its workforce in the last three weeks. The Fed announced plans to inject another $2.3 trillion into the economy. The announcement sent stocks higher Wednesday.
With consumers trapped at home, now is the time to connect on social media. However, not all messages are appropriate during this crisis. Here are some tips on how to reach your audience.
Communicators can learn a thing or two from Dr. Fauci. The health care expert has deftly handled our partisan media environment and engaged all kinds of audiences. Here are some takeaways from his handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Recommit to transparency when onboarding remotely. Many organizations will still be hiring employees during the lockdown, and that will require HR and communicators to get creative. New employees are likely to feel more uncertain and unsettled, so make sure leadership is taking the extra time to welcome and include new arrivals. Amazon employees walk off after automated message about COVID-19 diagnosis. Employees say they still have doubts that Amazon is doing everything it can to keep them safe. An automated message about something so sensitive might be ill-advised. Business Insider reported: Workers at the sorting facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, were informed via an automated message that someone who had been on-site April 2 was infected with the novel coronavirus. "When the automated phone call started coming through, people started freaking out," one employee told Business Insider. An internal podcast might be the tool you need to connect remote workers. The on-demand, asynchronous nature of podcast feeds makes it a perfect tool for getting updates to your dispersed workforce. Here’s how companies like Salesforce already use this technology. Set guidelines for how essential workers can return to work after exposure. The White House has updated guidance on steps to prepare workers to come back after exposure to COVID-19. Steps include taking temperatures before work and staying home if feeling ill. Make sure you are sharing updates and clear guidelines with employees. Be a connector for your community. As a communicator, you might have an important network of influential people who can help spread important messages. For example, one agency created a list of important voices in the Hispanic community for COVID-19 messages. Think about ways you can use your intrinsic skillset for good. What needs to change when your entire team is now remote? Here are some tips for how you need to change your mindset around connecting with these employees. One top tip for setting boundaries: Commit to an app or email client and stay off text messages. Remote work tools see dramatic surge. Google’s videoconference tool, recently renamed “Google Meet” is 25 times what it was in January. Microsoft Teams set a new record of 2.7 billion meeting minutes in a single day.
Image courtesy of Microsoft. Burnout looms for agencies working overtime to respond to COVID-19. Some are reporting working every weekend and after hours to meet goals. Employees say that even when leaders push for employees to take time for themselves, sometimes teams won’t follow the directive. Digiday reported: The feeling of needing to be “always on” isn’t necessarily coming from agency leadership, according to employees who say that leadership has reiterated in town halls for employees to take time for themselves. How can you organize global messages during COVID-19? Here are some examples on how to coordinate responses across teams in different parts of the world. Tactics include a video for the CEO, dedicated news channels for COVID-19 updates, and more. Virtual Conference Alert Join us for Ragan’s Internal Communications and Culture Virtual Conference April 21-22 to learn how you can connect dispersed workers and unite your organization in the face of unprecedented disruption. Join our Crisis Leadership Board Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Board is the resource you need before, during and post-crisis. As a Board member, you have access to all back issues of this newsletter, we well as research, data, case studies, checklists, tip sheets, articles and other resources, plus a peer to peer discussion board and an all-access pass to the annual Crisis Management Conference. Sponsorship/Advertising Opportunities Contact Hannah Lavelle at HannahL@ragan.com with sponsorship and advertising inquiries. Pitch Us Have a great story to share about crisis communication or your own take on current best practices? Contact Editor Ted Kitterman at TedK@ragan.com. Sign Up Subscribe to Ragan’s Crisis Daily newsletter today! | 