Organisations have learnt from 2020 the need to be flexible and to practice plasticity. As some businesses return onsite, and others adopt new operational models, strategic communications functions will want to lead from the front, supporting business teams in contextualising and outcome delivery through people, and despite location.
2021 is shaping up to be much more positive as we enter March than where we were 12 months ago. Organisations have learnt about becoming more flexible throughout the structure, whether from a remote working perspective, the need to trust team members, the post-pandemic customer, and other variables.
New creative means of travelling and meeting face-to-face such as the Connect@Changi Facility are appearing. Video calls and teleconferencing – along with getting used to smaller travel and expense budgets – continue to be the default meeting and gathering mode. Office and estate managers are envisioning a return to the office where the space is treated as a clubhouse for social and culture-building purposes.
As Gartner observed with their resilient delivery trend, “…Whether a pandemic or a recession, volatility exists in the world. Organisations that are prepared to pivot and adapt will weather all types of disruptions.”
Here are some observations for strategic communications teams to consider as they are placed at the forefront of many business discussions.
Digital everywhere
The pandemic accelerated many aspects of digital transformation that would have taken the next cohort or generation to implement. Gartner’s location independence trend asserts that “…COVID-19 has shifted where employees, customers, suppliers and organizational ecosystems physically exist.” This has become the normal way of work for many marketing and communications teams. Working with remote team mates requires more structure, better planning, and a consistency that was absent prior to 2020. This is the time to start refreshing positioning and key messages, audience engagement playbooks as well as kickstart a focus on internal communications. Where there is no champion (yet) for fellow employees, communications can be proactive and team up with the HR function to provide clarity.
Location independence
Apart from your own organisation that has a preferred remote working arrangement, so are your customers, business partners, media and influencers, and community. Everyone (pretty much) is working away from their office desk. Engagement is now harder because communications teams have to anticipate and pre-empt key audiences’ behaviours and distractions that are taking place in the home environment. Remember that your audiences also have family and social obligations outside of their work commitments.
Observe, survey and analyse whether a virtual customer networking session at 6pm really works, or do the media really want to stay online for 3 hours watching a digital rendition of a product launch just because there’s budget to entertain.
Business Continuity Plans
If the business continuity plan for 2020 has been utilised, consider whether it’s time to refresh(or overhaul) a plan for 2021 and after. Businesses continue to run, customers and partners expect to be informed if a serious incident or crisis happens. However, the behaviour of reacting or reaching out for information might have changed, the chain of command to inform are no longer situated in the same building, and the expectations of information sharing has changed since 2020.
In a location independent mode where people – whether colleagues, business partners or customers – remain central to the communications team’s efforts, start creating structure, clarity, messaging and steps. This is one of those “critical not urgent” tasks that can finally be justified and done from a resource perspective.
Internal communications, employee engagement and culture-building
Keeping to the people-centric theme, fellow employees and team mates are both closer with the frequent use of digital tools across multiple devices and yet also further away from a central sharing hub then ever before.
Tasks such as onboarding, employee libraries, even brown bag lunches continue to take place but using pre- or during 2020 messages and materials. Communications teams should consider whether it’s time to refresh and update for 2021.
Especially because we are spending so much time apart, we need a champion to step in, and serve as guideposts. Perhaps a multi-function team comprising of communications, Learning & Development and HR might be able to tackle culture-building in a remote-preferred environment.
Customer experience
Communications and marketing teams – if they have not already started – will need to learn to work together. The customer wants to deal with a single entity and expects messaging, copy, and the product experience to be cohesive. Variables that create dissonance serves as a red flag for them to take their money elsewhere.
Customers have also warmed up to the concept that businesses are collecting data about them. Campaigns are expected to use this data – where collected legitimately and transparently – and focus on topics that are relevant and resonate with these customers where and when they want to consume it.
This means customers are expecting value from their interaction and engagement with a brand. Regardless of how the engagement began, or whether a purchase has happened, customers want to take away value. Communications teams are best placed to incorporate messaging into this process, as well as distil and express this value simply and clearly.
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