Are you feeling a little lost, with all the news, from every angle, but not much substance? Having trouble seeing what the future holds when the links don’t even work for the small business loan? Unsure how to plan for the new normal, with no idea what it will be, let alone when it will start?
Now, imagine how your employees must feel!
Have you even communicated to them since they left their desk last? Even if you have no new information, no insight into what the next chapter will be in your business, communicating that to them at least once a week lets your employees know that they aren’t the only ones who are unsure what the future holds.
Often, as business leaders, we want to have command of the answers before we communicate down the chain of command, or leave it up to department heads or team leaders.
If, however, you can’t say with certainty that all of your employees, at all levels, understand your company’s situation in these difficult times, you are doing them a disservice. Whether they are working from home, or laid off and working on their backlog of Netflix binging, they may return this disservice when things return to normal by harboring ill will or resentment.
This can likely be mitigated, to a great extent, by communicating regularly with them, even if you have nothing to report. The communication itself will build goodwill and help maintain rapport. All it takes is a simple, weekly email update or open ‘check-in’ Zoom meeting. If scale and magnitude of this effort is unmanageable for you, then I’ll assume you have enough department heads and managers still on the clock to get it done.
A little communication can go a long way… even if it’s nothing.