In the conversations we’ve been having with our clients over the last couple of weeks, one thing has become clear. They all understand the need to connect with and listen to their people. They don’t need more theory; they need practical advice.
As entire workforces have suddenly moved to home working, we’ve been helping organisations understand what their people are really thinking and feeling through VYTALS Home Working - an online collaboration session where we can engage with up to 100 employees in real time and anonymously.
Here are some of the insights we’ve gained from the sessions we’ve run.
1. In a world of uncertainty, be certain (where you can)
Everyone’s world has been turned upside down in the space of a few weeks. And the reality is, we don’t know when this will end. We can’t control it, but there are things we can do to give people a sense of structure. A recurring piece of session feedback is that people want consistency of content. They’re struggling to keep up to date with what’s being said and where to find it - is it email, is it a call, is it Yammer, is it Workplace? They want to understand what’s happening in the business and they want it delivered via one channel. In a world where so much has changed, help your people by delivering consistent content in a consistent format at a consistent time.
2. Choose your words carefully
The feedback we’ve seen paints a clear picture: people are anxious – about their safety, their jobs, their families, the future. So, it’s more important than ever to think carefully about your internal communications and what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. Business speak, acronyms, sentences that you have to read twice to understand will not help. Keep it simple. Make it human. Use everyday language. It’s often overlooked in the rush to get things out, but it’s worth taking the time to think about the impact your words will have.
3. The small ‘stuff’ matters
We ran a VYTALS session with our own Brandpie people and there were worries raised that I would expect to hear in every single business today. But one of the findings was that (and on reflection maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise) people didn’t want to constantly hear the phrase, Covid-19. It just reinforced the situation, so we changed the name of our daily call from Covid Check-In to Daily Huddle. Yes, the big stuff matters, but there are small, everyday things you can adapt or change that have a positive impact.
So, a bit of theory, but I also hope you’ll find some practical thoughts that can be applied to the world we all find ourselves in.
We’ve written the questions, and we’ve made them free to access for all businesses, so you can simply download and plug them into an existing tool that you use. You can download the VYTALS Home Working questionnaire here.
If you’d like a VYTALS Home Working moderated session, in less than an hour we can understand what up to 100 of your people are really thinking and feeling – as well as crowdsourcing practical ideas to keep them motivated and your business moving forward. Simply drop me an email chris.holmes@brandpie.com
Originally published on LinkedIn.
