The vital importance of effective and empathetic communication as part of the leadership armoury in times of change and crisis cannot be underestimated. The way we communicate and collaborate over the next weeks and months will help us both navigate the volatile and unsettling times and prepare solid and stable platforms for growth on the other side of COVID-19. 根据我自己的经验, 我在下面列出了一些重要的建议，帮助你在最奇怪的时候沟通.
布莱斯•哈蒙德. 沟通和参与主管
在这种奇怪而令人担忧的时刻, I often think back to my parents and the mix of characteristics that I might have been lucky enough to inherit. 我父亲是60年代末和70年代初在伦敦工作的拆弹专家. 他经历了一段相当动荡的时期. 我妈妈是个歌手, so you could say I am blessed (or afflicted) with both cold and hot blood; some calm and some creative.
I have lived a professional life through both the 2001 recession and 2008 crisis working as a partner and managing director of an award-winning PR practice. We are all now living through a strange and very different crisis (or set of crises if you include both the global pandemic and the resulting financial instability) and I am privileged to be part of an award-winning international digital transformation consultancy during this challenging time.
尽管这两次危机截然不同, the lessons learned from senior management I have worked with (and am working with) have mainly related to the ability of leaders to ‘slow down time’ amid the chaos, 在困难时期清晰有效地沟通.
作为一个超级体育迷，我坚信商业可以从体育中学习，反之亦然. 例如, under times of extreme duress the lessons learned from the England rugby world cup win in 2003 come into sharp focus today. Sir Clive Woodward designed both critical thinking and communication behaviour into his team’s DNA in the run up to World Cup glory. He called it T-CUP: Thinking correctly under pressure and subsequently communicating clearly under pressure.
Taking that clear and calm approach to communication in a COVID-19 world is helping to project calm to potentially unsettled groups of employees. Regardless of the fact that Informed has designed itself into a position where all teams can function fully in remote settings, 当前我们面临的孤立给我们所有人带来了新的挑战. Week two and the novelty of remote working can become tired or old if energy and positivity is missing from dialogue.
沟通应该格外清晰, 积极和肯定的鼓励团队, 但不是过度保护——我们都没有经历过这样的一系列危机. 没有经历过危机的年轻员工将从中吸取教训, just as the older heads learned from past experience and are learning new things this time round – mostly related to communicating in remote settings for extended periods of time.
团队沟通必须强化这样的信息:我们都在一起. There will be opportunities for wins (both small and big) from a business perspective as well as stories of individual endeavour. 花点时间庆祝胜利总是很重要的, 但在混乱之中, 放慢时间，反思一下, 庆祝和奖励. 关注乐观的沟通, 建立团队精神, collaboration and cohesion will go a long way to protecting and strengthening the corporate culture and values that will be tested the longer this crisis lasts.
Take care over the style and tone of communication and the channels used – comments and phrases can be ‘lost in translation’ in tough times, 然而，在有压力的情况下，误解会被夸大. 这需要更高水平的积极倾听. 不要只是等待下一个说话的机会). This can be tiring - where we can normally rely on several senses during physical face-to-face communication, 我们现在只能依靠电话或视频通话中的一两种感官.
关注信息的清晰性和动机:仔细考虑沟通的渠道, 不仅仅是沟通本身. 面对面或电话交谈应该如何取代书面交流, 首席执行官的一个简短电话对一个处于压力下的人来说会产生巨大的影响, 或书面留言或全队视频通话中对优秀者进行表彰和奖励, 诚信或创新可以被分享和赞美.
最终, 有效和移情的沟通将使我们能够分享我们所拥有的, 传达我们对他人的期望, 了解别人需要我们做什么. Calm and specific communication under pressure helps develop better understanding and belief among people and inspires them to follow jointly understood and well-articulated principles and values that act as guiding lights in the darkest of times.
