As we start to come out of the Covid cloud, we need to be completely clear in our communications with our team members and our customers.
After 9/11, Mayor Rudy Giuliani developed a structure that he used in press conferences. It helped him to simplify messages and help the citizens of New York City work towards their “new normal”.
To paraphrase, he would cover four things:
- This is what we know
- This is what we don’t know
- This is what we are doing
- This is what we want you to do
His approach included showing empathy for the challenges people were facing. It also had the benefit of breaking information down into manageable chunks that people could process.
Being clear about the actions and attitudes that you need from your teams, in this time of uncertainty, will increase their confidence to manage tasks & responsibilities and help them deal with your customers more effectively.
This is my favourite Giuliani quote – also very appropriate at this time. While we are managing the challenges of today, we need to have our eyes on the future & an attitude of Optimism in our hearts!
