Communicating in a crisis
Reaching out to staff during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Businesses face a very difficult situation. Not just adapting to Covid-19 operationally but if and how to share what they are doing about it. One of our engineering clients, Lucy Electric, faced this dilemma but chose to be open in their approach to employees. Going beyond a statement in the post or by email they released a video message from the CEO providing reassurance to their global workforce.
This would normally be a straightforward 'piece to camera' captured on-site but we wanted to put safety first by minimising the risk of infection between clients and crew members. The challenge was to record this within the restrictions imposed by the lockdown which also included limiting travel.
Our response was to find a method of recording a corporate message with the right tone and minimal contact. After considering the options with the client team we settled on capturing the CEO remotely using software on our end that could employ his own equipment. Once the technical setup was in place we focussed on providing support remotely by coaching and capturing the best performance from a board level executive with very limited time, especially during this period. In a short while we found an intimate but minimal look that balanced delivery of key facts with the empathy and gravitas the circumstances demanded with very little post-production required.
The video message was released on the company intranet and was especially well received by overseas staff who really appreciated the sentiment. The Marketing Director said “great thank you, it delivers the message we need for our people” while the Marketing Manager added “the edit is seamless” and “Many thanks again for turning this around so quickly for us” CEO John Griffiths concluded "many thanks for your professionalism with the video”
This project illustrates that there is more to video communication than having the equipment, knowing how to set it up and operate it smoothly. There is also the understanding of the various options and which are appropriate for a given situation. This knowledge comes from experience of working on a range of projects and with different personality types. It also helps to have a positive perspective from outside the organisation and the confidence to challenge the assumptions that may develop internally.
Need to communicate to your staff working remotely? To find out how we can help do get in touch.