Your Crisis Communication and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Your Crisis Communication and the COVID-19 Pandemic

The coronavirus continues to move closer and law firms must prepare to handle internal and external communications. The benefits of an existing crisis communication are many. Think about the right time to activate your crisis management team. If your firm does not have a crisis plan in place, this outbreak should be the impetus you need to develop one.

As this quickly unfolds, your crisis management team should be already identified, available and able to operate quickly and take decisive action. If you haven't thought about a plan until now, keep your team small so you can act fast an with authority. The group should be comprised of high level management and your PR team.

Assign someone to 24/7 monitoring of trusted websites from leading health authorities such as the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Pinpoint times during the day/week for updates including developments that might affect your firm, your employees and your clients.

Communication Within

As you move through this , remember, your employees are worried about their jobs, themselves and their families. Regular communications will help alleviate concern. Information on ho two prepare and protect will may help keep your team members free from infection.

Bias and Fear

In uncertain situations, people become fearful. This virus is 24/7 news and it is scary. People from countries where the virus was first located or people in other offices may be getting treatment that is unwarranted or undeserved. This would also be a good time to reinforce any anti-bias policies that your firm has. Encourage firm and community.

There are potential situations you may be thinking of - are you prepared to act?

Closure of headquarters and remote working. Are you prepared for your lawyers and administrative staff to telecommute?If the office must remain closed for some time, are you prepared to work remotely for several weeks?

Office quarantine. Are you prepared to help employees and their families if the need arises to quarantine team members on-site?

Travel restrictions. Do you have a draft communication in place to send to clients if you must cancel travel and move meetings to a videoconference format?

As we always say, times of uncertainty can provoke fear. Companies that have planned ahead are better equipped to weather the storm.