Businesses have certainly been on a wild ride in 2020. With the pandemic and ensuing social unrest coupled with economic instability and ongoing health and safety concerns, many company leaders struggle to find new footing and a clear path forward, especially with so much uncertainty swirling around them.

This time of uncertainty, however, has been a real opportunity for communicators, who find that their role has never been more important. The dramatic changes to business as usual in such a short time have handed communicators a crash course in determining what truly works and what’s still needed to unite, engage and drive companies forward against their strategy.

To help communicators strategically respond to the rapidly evolving needs of their organizations, The Grossman Group has released a new eBook, Reflect, Reimagine and Reboot Your Internal Communications Plan Through the Pandemic.

As we continue to adjust and reinvent how we lead and communicate during the pandemic, we want to continue to take a look at what content has been most popular among our readers. So, in case you missed any posts, here’s the top content others found most helpful in Q3.

10 Most-Read leadercommunicator Blogs in Q3 2020

In February 2020, I accepted an assignment as the Interim CEO of a leading scientific professional society. The Board President and President-elect were looking to me to keep the 130-member staff engaged and calm until the new CEO came on board, ensuring that valued society programs continued to operate effectively.

I knew there would be some challenges in leading the team. Transitions are always unsettling. This one had a number of elements that were raising stress levels – an effective and popular CEO was retiring, and the team was worried about changes I might make as well as changes the new CEO might institute. In addition, the Board was ready to adopt a visionary strategic plan, and employees wondered what their role would be in the society’s future.

What a wild ride 2020 has been.

From a business perspective soon after we celebrated the New Year, companies with operations in China jumped right into the challenges related to COVID-19 and the rest of the world began to feel the impact of COVID-19 toward the end of the first quarter as the seriousness of the pandemic became real.

As leaders and communicators, we focused on keeping people safe and trying to help them understand the impact on business. Work went virtual for those who could. The focus turned to essential workers and supporting them. Record unemployment. Social unrest and attention towards systemic inequity came to the forefront. Political intensity rose around the world and especially in the U.S. with an election of global implications. Countries and communities wrestled with how to get children back to school safely and for people’s lives to try to “return to normal” – even as everything is anything but normal.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve heard many anecdotal stories about things that worked and things that didn’t – from communications strategies to leadership styles. We’re about six months in and have learned a lot in many cases. As you begin to plan for the next six+ months, now is a good time to reflect on what’s worked (and what hasn’t), so you can make the adjustments needed to be even more effective going forward.

As you begin to reflect on internal communications, push yourself to move beyond the anecdotal and test your experience so you can think through how you want to rebuild.

Think of this as your “after action review.” It’s important to be as brutally honest as possible. We propose taking this 3-step approach:

Last week we conducted a series of webinars for communicators, focusing on a model we recommend to reboot internal communications through crisis for greater effectiveness long-term, called the 3Rs: Reflect, Reimagine, Reboot.

The sessions brought about fruitful discussion, sharing of best practices and challenges from attendees that allowed us all to engage in a dialogue about how best to approach what’s next.

Calling all HR, PR and Internal Communications professionals…there’s got to be a better way.

Reading this CNN article about L’Oréal and their return-to-office efforts made my heart race. At a time when the stakes are so high for companies to help employees navigate through change and demonstrate leadership, this narrative feels like the company is missing huge opportunities for connection, engagement and growth that could be the silver lining of the pandemic.

If we could roll the clocks back to make better decisions that align with company values, here’s what we’d recommend:

Amid Pandemic, Employee Concerns Command Leader Attention

The Grossman Group recently conducted a survey of dozens of leaders and communicators, asking a frank question: “What’s keeping you up at night?”

It turns out that the answer was essentially, “a lot!” Here’s a sampling of one respondent who summed up the wide-ranging concerns in a hospital setting:

“I work in healthcare in NYC. My staff are already suffering on a personal level, dealing with all the changes brought on by COVID (risk of exposure, lack of social/familial support, childcare, spouse job loss, death and illness of loved ones). Added to that is the fact that we have had to completely change the way we work, resulting in a significant increase in individual workload to get the same work done. The hospital still has to function. Money is EXTREMELY tight. I can’t get any additional resources. And my staff are drowning. How do I support my staff (and advocate for them) in a situation that seems impossible to manage?”

As we continue to adjust and reinvent how we lead and communicate in today’s new normal, we wanted to take a look at what content has been most popular among our readers. So in case you missed any posts, here’s the content others found most helpful in Q2.

10 Most-Read Blogs in Q2 2020

We were all a child once and now perhaps it is time to act like a child again.

That sage advice is not an exclusive thought. It originates from Mr. Fred Rogers, the same television personality who once advised us to look for the helpers in times of crisis. When you look for the helpers, you find hope. When you think, and act like a child, you find healing.