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.

With thousands of employees shifting to working from home overnight and other on-site workers dealing with new health and safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s employers face a range of pressing questions about the future world of work.

Even in just two months, our team at The Grossman Group has learned a lot by listening to leaders and employers, surveying employees and conducting focus groups to really understand how various audiences are thinking about the workplace going forward. And of course, we know from years of experience helping companies manage a crisis what works best to set organizations up for long-term success. Naturally, a lot of the best practices come down to more strategic communication, planning and better employee listening. Yet there are many other smart practices to apply as well.

In the midst all the upheaval resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s natural for leaders to feel powerless and anxious. Many are wondering how their business will survive, what the new normal will look like, and just what the pandemic will mean for their personal and professional lives.

But there are in fact concrete things leaders can do to navigate the uncertainty, actions they can all take to lead and communicate with heart – and guts. That’s what this eBook provides: clear direction for how to be the very best leader and communicator you can be during this critical moment.

As we’re all adjusting to new ways of working, we’re finding out quickly what works well and what may no longer be effective as we lead our teams (and from a distance, for many of us) through these uncertain times. With that in mind, we thought it may be helpful to pulse our clients and other leaders in our network to learn what is working best for them.

We received more than a hundred best practices – and they’re still coming. We’ve put the most common (and some not-so-common) tips into an easy-to-read guide, which you can download here.

If you’re looking for wisdom from fellow leaders when it comes to what’s working best today in these uncertain times – we have a fantastic resource for you. It’s some of the best-of-the-best ideas from leaders across the globe who are rising to the occasion and making the most of this time of change. Their strategies that work are definitely noteworthy and demonstrate a tremendous amount of compassion, care and a dash of creativity. 

The best Enterprise Social Media (ESM) strategy is guided by the same principles that govern the most effective internal communications. Just because you turn on a social media tool does not mean you can turn off these principles of effective communications.

In fact, in our experience, Enterprise Social Media benefits most from the 6 following guiding principles:

If you’re like a lot of leaders I know, you’re constantly looking for ideas to make your next town hall feel more exciting and inspiring for employees. And that’s a good instinct. The truth is that many companies are long overdue for a town hall makeover.

One of the most popular questions I get in my work as a communications leader is this: What’s new in communications strategy today? Or, some variation of this: What must I do today to help my company achieve world-class, cutting-edge communications in the future? 

Anyone working in healthcare today knows just how demanding and complex the industry is, with daily shifts in consumer needs, financial pressures, evolving regulations and reforms. The business of healthcare has entered a new era that leaves communicators and leaders with the daunting challenge of keeping employees focused, committed and engaged in what can feel like the eye of a hurricane.

As we head into the new year, we wanted to take a moment to look back and see what resonated most with you – our readers – in 2018. As we looked at what your favorite content was, we couldn’t pick just a few posts to highlight. So instead, we’ve compiled an easy-to-download compilation eBook of the most read leadership and communication articles of 2018.