CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
How to Instill a ‘Crisis Attitude’ in Your Team During COVID
As hospital marketers and communicators navigate the COVID-19 pandemic’s many ups and downs, it’s critical that they adopt and maintain a “crisis attitude.”
This mindset is built upon the four pillars of trustworthiness, transparency, authenticity and proactivity, with each interconnected and rooted in credibility, said consultant John Deveney, an expert in crisis communications. He says there is a lot of uncertainty, loss and grief in communities across the nation, but hospitals have the ability to sort through the fog by focusing on facts, figures and their long-established brands.
“You have more eyes on you, more attention, more scrutiny during a crisis than any other time, and it’s critical that you’re true to your brand values,” said Deveney. “Credibility has always been the coin of the realm. For hospitals and care providers, it is the oxygen needed to survive.”
Here is a quick look at Deveney’s four recommendations to instill this “crisis attitude” on your marketing and communications team.
1. Trustworthiness: “Hospitals are already one of the most trustworthy sources in the community in what has become a really heated political climate,” he advised. “It’s crucial to communicate in a nonpartisan way, at all costs. The environment that we’re all facing is highly politically charged and hospitals have an amazing opportunity in this situation because they can serve as the voice of truth while avoiding any political linkages when providing information.”
This should include a singular focus on caring for the community and sharing up-to-date and accurate information on the pandemic. Communicators should avoid any urge to inject politics into reporting facts such as case numbers, intensive care unit beds available, personal protective equipment realities, or funding shortages.
“Hospitals are about saving lives and caring for people and that mission has an inherent trustworthiness,” Deveney said. “That’s the high ground and that’s incredibly valuable real estate in the world that we find ourselves in.”
2. Authenticity: Constituents associate hospitals with some of their most profound moments of joy and sadness. Moments that are already “rich in authenticity” and that ingrain these institutions in the fabric of the community. “This authenticity is so crucial, and hospitals have the ability to leverage it,” Deveney said.
One way hospitals can do so is through how they work with the media. He recommends developing strong relationships with local reporters and building a deep bench of trained clinical and non-clinical spokespeople, rather than using just one leader, who might become the unintentional face of the COVID crisis for the organization. Hospitals can craft their own set of talking points for speaking with the media but allow each individual spokesperson to interpret those points themselves, and color them with their own personality. This includes telling stories of how much the institution cares for its patients and showcasing examples of individuals who have experienced this genuineness.
“When the community sees hospital leaders or hospital employees, are they two-dimensional cutouts from hospital brochures, or are they real people with lives, families, experiences, passions and issues that matter to them?” Deveney asked.
This also translates well to owned and shared media. Hospitals must ensure that authenticity is being reflected on their videos, websites, newsletters, digital banners, signs and social media. And in 2020, it expands to other instances beyond COVID-19, such as the social justice movement. “Certainly, that issue is central to the lives of many employees, physicians, patients and members of the community,” Deveney said. “By recognizing it and giving oxygen and space to the topic, hospitals are letting their people be more authentic. Authenticity really is about being part of the community and aware of things that are outside of your purview.”
3. Transparency: “The transparency piece is critical, given the spread of COVID-19, and the politicizing of some of the health mandates like mask wearing,” Deveney said. “This is where hospitals have a chance to be a reliable source of information and truth. Communicators must be open and honest about what’s happening during a crisis. They must be willing to share even the most difficult news with patients and the community through the media and other sources in order to keep them updated about what they need to know,” Deveney said.
Of course, there will be situations where they cannot share certain details because of HIPAA or other restrictions. When that’s the case, Deveney urged providers to engage with any pointed questions and speak frankly. Even when they cannot operate with complete openness, hospital communicators must remain transparent about the forces or regulations that are restricting their ability to share.
4. Proactivity: Hospitals should be proactive in times like these about communicating with their patients and the community through the media and other sources. One of the ways communicators can do this is by reaching out to reporters to make frontline health care providers available for interviews to provide the latest information on the hospital’s response to the pandemic and to provide ongoing education about action steps they should be taking to keep themselves and others safe. This also helps to position the hospital’s clinicians as medical experts during the crisis, Deveney added.
Hospital communicators can also distribute public service announcements and be active in posting relevant content on social media. He recommends holding regular communication briefings with the media to “break your own news.”
As part of being proactive, Deveney recommends creating a COVID-19 frequently asked questions (FAQ) page or microsite that houses all pandemic resources in one place. When inquiries bubble up, they can be directed to that central resource hub. FAQs could include hospital safety protocols, details on visitor policies, temperature testing and mask requirements.
Deveney also advocated for providing a “release valve” for your stakeholders during the pandemic. This could be done on the health system’s Facebook page or a comment section tied to the FAQs. By doing so, hospitals allow patients and community members to ask questions and even express frustrations through vehicles the hospital has some level of control over.
“You actually want people to vent on a channel you know and control,” he said. “By managing these instances properly, it gives you a chance to control the message, and when it’s your turf, you can set the rules.”
This article features an interview with:
John Deveney
President
DEVENEY
New Orleans
Image credits: istockphoto.com/JJ Gouin | istockphoto.com/golfcphoto