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Coronavirus: The Corporate Culture Challenge

As more of us are forced to work from home, how we communicate internally is becoming ever more critical.

These are unprecedented times; indeed, a working environment unlike anything I’ve experienced in my lifetime. ‘Out of office’ has taken on a whole new meaning and the challenge we, as communications experts face, is how to maintain our company culture and values. We must ensure our employees feel engaged, supported, and productive, while also trying to keep them safe and healthy by asking them to work from home for an unspecified length of time.

Working from home is nothing new for many but for those of us who are still ‘office-bound’, I can assure you it takes a bit of getting used to.

My company was an early adopter of social distancing measures as the coronavirus pandemic unfolded, and those of us that can are now into our fourth week of working from home. Internal communication has been our focus for maintaining our company cohesiveness, and collaborative platforms, such as Microsoft Teams, now play a central role in our day to day activities. Our intranet, which isn’t well used, has been resurrected as the critical internal comms tool for the organisation – a place where we can share best practice, lessons learned and anecdotes on our experiences in this strange new world. The result – an intranet that the whole organisation feels a sense of ownership for, and no longer seen as the Comms Team’s responsibility.  

The old BT slogan “it’s good to talk” has never been more apt; we encourage video calls wherever possible, where previously the temptation would have been to send a faceless email. We have daily Microsoft Teams meetings and a weekly all-staff briefing from the CEO, where our 200 plus staff can tune in to hear (and see) the latest from the Leadership Team. Our ‘Lunch & Learns’ have moved online, and my team had its first ‘virtual’ drinks on Friday, as we celebrated a couple of milestone birthdays. Three-minute video blogs, online afternoon coffee breaks and quizzes, and a virtual cake bake are the new norms. Let’s see how successful that last one is!

Don’t get me wrong – video call meeting fatigue now often replaces physical meeting fatigue. So it’s essential to make sure regular breaks, fresh air and exercise are an integral part of our daily working routine.  

There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we work; whether temporarily or permanently remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that good internal communications tools and tactics are vital in ensuring a company’s corporate culture survives and thrives.

Lee Madigan, Vice-Chair, PRCA Scotland and Head of Communications at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.