Here's how you can prepare proactively for unexpected challenges in Internal Communications.

The best way to avoid unpleasant surprises is to make sure that risk assessment is a key activity during planning. For instance, If you are working on an IC plan for an upcoming employee recognition event, identify areas of concern against each comms variable. Against target audience, the risk could be lack of interest or unavailability of time. Once you do that, plan how you want to overcome that. Similarly, against frequency, weekly/bi-monthly communications could be too little and/or daily communications could be too much - plan for either of those situations. You should also assess your comms channels - Is emailing enough or should you also consider the intranet, social etc.?

Preparation and Planning: Develop a comprehensive crisis communication plan that outlines roles, responsibilities, and procedures for responding to different types of crises. Identify potential risks and scenarios, establish communication channels, and train key personnel to ensure readiness. Response Team: Form a dedicated crisis response team comprising senior executives, communications professionals, legal advisors, and relevant stakeholders. Designate a spokesperson who will serve as the primary point of contact for media inquiries and external communications.

This is critical. Many times, IC teams are lean, and we are faced with one point of failure across our teams (e.g., only one person knows how to send mass emails, only one knows how to get a press release out, only one knows how to access the company's social accounts). This is a recipe for disaster and limited IC teams from learning new skills. Training the team for unexpected challenges, includes cross-training them, too!

Things change so quickly that it’s important to have tech in place to share, review and edit content at lightning speed. Also being able to add people as reviewers or editors helps avoid too many comments.

Adaptability and Flexibility: Remain flexible and adaptable in your response to the crisis as the situation evolves. Be prepared to adjust your messaging, tactics, and strategies based on new developments, feedback, and emerging challenges.

Timely and Transparent Communication: Communicate promptly and transparently with all stakeholders, including employees, customers, investors, and the media. Provide accurate information, acknowledge the situation's severity, and share updates regularly to keep everyone informed.