COMMUNICATION IMPACT ON LEADERSHIP DURING THE TIME OF COVID 19 PANDEMIC

The current Covid 19 Pandemic has impacted all the industries around the world and tested all the political, economic, social, health care system etc where everyone pushed to look at their work and social life in a different angle and rethink of solutions that were currently being practiced.

Global Covid-19 pandemic has become a crisis which has been affected most of the countries and organizations and enable the communities, governments and the employees of the organizations to pursue the guidance of their particular leaders in overcoming the challenges. (Dirani et al., 2020). In positive notes Covid-19 is possible to interpret as a leadership test that only the leaders with astonishing leadership potentials will conquest the provided professional and personal challenges. (McKinsey & Company, 2020)

According to (Klann, 2003) the major themes of a crisis, leadership are Communication, clarity of vision and values and caring relationships which enable leaders to control the situation by creating a minimum harm to the organization.

Communication plays a big part in every model or the path that a leader takes to achieve organizational goals in the pandemic period. Leaders’ words, actions and assistants can help employees feel safe in their employment and to work on achieving the goals of the organization.

Ana Mendy, Mary Lass Stewart, and Kate Van Akin (April 17, 2020) in an article titled A leader’s guide: Communication with teams, stakeholders, and communities during Covid -19, five important factors were pointed out in crisis communication for leaders.

The Five Factors 

1. Give people what they need, when they need it. People’s information needs to evolve in a crisis, so should a good communicator’s messaging. Different forms of information can help listeners to stay safe, cope mentally, and connect to a deeper sense of purpose and stability.

2. Communicate clearly, simply, and frequently. A crisis limits people’s capacity to absorb information in the early days. Focus on keeping listeners safe and healthy. Then repeat, repeat, repeat.

3. Choose candour over charisma. Trust is never more important than in a crisis. Be honest about where things stand, don’t be afraid to show vulnerability, and maintain transparency to build loyalty and lead more effectively.

4. Revitalize resilience. As the health crisis metastasizes into an economic crisis, accentuate the positive and strengthen communal bonds to restore confidence.

5. Distill meaning from chaos. The crisis will end. Helping people make sense of all that has happened. Establish a clear vision, or mantra, for how the organization and its people will emerge.

Today everything is information and most of the leaders communicate with their employees through online methods. Therefore, it is the trust that has built up many years between employees and employers will help them reach the organizational goals in crisis time. The right information to the right person and communicating it in an understandable manner helps to maintain that trust. Communication is never a one-way path. It is always a two-way path. Therefore, receiving honest opinions, suggestions and ideas on things that can improve the organization in a crisis period is very important while conveying the right comment on the employee’s progress to motivate and encourage them during a pandemic.  Also, information sharing with all the stakeholders is vital for a business to succeed and receive investment for the betterment.

Covid 19 pandemic also hit the financial and economics of the orgernization and individuals with the uncertainty rise among the stakeholders. Therefore, leaders need to instill resilience in people and tap and gain sources of hope, trust and optimism in order to unlock creativity and build positive sentiments. Also acknowledging your employees publicly, talking to them one on one, and appreciating them through personal thanking notes will go a long way making employees and other stakeholders feel part of something meaningful and important which will help in building resilience.

People adapt when given meaning and hope to look forward to. For many, the place they work is a powerful source of identity and meaning. According to research (Thomas A Wright, 2009), meaning and associated well-being can explain up to 25 percent of performance. In a crisis situation driving all the employees or the other stakeholders towards a meaningful story of their orgernization through common culture, clear goals, walking the talk and helping employees to create successful individual stories. The common purpose of the orgernization can be turned into individual goals through fostering dialogue between employees can help leaders to drive the employees towards achieving goals in a crisis situation.

 Reference: 

Thomas A. Wright, “More than meets the eye: The role of employee well-being in organizational research,” Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 143–54, oxfordhandbooks.com.