We want to reach out and provide some information during what is a difficult and uncertain period for many people.

Of course, everyone’s health is the top priority and we’re taking all the recommended precautions to minimise risk to our team, our clients, our suppliers and others who we interact with.

• Our team have been fully briefed and educated on best hygiene practices
• Some of the team may be working from home
• We’ll be minimising face-to-face meetings and using video conferencing more

We’ll be monitoring this evolving situation on an ongoing basis and altering our practices to minimise the health risk.

How will this impact our clients?

As we implement various strategies, communication may be a little slower than we’d like. In a period of adjustment like this, we’ll take some time to see how we might work most efficiently to deliver the services you require.

Our supply chains will be relatively unaffected, although we do anticipate delays in promotional material development.

Business challenges

We understand that for some businesses marketing may be a costly exercise that may not be feasible as the situation escalates, however for others it may be essential.

Either way we are here to help you with anything you may require.

We’re currently assessing how we can mitigate the risks/expenses for all of our clients that are being impacted. We’re finding suppliers are very receptive and understanding of cancellations/date changes, etc.

What you might consider doing

As someone well-versed in health-issue crisis management via marketing hospitals I have some actions you might like to consider for your business during this time.

Communicate

1. Clear and honest communication is key
2. Communicate with your employees and your audiences (clients, suppliers, etc)
3. Communicate in all ways available to you – via email, social channels, phone calls and snail mail

Be consistent, be accurate and withhold nothing.

Respond to concerns immediately

Keep across the channels you communicate via to engage in dialogue as feedback/questions/concerns come in.

Stay informed

The Department of Health provides excellent updated advice here.
The only course of action businesses can take is following medical advice.
The World Health Organisation has this excellent document “Getting workplace ready”.

How to work from home

Working from home may well require a major mindset shift. We have a couple of the team working remotely (Melbourne and Sydney) and have put together some quick tips:

1. Make sure the right tech is in place

Can the team member access files?
If their Internet fast enough?
Is their connection to your server (if you do that) secure?
Do they have video conferencing capability? Skype and Google Meet are our favourites.
Are communication/management tools (such as Slack or Asana (this is what we use and recommend) or Basecamp) set up?

2. Document everything and have easy access for everyone

One of the big challenges for working remotely is everyone having access to information. Document everything and ensure the entire team has access to files and data.

3. Set the right tone from the start

Expectations in terms of availability, targets, responsibilities and more should be communicated very clearly right from the start. Trust is a key component for working remotely.

Take care and all the best. Please let us know if we can assist.