You wouldn’t install a fire alarm and not test it – it’s no different with Little Green Button. We always recommend scheduling regular test alerts to check that everything’s working as it should, and to help train your staff about what to do in an emergency.
Why should I run a test alert?
If any buttons are grey, you will need to investigate. It may be that there is currently no-one available to respond, or that the button is not connecting to other buttons. If an alert is not raised on a particular device, check that there aren’t any other buttons sharing the same location name.
A practice run allows everyone to understand how they can help in a panic situation, and gives them peace of mind that they can raise an alert and get assistance if they should need it.
Testing can help to flag up where Little Green Button may not be installed if you have recently replaced or upgraded any PCs.
Overall, a proactive approach means you can be prepared, so that if a real-life alert does occur, everyone knows what to do and has confidence in your agreed procedure for an alert.
How do I run a test alert?
We understand that every organisation will want to use Little Green Button slightly differently, and it’s completely up to you how you decide to make it part of your day-to-day, working life. Having said that, here’s some tips we’ve learned from over a decade of our users running alerts through Little Green Button.
Some users dedicate a time each week to run an alert practice, so that all staff know it is a practice and have it marked in their diary. On the other hand, you may prefer to set a different time each week or month, so that it feels more like a real life scenario.
Before the alert- staff should be adequately trained on what to do if the alert is raised. Little Green Button should be installed on all relevant devices.
During the alert- make sure your testing schedule allows for each button to be pressed, so that you know each relevant device can raise an alert. And also, ensure each device can respond to an alert too. You should check that each Little Green Button installation is correctly configured for its location.
After the alert- a team debrief is a good idea- it allows you to make any necessary changes to your procedures, contact Little Green Button support team if necessary, and it helps everyone to feel safe in an emergency situation.
If you have any questions at all – head to our Contact page.
There has been an outpouring of support for healthcare workers in the UK throughout 2020. The pandemic has changed the way people think of frontline workers and led to the creation of many campaigns designed to provide support and help for members of staff in the healthcare industry.
However, 2020 has also been an extremely challenging year for the NHS and wider healthcare sector. The pandemic itself has had serious impacts on care provision, and many areas are still identifying ways in which Covid-19 will affect them.
One key area that has unfortunately seen a sharp rise during the pandemic is workplace violence. A common issue even before the added stress of a pandemic, workplace violence is an increasingly worrying issue for many healthcare employers.
With mask-wearing requirements and social distancing measures in place and requiring enforcement, coupled with the increased pressure on the healthcare sector, violence in the workplace is something you really need to be thinking about.
Increasing violence and healthcare: the statistics
So, is Covid-19 causing an increase in incidents of workplace violence? It’s still early, but recent statistics and anecdotal evidence points to yes.
While the NHS Staff Survey for 2020 hasn’t been released yet, in the 2019 survey 9% of staff said they had experienced physical violence in the past year, up from 14.6% the year before.
For ambulance staff, the 2019 figure was 34% – a worrying trend as emergency healthcare becomes even more essential.
Mental health is a crucial issue during Covid-19, with lockdown measures affecting everyone. The 2019 NHS Staff Survey saw 20.2% of staff working in Mental Health or Learning Disability Trusts affected by workplace violence, an increase of over 5% compared to the average across the NHS.
New mask wearing guidelines are being cited as a common trigger for the increased workplace violence issues being reported.
As the pandemic continues to take its toll, there’s a lot more stress, uncertainty and anxiety around, especially in the healthcare sector. Are you prepared for patients with potentially much shorter fuses?
What are your workplace violence responsibilities as a healthcare employer?
As an employer, it’s essential that you understand your responsibilities to deal with and prevent workplace violence.
There are serious legal obligations on you as an employer to prevent threats and violence against your employees. You should be addressing this as part of your health and safety policies.
Within the NHS, as a response to the challenges of Covid-19, NHS England have stressed a “statutory duty of care”, and announced that by December 2020 an NHS violence reduction standard will be launched.
The Health and Safety Executive European guidance on preventing workplace harassment also applies. This details a number of key employer responsibilities, such as providing clear information on your policies to members of staff, explaining the support that’s available, and demonstrating that you’ve taken steps to prevent or control any risks.
So, how do you take steps to prevent workplace violence as an employer? Here are some of our tips:
Invest in training your staff. Proper training on de-escalation and conflict resolution can empower your staff to take ownership of safety issues. A focus on training and support on mental health for your staff will also have a big impact.
Focus on communication. Instigate support plans, encourage reporting, and have a system of regular check-ups with staff. Make sure that these communications are empathetic and sensitive. It’s a difficult and worrying time, so your aim should be to reassure and calm staff – not stress them out.
Identify problem areas. Receptionists and triage staff can often bear the brunt of workplace violence or threats. While your workplace violence policy must cover all employees, it’s effective to focus your resources on targeted support for those who most need it.
Look at your security measures. Are they appropriate? Do you need to invest in additional hardware or software security measures? Make sure your security measures are up to the task.
Think about physical changes if you can. For example, waiting rooms and reception desks could be redesigned to enhance safety. As you may be making changes to these areas anyway to enhance social distancing, now may be a good time to look at this.
Do you have enough security staff? You may be looking at staffing levels and increased security to ensure compliance with social distancing and occupancy rules – so is now a good time to look at your security levels?
How Little Green Button can help
Our software and hardware solutions provide a fast, discreet option for duress alarms, using your existing computers and networks.
Our panic alarm software solution is robust and easy to use. You can pair it with hardware buttons or keyboard shortcuts if you’d prefer. It’s the ideal solution for receptionists and triage areas with ready access to computers.
We also offer a mobile app which is perfect for roving members of staff who might not be staffing a fixed location.
With Little Green Button’s software, it’s easy to set up specific locations, groups and escalation paths, so the right person always responds.
As part of a robust strategy to protect your employees from increasing workplace violence, Little Green Button is the perfect panic alarm solution.
If you’d like to find out more about how Little Green Button could help with workplace violence in your healthcare setting, please get in touch.
Panic alarm systems are helping to save lives in the workplace and keep staff safe on a daily basis. Whether it’s the improved speed of response to a medical emergency or making sure the right people are in the right place to help de-escalate a potentially dangerous confrontation, they have proven their worth time and again.
But with a growing number of panic alarm systems available on the market, it can be difficult to choose the best option for your workplace. This is certainly not a “one size fits all” situation.
We’ve put together a list of questions for you to consider that we hope will help you narrow down your choices so you can identify the best system for your individual circumstances.
What do you need the system for?
What are the most likely scenarios your workforce might face that you hope a panic alarm system will help with? Do you have customer-facing staff who may be exposed to tricky face-to-face conversations with disgruntled customers? Do the general public have access to your premises? Does your team work in a high risk environment where the chance of injury or sudden illness is above average? Thinking through these questions is a sensible place to start.
Do you need direct contact with the emergency services?
Some systems can be tied into a direct response from emergency services. This may be suitable for some cases, but often situations can be resolved without having to draw on emergency resources.
Do you need an audible alarm?
For some scenarios, it’s important that a loud, audible alarm sounds to alert all members of staff that action is needed. However, in many cases, discretion is called for. Being able to silently call for help without drawing attention to the fact can prevent an aggressive member of the public feeling further aggravated.
Do you need a mobile app-only system, or would a desktop option also be helpful?
Some panic alarm systems are purely mobile-based. Whilst this can be really helpful, particularly for remote workers, there are some drawbacks. What if someone doesn’t have their phone with them, or the battery dies? What if you work somewhere where mobile phones are not permitted? A desktop option would be a better solution here.
But remember to compare the detail around desktop systems too. For example, will it still work when a computer is in screensaver mode and password protected? This ensures a colleague can raise an alert from any computer on the system, not just their own, potentially saving critical seconds in the event of an emergency.
How does the system identify someone’s location?
GPS tracking integrated into a mobile app can be very helpful in locating remote workers. But within an office environment, being able to narrow an alert to a particular office may be enough.
What is the connection technology?
Whilst most panic alarm systems these days are wireless, some may rely on having Wi-Fi or mobile signal. Whilst this is sufficient in most connected societies, there are still some instances where these signals can fail. If this is a likely scenario for your workers, check out other options including satellite, Bluetooth, or a hardwired system.
Is the system scalable?
Workforces do change over time. How easy would it be to add new personnel to your panic alarm system? How will this impact the overall cost? You don’t want to outgrow your system soon after having installed it.
Are updates free?
As with all technology, any panic alarm system worth its salt will be evolving and improving over time. Check that you will have access to the latest updates without having to pay for an upgrade each time. Otherwise, you may quickly be left with an out-of-date system.
What is the ongoing support like?
Reading reviews of systems and checking out the level of online support available is a good place to start. How easy is it to reach the support team? How responsive are they? Is there someone you can talk to if you have any problems? There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to get help with technology and meeting nothing but silence in return. In the worst scenario, it can render your entire system next to useless.
Is there a free trial?
One of the best ways to help finalise your decision as to which is the best panic alarm system for you is to trial it. Many companies will offer a free trial before you have to commit. This gives you the opportunity to see first-hand how the system works, put it through its paces and gather feedback from your colleagues.
The importance of getting it right
Choosing the wrong accounts package for your company can lead to frustration, wasted time and perhaps wasted money. But choosing the wrong panic alarm system can have much more serious implications. If a member of your team is unable to get the help they need when they need it, health and safety may be put at risk. So, it’s important to take the time to ask all of these questions before rushing into a buying decision.
Have you heard of virtual sports? This sub-niche of the sports betting industry had been here for years now, but it only saw the most significant growth in the past several months when most sporting events and leagues have been either cancelled or postponed. With the sudden absence of real sports to bet on, the presence of virtual sports has suddenly pushed to the spotlight. People needed something to fill the void that the cancellation of sports have made, and it was virtual sports that did the job for that.
Virtual sports have been played for almost a decade now. In fact, you can find several bookmakers that offer the opportunity to bet on virtual sports, long before the event of the pandemic cancellations. You can find out which bookmakers are offering virtual sports betting on the best review sites like Efirbet. Aside from that, you can also read on the best betting tips, bookmaker reviews, and special offers on this website.
Virtual sports is nothing different than the traditional sports betting that you may probably know already. It has the same rules, the same formats, and the same of almost everything–only that there are no real people involved and everything is virtual. If there is one thing that is definite about the world of virtual sports is that it will not go away anytime soon. Experts are looking at it as something that would be “here to stay.”
In an interview with the magazine Gambling Insider, NSoft Company co-CEO Dario Jurcic said that investors should allot more money in investing to thew virtual sports sub-niche, citing the changes the pandemic had brought in the world of online betting. He also added that companies ought to include virtual sports in the services they offer, or they risk eventually getting left behind in the market. To the uninitiated, NSfot is one of the biggest and most popular game software providers for online gaming and betting.
“There was a clear signal, even before the pandemic, that we need to invest more in virtual sports,” said Jurcic. “Our two new games will allow us to target more specific audiences and assure even higher year-on-year growth. Virtual sports will be very beneficial for operators during the pandemic. Companies that do no introduce virtual sports and virtual games, in general, will suffer an even higher decline of business.”
Jurcic also noted that virtual sports might eventually replace sports betting as we know it for several reasons, including the fact that it gets played out faster than real sports. It is available to bet on almost 24/7, if not completely round the clock. These are factors that not even live sports betting can replicate. As interactive and innovative the concept of live betting is, it is still tied to having a real game played out for bettors to have something to watch and bet on. Virtual sports, on the other hand, only needs software running. Also, with football being the most popular sports to bet on, it may very well be the main product that would carry virtual sports to more providers and bookmakers.
“Football is definitely the king of virtual sports,” Jurcic emphasized. “The demand for virtual sports nowadays is astonishing. We have been contacted by so many companies in the industry that are willing to introduce our products, and this is a clear sign that the business is and will continue to grow. The player demand is there, and that’s always the best driver. However, companies that introduced virtual sports before the pandemic will benefit more as they have built a stable player base by now. The ones that just introduced them will see slower growth but still will benefit a lot.”
Is there a time for providers to wait and sit out the adaption of virtual sports to their platforms?
“Now is the time to convert traditional sports betting fans to virtual sports,” Jurcic said.
Are you finding a new hobby to enjoy and get yourself busy with? Or perhaps you are looking to expand your interests and try an entirely new world you’ve never been to before? You can try online sports betting. Sports betting is one of the fastest-growing industries that lets you enjoy sports aside from either playing it or watching it. Sports betting had been an activity for a lot of people for hundreds of for years, and perhaps even older in some parts of the world. Today, through the help of modern technology and even social media, sports betting managed to remain a significant sub-culture through what is called online sports betting.
Online sports betting works the same as the traditional in-person sports betting, with the only difference being everything is done virtually and through the internet. There are still bookmakers, and this time they work through online sports betting apps you can download on your respective application stores, or a website you can visit through a mobile or desktop web browser. In online sports betting, you can also enjoy special offers and other forms of freebies, such as bonuses without a code by Silentbet.
But what makes online sports betting the best choice for your new hobby? Here are some of the top reasons.
You know it already
The chances are that you have at least made a bet on sports once or twice in your life. Or you may even be a regular on betting places for your favorite sports like football, basketball, or horse racing. You probably know what odds are, how they work, and how you can have odds work to your advantage. Either way, you have surely heard or experienced sports betting one way or the other.
Online sports betting is no different. The core elements of sports betting are still there, there is a sport you have to bet on, there are types of bets you can make, there are odds that you have to consider in making a bet, and there is, of course, the bookmaker which you will wager your money through.
Technology made it easier
Back in the day, the only way you can bet in sports is if you got out your way and go to the nearest betting place whenever there is a game going. It can be a hassle and especially if the game is a big one, the queue for the betting itself can be too long. By then, only two things might happen to you: one is you run out of time, and the bookie would close the best with you still far away from the queue, or you risk placing your bets through a shady “bookie” offering shady odds. No matter what happens to you between the two, you will end up losing money.
Online sports betting revolutionized all of these. Now, you can bet anywhere, and any time you want to. Even when on the go, you can check the odds and predictions, as long as you are connected to the internet. No need to go out your way on long nights, or to fall in a long queue just to place your bet. You can do all of these, and actually even more, from the comfort of your own home through your respective devices.
There are always bonuses and special offers
One thing that bookies in an in-person betting place do not offer is bonuses. There is simply no form of bonuses or loyalty rewards here, no matter how long you’ve played under the same bookie.
However, online sports betting bookmakers often provide freebies, discounts, and special offers that not only give you more chances to bet but also entices you to stay longer and bet more under the same bookie.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) manages the delivery of health- and human-related services for all North Carolinians. They are especially involved with helping those more vulnerable citizens – the elderly, disabled, children, and low-income families. The Department works closely with health care professionals, community leaders and advocacy groups; local, state and federal entities; and many other stakeholders to make this happen.
The Challenge
Given the often-sensitive nature of their work, the NCDHHS required a discreet escalation system that could add another level of security to their existing protocols. They needed an enterprise-level solution that could be rolled out across multiple, remote locations, as they have over 30 different sites throughout North Carolina.
Each building needed the ability to send alerts internally, without notifying other sites (although this functionality could be configured if needed). They also required specific escalation paths for each individual building, so that named teams could be alerted in a certain order (in case the first team is unable to respond, for example).
The Success
Little Green Button was very successfully deployed and implemented across multiple NCDHHS sites. For this enterprise-level solution, we were able to offer a hands-on approach to the installation and set-up, ensuring that the software was configured alongside their complex security needs. Staff are more safe and secure at work, and they’ve now been using Little Green Button for a number of years – they are consistently happy with the level of service and safety provided.
Moving to a new place can be both exciting and scary at the same time. You’ll be looking forward to starting your new life in a new location but at the same time, will have much more on your plate than a local move. Norfolk is one of the most charming places in England with an unspoilt coastline that many like to visit. If you haven’t considered moving to Norfolk, you might want to reconsider.
In this guide, I am going to offer some tips for moving to Norfolk that you might want to take on board. Read on to hear some of my local tips.
Where to Move To
Norfolk is a large place and so you’ll need to decide on where is best to life. Will you opt for Norwich, the inland villages or possibly the Norfolk Broads? Ideally, we would suggest that you opt for the inland villages as there are some truly stunning ones to choose from. They fall within the Norfolk coast AONB and have unspoilt countryside that you’ll fall in love with. Don’t just move to the big towns, consider what is really on offer in Norfolk.
Start Early
Many of the homes in Norfolk are stunning and have a reasonable amount of space but if you have a lot of things, you might find that the move is slightly harder to manage than you might think. For example, if you are travelling from London, the drive will take you more than 2 hours so if you can’t get everything in the moving van, the entire moving process is going to be more difficult. For this reason, I would recommend that you invest in a storage space.This way, you can keep some of your things there and move over a longer period of time.
Make an Effort with Your Neighbours
Another tip that I have for those who are planning on moving to Norfolk is to remember that this is more of a countryside area. The great thing about these areas is that usually, the communities are strong, and neighbours look after each other. That is, of course, if you are friendly and make an effort to become a part of the community. Some people might not appreciate you moving from a big city with large moving vans blocking their roads. Try to make a good first impression and it will get you off to the best possible start.
Get to Know the Place
Finally, I would suggest that you spend some time getting to know the area that you are moving to before you go. You’ll need to know where the best schools are and ensure you have a job that you can commute to. The best schools might not be nearby your new property and so you’ll need to make arrangements for your children to get there every day. Having a car is ideal in this area to get around as public transport isn’t always convenient. There are plenty of guides online that you can use to find out where the best attractions and beauty spots are, so make sure to check them out.
Get Moving
Norfolk is one of the best places that you can move to in England so why not start planning your move today? You should make sure to take on board the tips that I have given you if you want the move to be a successful one. Once you get settled in, you’ll never want to leave these countryside towns.
The coronavirus pandemic has led to so many changes in all of our lives across almost everything we do every single day. One of the most noticeable things that has changed as the global Covid-19 pandemic progresses and rolls on is the move of more businesses and brands than ever to the online space. Although many businesses had already been making their moves to the online business world, the pandemic has accelerated this move many-fold.
Interestingly, this has meant that businesses that would otherwise not necessarily be considered ‘online businesses’ have also had to join the other, potentially more adaptable businesses. In practice, businesses from commodities recruiters to cleaning businesses have had to adapt to this ever-increasing online transition and move like they could never have expected.
Part of what all businesses moving online have found is that not only have they needed to speed up all they are doing to get online on the first place (for those that previously were not or who barely were) but that competition is stiffer and more difficult than ever.
With more businesses competing online and fighting for customers, sales, transactions, engagement and business, online marketing in the UK and globally has exploded in popularity.
The primary methods of online marketing being used by both businesses like those that were traditionally offline like letting agents as well as the likes of already online businesses are:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) – The gold standard of online marketing, but also the method which takes the longest to show tangible results, SEO is the method which unlocks the true potential of search engines like Google, Bing and others. Getting higher up on search engines is what SEO does and with higher positions under a business’ belt, the conversions and sales stream in
Paid Marketing – This includes the likes of Googles pay-per-click where businesses bid for selected keywords and phrases, paying for each time a user clicks on their ad. Although potentially fast and effective, this can be very costly, with some keywords costing more than £150 per click in very competitive industries. Paid marketing also includes paid for social media ads which can be run for fairly low cost, targeting specific niches of people and potential customers across the globe
Influencer Marketing – This method of marketing is more suitable for products and ‘physical’ items and services. Thus, it is not suitable for some businesses like publishers and accountants. However, with the right influencer, with the right audience and demographic and with the right campaign, influencer marketing can instantly get you in front of potentially millions of people
There is no ‘best’ method of online marketing. Some businesses will take one of the above methods whereas others will take all and will invest considerable sums of money into very sizable campaigns. What is most important is to think about the goals and ambitions of the business in question. It is also key to be aware of any budgetary constraints and to be realistic.
If you can only spend a few hundred pounds per month, in an industry where others are spending many thousands or even tens of thousands, you can still succeed, but it will likely take longer and will require a laser like focus on the key goals and aims you are seeking to achieve.
It is also crucial that businesses are aware that what works for one business may not necessarily work well for another and with that in mind, take the time required to consider, think about and assess and potential paid or earned online media campaign for any business.
Reducing stock frees up cash which could be better spent elsewhere. Rather than give a list of tips of how to improve, this article demonstrates a real-life example of how stock was significantly reduced.
It focuses on mechanical seals, an engineering component which (in my layman terms) stops things from leaking.
The Application
A chemical manufacturer with multiple process plant where the mechanical seals supplied largely from one supplier. There was a long-term relationship with the supplier, and no intention of switching away from them for many reasons.
The Problem
Stock levels reached £160,000
Large diversity of seals purchased and stocked
Use of (expensive) exotic materials
Mechanical seals are indirect goods which don’t directly add value to customers. Having such a high value of capital tied up in the stock was an inefficient use of the company’s resources.
Similarly, there was a disconnect between the seals used across the plant and what was kept in stock, meaning some applications were left without access to critical parts but others had a surplus of availability.
Additionally, the supplier had little knowledge of what we kept in stock and why, meaning we were underutilising their ability to support us.
The Solution
I formed a cross-functional team including a Reliability Engineer and the Stores Manager and two Sales Engineers from the supplier. Together, we listed all the applications on site and the specification of their seals.
We listed all the different types of seals and looked to see if any could be consolidated. From that, we compared the stocked items to the quantity of seals installed on site.
We also compared it to the items that the supplier regularly stocked at their premises. From this, we were able to build a list of what was readily available from them and how many we needed to keep in stock to cover the quantity of installed units on plant.
For seals with exotic elements we reviewed the options for stocking only the rare parts. In future, we would ship these parts to the supplier for them to make a complete unit using the additional, common parts. This would then be urgently shipped back to site for installation.
The Outcome
We had a list of all mechanical seal applications on site and an accurate Bill of Materials for spare parts.
We were also utilising the supplier much more effectively, with access to their extensive stock of parts.
The major outcome was we reduced the stockholding by £43,555 or 28%.
Hopefully, this has given insight into practical ways to reduce inventory in challenging areas. If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call on 07588 071975
Tudor Lodge Consultants is pleased to announce that we are working with Lending Expert (https://www.lendingexpert.co.uk/) The company helps find your eligibility for the cheapest loans, mortgages, credit cards and a whole range of credit products online. Lending Expert is looking to boost its website ranking on search engines and improve its overall existing SEO strategy, through the expertise of our white hat SEO specialists, maximising user experience and rankings on Google.
What Work We Have Done
Working closely with a team of experienced developers, we updated their site to have SEO (search engine optimisation) at its core. By ensuring that all content throughout the site is new as well as being up-to-date for SEO and best online practices, we are helping Lending Expert slowly to achieve their goals.
The first port of call was to confirm the right keywords for Lending Experts and we concluded that long-tail keywords were the best option, given the huge competition from the likes of GoCompare, MoneySupermarket and Compare The Market.
Hence, finding keywords that are long-tail in nature and very specific, such as keywords that also include phrases such as London, bad credit, a specific loan amount, secured or unsecured. We believe that together we have a better chance of ranking top for these and they should also convert better.
Our next steps is to integrate these keywords into the landing pages, creating new landing pages in some cases or re-writing existing ones and including these keywords in the meta-titles, headings and content where possible.
A full technical fix-up of the site is key, looking at over 3,000 pages and guides and making sure everything is fixed head-to-toe including meta-titles, descriptions, headings, image alt-text, sitemaps, internal linking and more.
Plus, we continue to tidy up the link building profile by manually removing poor quality links from the Lending Expert site and replacing them with clean ones from news and financial authority websites.
We are currently in month one of the campaign and implementing a full fix-up of the website and we expect the rankings to slowly take shape, with a good algorithm update in the next 6 months to give the site and important boost.
As I read the email from my usual supermarket, the third I had received in as many weeks, it struck me that a month ago, I would probably have simply deleted it as irrelevant when it landed in my inbox. How times have changed, and with it, our thirst for knowledge.
They say knowledge is power and indeed, it can feel like it in these unprecedented times. The more access we have to relevant and factual information, the more able we are to make the right decisions and do the right things to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe. And the more able we are to make a difference for society as a whole.
And so now, more than ever, organisations need to engage people through effective communications. As well as giving people the information they need – such as the Tesco CEO is doing in letting me know how can I pick up the food my family needs safely – we also need to take people with us, including on the journey that we all now find ourselves on.
So how can we engage people through our communications, keeping connected to our staff and customers, through this and beyond? Here are some key principles:
Make it consistent: striking a balance between information overload and too few updates is important. We need to maintain regular channels of communication, and ensure that a communications void doesn’t open up between us and our staff and customers;
Make it factual, clear, and accessible: we need to be really clear on the facts, particularly at a time when there is so much confusion, false messaging, myths and legends around. Through clarity – including and especially in language use – we can make our messages accessible to the widest possible audience – which is vital. We have a duty to not exclude anyone from the messages we are sharing;
Be positive: we know that things are tough right now but it’s ok to be positive in our communications. We can be hopeful, which leads us onto…
Reassure: people are desperate for reassurance and whilst we can’t and shouldn’t give false hope we can give reassurance around what we can and will do;
Invite feedback and questions: people will want more information, and may have questions, and this is important as communications and engagement isn’t a one way street, it’s a two way dialogue. But – and this leads us on to…
Be realistic: our customer service, and indeed other services – understandably – may be creaking at the seams. It’s ok to say so and manage expectations around response times;
Be collaborative: our communications messages should at all times, and now more so than ever, have an equality to them. We are working together in partnership.
Perhaps though one of the most important qualities which comes through the best communications at this time is authenticity, the human touch. We are all going through something which is at turns confusing, scary, and upsetting. Sharing company messages with a human touch instantly allows us to connect to others: and we all need to feel connected, especially now.
May you stay safe and stay well at this time, knowing this too shall pass.