Are we over-communicating COVID-19?

The answer is no. And absolutely yes. Let me explain.

We all know that employees are not monolithic. My own time doing hundreds of focus groups and surveys reveals this simple truth: For all the employees who say please stop, you’re communicating too much, there are others who say they’re in the dark and complain they don’t know what’s going on.

So even though we talk about being more efficient and eliminating redundancy (which I wholeheartedly support), it turns out that some repetition may be valuable to reach the greatest number of people.

But here’s the “yes” part of my answer: People can feel quickly overwhelmed, especially with a topic that carries such emotional weight. Add fear to the equation – of illness, of safety, of losing one’s job – and too much information can quickly reach the point of diminishing returns.

Many companies are doing this well, and more are finding their way every day. I break it down into three kinds of messages:

1. Facts and information. People want facts, and they want them in real time. Best channel: the intranet, with a regular, consistent daily update that everyone can rely on and easily access. Push them there. This is what Brett Lutz from ADM calls “a single source of truth.”