When faced with a crisis, it’s necessary to shift direction and launch new tactics to give employees the news and information they need.

And when the crisis is over, your gut may tell you to ditch the new stuff you did and go back to your pre-battle communication strategy.

However, priorities and employee needs change, and your original plan may not align with where your organization is today.

So, before you decide on the path forward, take a moment to evaluate and be ready to change internal communication even more.

Here are three simple steps to help you get started:

1. Tap into the employee experience.
Employees’ expectations for internal communication often change during a crisis. Check in with them to find out how. Moderate a few focus groups with a mix of employees across your organization. You’ll identify communication practices and channels to keep, and where to make improvements.

For example, if employees say they valued the CEO’s weekly updates during the crisis, you may want to embed similar messages into existing channels.

2. Pick leaders’ brains.
Leaders (and people managers) are on the front line when it comes to helping employees get through difficult times. And they have great insights into how communication helps during a crisis.

Set up a series of one-on-one interviews to identify communication tactics that worked well and those that weren’t used. Where did their teams get stuck? What questions did they get from employees? And what should we do differently to engage employees in the future?

3. Look at your e-metrics.
Intranet, email and e-newsletter metrics can give you a pulse on the channels employees rely on. It can also help you identify channels that may have outlived their usefulness. 

For example, if the weekly COVID-19 email updates aren’t getting many opens, you may want to pare back the frequency or consolidate this info into other channels.