#d2mtalk in conversation with Stephan Probst: About effective communication in times of crisis

Here is a brief summary of the key points from this fascinating discussion.

The starting point

• In times of crisis, familiar patterns, schemas, and rules of communication no longer seem to work. Uncertainty and fear are widespread, and there is a lack of confidence in the future. Solutions are sought, but they are not obvious or easy to find.
• At the same time, economic pressure is growing rapidly. Costs remain almost unchanged, while revenues are falling, often to almost zero or even zero.

This situation attracts opportunists who lure people with false promises and offer supposedly surefire solutions that will allow them to make money quickly and easily.

• (We have some examples of this that we will present here soon—some of them are very funny, others quite frightening).
• The temptations are great. But they can also destroy a lot: trust, customer relationships, reputation, competence, and much more.

What are the alternatives?

• Communicate clearly, concisely, and above all, honestly! The most important principle: don't gamble away trust! Build trust and use it!
• What does your counterpart need? Focus on their requirements, wishes, and needs! Now more than ever!
• Talk to them! Talk to everyone you already know well. And talk to as many new people as possible!
• What should you talk about? Talk about the advantages you can offer! Talk about REAL advantages.
• How should you talk? Use the media that your counterpart is using NOW! And right now, that means DIGITAL!

If you need to act quickly

This works particularly well with SHORT communication, i.e., messages that you can convey in extremely short moments and attention spans. And these can also be implemented at SHORT NOTICE.

Is communication changing fundamentally?

That would be nice. In any case, our recommendation is: don't be tempted to work with meaningless messages and promises. Once trust has been lost, it is difficult to rebuild. Now it is important to speak openly and honestly, clearly and emphatically, directly and closely with your clients, friends, and partners. Solutions can be found above all in the good and well-founded design of digital media.

For good solutions in this sense to be successful, they must be well thought out, designed, and developed. This then offers the opportunity to achieve better communication overall and, hopefully, a better media situation and perhaps even a better world: a world in which the best solutions are built, understood, and accepted by everyone. But there is still a lot of hard work to be done before we get there; it won't happen by itself. Let's get to it.