COVID 19 – when communications and policy diverge

In a crisis, communications and policy are usually two sides of the same coin. In early April I wrote COVID 19 – when communications and policy collide which looked at what had and hadn’t worked from a communications point of view. Written not long after lockdown began, a lot has happened since, so where are we now?

Two major events have dominated communications and policy this month; the change in messaging emphasis as lockdown restrictions begin to be eased, and the furore surrounding the actions of the Prime Minister’s Chief Adviser, Dominic Cummings.  A number of communications issues have emerged.

Clarity, Consistency, and Completeness

If you are going to change the message, especially one which was worked effectively to date, the change needs to be clear, and complete wherever possible. Setting policies, and communicating these policies to a worried and sometimes confused public, is not always easy.

In moving from ‘Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives’ to ‘Stay Alert, Control The Virus, Save Lives’ in mid-May there was a gap of 1-2 days between the message from the Prime Minister on Sunday 11th May and a detailed explanation of what this actually meant.

It’s not only nature that abhors a vacuum The public did too, and people started to fill in the gaps themselves, with inevitably different results. If the guidelines had been available at the same time as the announcement then this confusion could have been avoided.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only communications issue relating to this announcement. Using tactics reminiscent of a political campaign, not the management of a global pandemic, relaxation of the restrictions was trailed, unnecessarily and without attribution, in advance of the Sunday announcement. The change in messaging seemed to take place without much or any discussion with devolved administrations, local government, or any other key agencies.

Following newspaper headlines on 8 May, local government director Peter Holt wrote in his excellent blog Proud of my Profession :

“I’m outraged that the Government through it’s advance briefing of papers on Wednesday for Thursday headlines, and the instruction before the three day weekend to remove the ‘stay at home’ messaging, is giving badly mixed messaging.

“These things matter. I think thousands possibly millions of Brits are going to start relaxing immediately, through the weekend, well ahead of whatever the PM actually says at 7pm on Sunday evening.”

The ongoing interpretations of ‘Stay Alert’ a less clear message than ‘Stay Home’, have diluted the impact of both communications and policies.

Credibility and Contrition

Whichever way you look at it, the events and messages surrounding Dominic Cummings have been extraordinary. Whatever your views on the rights and wrongs of his actions and explanation of them, in communications terms a number of things could have been done differently.

If you are going to explain yourself, go early when the story is in its infancy. Don’t dig in until the story has snowballed and you are ‘advised’ to explain yourself by your boss.

If you are explaining yourself as an individual employee, separate from Government policy, don’t hold a media conference in the Rose Garden at 10 Downing Street.

Make sure you give your side of the story early (DC has stated he should have said something earlier) and in its entirety.  If information comes out in stages it can generate suspicion. That isn’t necessarily fair, but it does happen.

Be very aware of the credibility of what you are saying, how it might be received, and how it will impact future public behaviour. In a media storm perception is just as important as reality. The Barnard Castle eye test jokes will do the rounds for some time to come.

Be contrite – saying sorry for your actions, and meaning it, however much you believed in them originally, can be enormously powerful, and will help many people move on. Humility and humanity go hand in hand. But just being sorry for the way others have perceived your actions is almost always counter productive.

None of this is easy, but for some reason avoidable cracks are starting to appear in the communications vital to managing a crisis effectively.