As the sterilisation programme unrolls in the UAE, there have been many mixed messages on what the current guidelines, advice and indeed, the law, now are regarding public movement and social distancing. From what I’ve seen on social media (and in person from my own garden), most people understand that we are supposed to be at home day and night, except for essential visits to the supermarket or pharmacy, and for essential workers. However there are a huge number of people who still believe it is ok to be exercising – running, cycling, walking their dogs, or taking the children out for a stroll, contrary to the messages shared by Dubai Police. I myself posted on our community Facebook group to ascertain public opinion, and it really is divided. At the same time, newspapers and online outlets have been sharing contradictory stories and visual graphics which have been shortened and therefore do not contain the full information. This demonstrates a fundamental flaw with current messaging across the country, because the public remain divided, uncertain, and not sure who or what to trust. Social media is awash with different opinions and beliefs, and in the current pandemic situation, this has serious implications for the health and wellbeing of all of us in the UAE.
So what do we need to do to ensure that the correct information is out there, and that people believe it and share it further – and ultimately buy into the message, and stay home? Keeping things very simple at such a time, there are three key elements to informing the public, building confidence and inspiring trust…
1. Clarity
The message needs to be really clear. No big words or fancy English, just very clear instruction on what can be done, and what can’t be done. Spell out the rules/guidelines in plain English, and leave no room for confusion. Run the message past a selection of people outside of the organisation and see if any questions arise, if so, it needs to be clearer. There should be no room at all for doubt.
Keep it short, break it down to multiple messages – numbers or bullet points – if necessary, to ensure that people don’t automatically shorten on social media and lose part of your message. Create your own visual graphic with the message with your logo so that people can see it’s official, and it contains all the information, and if you can create a video with the same message (if you don’t others will, and they may not transfer the same meaning to your messages).
2. Consistency
Communicate regularly. Boris is doing a fantastic job of this in the UK, with his daily briefing. Publicise when you will be communicating, and do it at set regular intervals, even if you have nothing new to say. This builds confidence, people see you as a leader who honours commitments, who prioritises outreach and community, and who is taking the situation seriously. If you are a trusted resource of information that is updated regularly, the public are more likely to look to you first for information, rather than googling or turning to Twitter (and who knows what misinformation they’ll find there).
Make sure you are using social media effectively, which means not only broadcasting announcements, but also responding to queries and inaccuracies/false news. In these current times, this is likely to be much more time consuming, and you may need extra support to keep up, but it’s the only way to manage the information that is out in the public, and continue to build trust and confidence.
3. Transparency
You have to be honest, if there’s no update or new information, say so! If you don’t know the answer to something, or are not confident talking about a certain subject, say so! People understand how things work, and will respect you more if you put your hands up to the things you don’t know the full details to, or if you direct them elsewhere for more information – it’s not a sign of weakness or a lack of ability – and people know that.
If you are using social media, you need to remember that it is a two-way street, a dialogue, not a place for a megaphone broadcast. if you consistently share messages on social media without engaging, you will not gain the trust or confidence of your audience and therefore your messages will be lost. Being honest, and showing the raw footage, the behind the scenes, talking about your struggles and fears, and the challenges is much more genuine, and will do a lot more for you in terms of growing your influence and outreach potential for your messaging.
Of course, there’s lots we can be doing to refine our messages at the moment, but with so much anxiety, fear and confusion out there, the most important thing is the health and wellbeing of our community, and in order to nurture this, as organisations and individuals, we need to work on building trust and confidence.
We may be working from home, but we’re still open to coffee and a chat (over Zoom) so please do drop us a line if you’d like any more advice.
