In recent weeks, companies have moved whole work forces to remote setups – often with just a few days’ notice – and have had to make tough staff decisions like furloughs and layoffs as business closures drag on. The pressure is on managers and leadership, now more than ever, to lead their teams with transparency and aplomb, even as they deal with their own professional and personal challenges. Easier said than done, yes, but at this point, it’s mission-critical for those companies looking to come out stronger on the other side.

New York City-based PR and crisis communications expert Eric Yaverbaum, the CEO of Ericho Communications, recently shared with Counselor his top tips on firms’ crisis communications with stakeholders and has since tested positive for COVID-19. It’s made life more complicated as he continues to manage a group of remote workers. But from experience, he knows he can’t lose sight of the bigger picture and has to continue to lead as much as he can.

“We recognize that this won’t be our reality forever,” he says. “It’s difficult right now, with our way of life changing so much, but we need to keep on living, providing for ourselves and our families and keep on working.”

Here are five ways for company leaders to be the rock that nervous, anxious employees are looking for right now.

Think compassion first.
Piloting a ship through the storm is no easy feat, but your team is looking to you for reassurance and humanity. Prolonged isolation is stressful, and people are afraid for their health, their loved ones’ health and their bank accounts. “It’s a scary time,” says Yaverbaum. “Your leadership philosophy should be guided by remembering that everyone has to cope with this trauma.”

Morag Lucey is CEO of Televerde, a sales and marketing company with more than 600 employees, both non-incarcerated and incarcerated, worldwide. The company offers valuable training and education for its employees, many of whom will finish their prison sentences with marketable skills that they can use to find jobs. She says her team has banded together to help each other meet basic needs.

“Leadership needs to be available at any point to anyone who needs it,” she says. “If employees are having personal crises, we’ll buy food and toilet paper and deliver care packages to them. Many are balancing work and homeschooling. So, we gave them flexibility to go homeschool when they need to. We want them to be able to balance it all without having to do everything at the same time.”

Treat employees well, be patient and recognize them as the most important asset you have, says Washington, DC-based crisis management expert Edward Segal. “Be as visible and available as possible, and communicate as often as necessary,” he says. “Reach out when they have an issue or concern. People still need guidance, pats on the shoulder, congratulations, just as if they were in the office. Look for gifts you could send them. If you used to be strict about deadlines, now be more flexible.”

Remind them that the company is there to support them, and that they have permission to self-care. “Let them know it’s OK to be human, feel fear and anxiety, take time for themselves and adjust their workload or schedule,” says Yaverbaum.

Communicate honestly and transparently.
While it’s natural to want to avoid delivering bad news, employees need to be able to trust that leadership will be transparent and honest with them about the information they’re receiving and how it impacts the company and them individually.

Lucey’s daily all-hands virtual meetings allow the management team to share information, get updated and then make decisions to be communicated to the whole company. “We want to communicate based on facts and what’s really happening,” she says. “What we’re hearing in the media creates anxiety, so we’ll take the facts as they stand and determine how they’ll impact employees.”

Niamh O’Keeffe, a London, UK-based leadership advisor and author of Future Shaper: How Leaders Can Take Charge in an Uncertain World, says this is the time for leaders to tap into their emotional intelligence to gauge the mood of the organization and respond accordingly. “Share the available facts and bring people on the journey with you,” she says. “Explain the challenges and what you’re doing about them. Emphasize that you’re all in it together, and build a mutual appreciation of the efforts involved. They’re looking to you for answers. This isn’t the time to hole up in central HQ and only disseminate information on a need-to-know basis.”

If you have bad news to deliver, ask yourself what you would want to be told and how, says Segal. He recommends writing it out and then reading it aloud to yourself, to someone else or even through the Read Aloud option under the Review tab in Microsoft Word, which allows you to hear it read. “This is especially important if it’s bad or disturbing news,” he says. “It could be misconstrued, so bounce it off someone else. Make sure to give them hope, but not false hope.”

Don’t pretend it’s better than it is; your employees will feel they’ve been misguided or, worse, even lied to during this tumultuous situation. “Sugar-coating is not the answer,” says Yaverbaum. “You need to be forthright with them without causing more fear or panic. Lead by example, keeping a calm, level head. There’s no use airing out worst-case scenarios and catastrophizing. Instead, focus on practical, concrete steps to addressing the issues.”

Host regular check-ins.
In this situation, there’s no such thing as too much communication, says Segal. Have scheduled team check-ins and turn webcams on if at all possible. “It’s important to be seen,” he says. “People need comfort and eye contact. We’re socially distant, but it doesn’t mean we need to be emotionally distant. Virtual meetings are the closest we’re going to get to the comfort we need. People might actually look forward to these meetings when they didn’t used to when they were in the office.”

O’Keeffe recommends that leaders host them each morning with their team; encouraging mutual communication first thing in the day sets the tone and gives everyone a chance to share changing information. “Don’t cancel any scheduled meetings,” she adds. “If there’s nothing to say, just say that and remind them what work is taking place. Use the time to be encouraging and raise morale.”

In a crisis situation when people are nervous and stressed, they read into canceled meetings more than they would normally. “Radio silence is a breeding ground for unnecessary panic,” says Yaverbaum.

If you find that each morning is the same story (namely, there’s nothing new to report), think about adjusting the frequency of the communication. “It can be disruptive when you have too many meetings,” says Lucey. “Be compassionate but not so compassionate they can’t work. They still have people to serve.”

At the same time, too much time between check-ins can lead to a lag time in critical updates and worse, sinking morale. “In a crisis, a week is a very long time,” says O’Keeffe. “Communicate as regularly as you see fit, but it should never be longer than a week in between meetings because it could create a vacuum for rumors and further anxiety. But depending on the size of your workforce, how your teams are organized and the stage of the crisis, you can decide whether they should be daily, every second day or weekly.”

Follow moderator best practices.
When running virtual meetings, the same rules should apply as in-person ones; there should be one moderator and everyone should take turns speaking and use the “Raise Hand” option (if it’s a Zoom meeting) to ask a question. Ask them nicely to mute themselves when they’re not speaking, especially if they’re in a noisy environment.

Put together an agenda and send it to attendees beforehand, says Yaverbaum. And use resources wisely by paring down the invitee list, to keep better control. Large groups get unwieldy and can create confusion. If there’s someone who’s a “nice-to-have” at the meeting, ask them to be on-call in case you need their input. In the meantime, they can be working on other things, says O’Keeffe.

“Start with an off-topic conversation-starter to get everyone engaged,” says Yaverbaum. “Make sure to pause to allow for dialogue, feedback and questions, and conclude by assigning responsibilities, setting clear deliverables and establishing a follow-up schedule to monitor progress.”

If the call is for bonding and connection, allow time for conversation, says O’Keeffe. If it’s about an urgent matter, focus on the task at hand, make sure everyone knows their responsibilities and keep the meeting short so you can get to it.

Make yourself available.
Employees need to know that leadership is ready to provide them with as many answers as possible. They need the option to email or call management when necessary, and should be encouraged to ask questions during meetings. “When they can get adequate responses to their concerns, it shows they’re valued,” says Yaverbaum. “And it’s reciprocal; you’ll see it returned in terms of productivity and expression of the same values to clients.”

The point person doesn’t always have to be the CEO, he adds, but it should be someone on the leadership team who can answer their questions. “Now’s not the time to force employees to jump through unnecessary hoops just to be heard,” he says. “But it’s also unfeasible for the C-suite to personally address calls from each employee. Use team leaders and managers to address employees’ personal issues and present them to executives at least once a week.”

At the same time, leaders should make themselves as available to employees as much as possible. “They should have a virtual open office door policy and take calls from the junior ranks,” says O’Keeffe. “It’s important that junior people feel like they have access, even if in reality they’re unlikely to break hierarchical protocols and ‘walk in the door to disturb the senior boss.’ ”

Team managers should at least be on email and text to be able to quell anxiety if possible. “Make yourself available after regular working hours because news can trigger questions,” says Segal.

At the end of the day, leaders can only make decisions based on the information they have. Employees understand that, says Lucey, but they’re also looking for compassionate, forthright and calm leaders to look to during this difficult time. “We can only control what we can control,” she says. “I can’t control COVID-19, but I can control the impact it has on our employees’ lives.”