Guessing is not a strategy: How to build decision velocity with AI and real-time data
June 10, 2026 | Live Webinar
PM Pandemic (Part 2)
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
As pandemic expert Larry Smith, president of the Louisville, Ken.-based Institute for Crisis Management, said in part one of this story, there is no such thing as enough planning for a pandemic--or for any disaster/emergency.
In fact, it’s better to be over-prepared and over-trained than passably ready. By not heeding the odds of a disaster striking, you’re tempting fate. The same intense planning that goes into outlining the steps of readiness should also be applied to preparing a communication strategy. This applies to employees and the public. Everyone needs to be kept abreast of developments as they enfold.
“Employees need to know that their jobs will be safe, the pandemic will end, life will return to normal, and that the company will stand by them and their families if the worst happens,” says Smith.
Easier said than done, especially if it’s a large or mid-size company with employees working in several locations. In the early stages of a pandemic, employees will be frightened. They’ll also be angry if information isn’t forthcoming. Management’s challenge, according to Smith, is to open the communication lines long before the pandemic strikes. Employees, vendors and distributors have to be reassured that your organization is taking all reasonable and appropriate precautions to make the workplace as safe as possible and to maintain operations.
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Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. - Theodore Roosevelt |