A Comms Person’s Guide to Dealing with Fires.

One time, we were going through a very bad run as a company — a partner issue almost singlehandedly crippled an aspect of the business. In the middle of the fire, the devil, and the deep blue sea, the comms team kept working. Not as much as we used to, cos we did not want to sound insensitive, but enough for people not to think the entire business was down during this period.

On one of the days, we sent a fun email, and we got a backlash on social media, and I messaged one of the people Yabbing us who I knew and explained something. “Yes, we are going through stuff, but do you think the whole company should shut down and do/say nothing when there is a % of users who don’t even know there is an issue?”

And then he understood that even in war times, the comms team cannot allow the anxiety and uncertainty to get to them. Cos, if the company is to ever go through that period and come back stronger, you must manage your interaction with users across different levels. For some, you will apologize; to others, you will explain. And some others apologize and explain. For those unaffected yet, give them reasons to believe, and for the internal team, maintain a sense of hope and belief that things will be better.

It was an interesting time. And if you work in fintech, you should keep this in mind the most. Your response to fire should not be panic.

Engage.