by Stefanie Krieger, on September 26, 2019
Although fall is upon us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Atlantic is still in the midst of hurricane season, the Santa Ana winds will soon increase wildfire potential in California, and snowstorms will be hitting the Northeast before we know it. No service business is immune to the stress that comes with natural disasters, but anyone can alleviate at least some of the pressure by following the Boy Scout motto: “Be Prepared.” In our work with over 25,000 organizations—many of whom weathered Hurricane Dorian and Tropical Storm Imelda over the last month—we’ve seen all sorts of emergency preparedness communications, and thought we’d pass along a few tips.
Whether or not you’re able to keep your store open during severe weather, communicating to your employees and customers at these times will be more critical than ever. To make this task a bit easier, here’s a sample template you could use to prepare an emergency announcement for your team before the next anticipated weather event in your area:
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“Please stay safe and take the time to prepare your families and homes for the severe weather approaching this weekend. Below are a few tips to help everyone prepare:
- Stay informed of evacuation zones: [add a link to a tool like Florida’s disaster maps, or the most relevant local resource]
- Create a communication plan for your family and loved ones
- Review our company’s emergency communication plan here [add a link to the appropriate file in Crew, if you have one]
- Sign up to receive emergency alerts [share the appropriate alert system link]
- Visit [insert helpful disaster resource] for additional emergency information.
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If you use Crew for your team communications, the platform can of course be a huge help in getting critical messages like these directly to your frontline. For handy reference, below are simple instructions for sending out a communication like this via your own Crew instance:
- Navigate to your company's Command Center (for Admins on Crew Enterprise).
- Click on "Broadcast" in the left side navigation.
- Select the stores you'd like to send the communication to.
- Write a note, or customize the template above to align with your company’s policies. You can also add images, PDFs, or videos.
- Click "Send Announcement."
Beyond employee communications, keep in mind that your comprehensive emergency plan should include regular drills, timely customer outreach, and various recovery procedures.
We’re always inspired by teams who use Crew to help each other out during difficult times. Has our mobile app helped your organization stay connected during a store closure or other emergency? Tweet us to share your best practices with other teams.
