The advent of the heavy use of mobile devices for media consumption necessitates some new skills among communicators. First, people using mobile devices can receive information around the world at any time, so communicators need to be trained with skills in communicating with a global audience. This training should include workshops that help people build cultural sensitivity, structure language in a way that helps it translate clearly, and identify how the meaning of symbols can differ within different cultures. According to The Chi Group, this requires carefully crafting custom messages with diversity, cultural sensitivities, language barriers, and biases in mind. This is not simply a one-time training situation but will require ongoing training as we learn more about cultural relationships and as cultural relationships change over time.

Another important skill in communications is people management. Because of the 24-hour nature of the way people receive information on mobile devices, you will need staff trained to manage mobile users’ responses to your communications on a 24- hour basis. This staff will need to be social media savvy, trained in crisis management, and also have a strong sense of the communication style and goals of the company so they can mitigate negative impacts of any unexpected comments on company communications. Crisis management training involves creating simulated responses that de-escalate situations, including responses to negative social media comments and communications with direct stakeholders. The intensity of the training should include simple customer service interactions as well as high-stakes scenarios communicating with a crucial stakeholder. These simulations are important because they help communicators bypass emotional responses in a pressure situation in which an emotional reaction will escalate the crisis. According to Rim and Song (2016), engaging in dialogue with commenters is more effective than simply making announcements to mitigate negative responses, so communicators also need to be able to have a conversation with stakeholders. Before the advent of mobile devices, they needed to focus on their announcements, but now, they have to focus on how to engage. This might require certification in crisis training for the entire staff.

According to Buxton in the video below, having a plan prior to the incidence of negative publicity can go a long way toward handling it. A big part of this, she says, is having the message that everyone is giving in response to the negative comments aligned and consistent.

References

Rim, H., & Song, D. (2016). “How Negative Becomes Less Negative”: Understanding the Effects of Comment Valence and Response Sidedness in Social Media. Journal of Communication, 66(3), 475–495. https://doi.org/10.1111/JCOM.12205