Organizational Communication Responses to Covid-19: Strategies and Practices

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Published: Dec 20, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25008/jkiski.v5i2.419

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Dorien Kartikawangi
School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1537-1360
Rayini Dahesihsari
Faculty of Psychology, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta

Abstract

In a crisis situation, employees are facing pressures and challenges because they have to deal with unexpected disruption in their routine working conditions with a high level of uncertainty. Organizational communication strategies and practices play important roles to give employees information, direction, and support. The research aims to explore how organizational communication strategies and practices responses to such a specific crisis: Pandemic Covid-19, using a situational crisis communication theoretical framework. The research applies a qualitative approach. Four organizations participated, involved two business organizations and two educational organizations, selected using a maximum variation sampling technique. Four people representing each organization were interviewed using the inductive method. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that organizational communication strategies and practices being used by all participants’ organizations are mostly related to the preparation stage and the response stage of crisis management. Early crisis management planning, forming crisis management teams, and preparing supporting communication systems, including providing health care facilities and communication protocols for infected employees are salient practices during the preparation stage. On the response stage, leader and horizontal communication intensively used with a variation of media and channels. Interestingly, informal communication was minimized while formal communication conducted intensively and transparently. Furthermore, sensitivity to employees’ needs and conditions as well as emphatic communication expressing positive emotion and support was perceived positive to help employees to understand the information well and to feel being understood and being appreciated. 

Article Details

How to Cite
Kartikawangi, D., & Dahesihsari, R. (2020). Organizational Communication Responses to Covid-19: Strategies and Practices. Jurnal Komunikasi Ikatan Sarjana Komunikasi Indonesia, 5(2), 189–198. https://doi.org/10.25008/jkiski.v5i2.419
Issue
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2020): December 2020 - Jurnal Komunikasi Ikatan Sarjana Komunikasi Indonesia
Section
Articles

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Author Biography

Dorien Kartikawangi, School of Communication, Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia

Dorien Kartikawangi, Assc professor, is the head of the School of Communication at the Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, Jakarta. She is actively giving lectures, not only at the School of Communication but also at the Postgraduate Program of the Department of Communication Science, University of Indonesia, Jakarta. Her teaching and research focus is on organizational communication, public relations, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and digital communication. She is an awardee of the Supersemar Scholarship, Stanvac, Canada World Youth – Ministry of Education and Culture, JICA, and Erasmus+. Dorien involves in the various social organization at the national as well as international level: as Head of Collaboration Division of the Indonesia Communication Higher Education Association (ASPIKOM); Head of Research and Competence Division, Indonesian Public Relations Association (PERHUMAS); Committee of Asia Pacific Public Relations Research and Education Network (APPRREN) and member of International Communication Association (ICA).  Dorien is also active writing in various journals and is involved in various academic as well as professional forums at the national and international levels as a reviewer and speaker.   She is also the founder of the “House of Kartika Kusuma” which oversees DK Consulting, a Public Library, and a Batik Gallery

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