Has Covid-19 changed the business

communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2
Introduction:
Covid -19 has changed all the way of communication in all the sectors. In this
changing time business sectors are struggling to follow the guidelines because of
social distancing. Before everything gets back to the normal life the companies must
figure out the communication process in business without disrupting operations. Not
only that the companies need to ensure its employees, customers and partners are
staying safe.

Background:
Reliable and proper communication process in business are the most important factors
for establishing the business in the market. Face to face human interaction method
was known as the best
communication method in any kind
of business operations. This
communication method helped every
department to know about each other
and make sure that everything is
going perfectly. But because of
Covid -19 pandemic, it is a great
challenge for the companies to make
sure their employees are safe and
healthy enough so that they can
maintain their production at its best level. For this they had to find a reliable and open
communication with internal employees and along with them externally with various
stakeholders like suppliers, customers and the media.

Before this pandemic happened the tool of communication for both the employees and
the customers were offline communication process. Internal employees and suppliers
were mostly habituated by handling big files from one table to another by hand. The
communication system required a very specific time to communicate with the
subordinates. Which consumed a lot more time.
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2
Huge marketing campaigns were there in the road to let the public know about the
company as well as the product. Giving samples to the customers in person, let them
have a try with the sample this were all the traditional method mostly used for the
communication process. This traditional method of reaching to the customers were the
best possible method of sale incensement.

The pandemic has a negative impact in many factors in our daily life as well as the
entire business sector but it has
also let us know that the workforce
is there to work form their own
place. The stigma of distance
remote working is now totally gone
because of this work from home
experience.

At the time of this Covid

situation, in person meetings
stopped and the go to method of
reaching the clients and communicate with them was not possible. So, a lot of
business firms got into the e-mail communication game. It worked as a perfect
communication method for the business process. Some of the business firms started to
use the social media platform like Facebook marketing. Through this they could reach
their clients faster and more easily. This kind of changes were much needed during
this time.

Hypothesis:
Our hypothesis regarding
this topic ‘Has Covid-19
changed the business
communication?’ is that
because of the barrier,
interaction between
employees and customers as
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2
well as the interacting between employees and their supervisors are becoming
challenging. We believe this will give us a glimpse of the problems and challenges the
companies are facing because of the interacting gap due of Covid-19. The population
in our understanding does know the importance of communicating in order to uphold
the company’s goals and satisfy customers but the fact that Covid-19 made it very
difficult, people are finding alternatives and maybe even better communication tools
which might change the whole business communication game. The idea of our topic
would help identify the problems and factors which are supposed to be fixed and what
the people’s opinions are on this. As we are working on making our business bloom
the hit from Covid-19 took it to another whole new level. We will find answers from
different people on what they think about the topic and how the people in Bangladesh
are coping with the situation which is supposed to be one of the biggest problems
arising in the modern world. In this paper I have introduced some key points as to
way people think Covid-19 is changing the business communication game. In our
opinion personally we thought people would be more creative in finding out better
ways to communicate which will lead to more productivity as well. From our survey
we found out our hypothesis is strongly correct and that people also think Covid-19
has changed the business communication.

Methodology:
For my primary research, we conducted an online survey on the topic on 38 working
people, both male and female. The survey had questions which helped us identify the
underlying issues and also the positive part of the changed business communication
and also how they may have felt like they were witnessing something spectacular in
the midst of Covid-19. We incorporated all the question’s answers and studied them
carefully to use all over this paper as most of the questions were very important.

For our secondary research, we plan to use the resources on the web and articles,
standard references sources and databases, government documents, media and
academic and web-sites, we did visit two to three companies to get information, as
well as libraries or book shops but took most of our information from online or the
internet.
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2

Area of research:
Through our research we saw that companies are figuring out new and different
methods of business communication during Covid-19. The companies have to keep
communicating with both the internal and external parts and so to maintain that they
have done these three things:

i. Starting from top: Companies made sure that the ideas and plans flow down to
the employees from the head of the companies the same way as before Covid-19 and
kept no space for any miscommunication.

ii. Make it personal: Nowadays the companies take business communications

very seriously, employees’ demands and as well as motivating them are a constant
work done by the companies. Therefore, as it is a hard time for everyone the
companies made sure to communicate with their employees, asking them about their
home activities and hobbies during lockdown.

iii. Diversify content: At first, several companies chose to institute daily emails at
the end of each day to inform their employees about the latest updates as they try to
make sense of the situation and it was their way of communicating on a daily basis.

For internal business communication the companies usually opt of emails, video and
audio chats but something different that the companies came up with is the ‘water
cooler’ chats which is a place where co-workers can let off some work steam, build
relationships, improve productivity and collaboration. And for maintaining external
communication the companies are calling their clients directly rather than writing
emails as it seems like a better option during this situation and constantly emailing
their employees and stakeholders for a constant flow of communication.

Now coming to examples for our topic; many companies like Unilever in Bangladesh
are trying to communicate with their employees through emails and with customers
they are advertising their charitable events, updating their websites to show positive
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2
messages, ways to tackle Covid-19 and how they are improving even with the
problems caused by Covid-19.

Some other companies like Starbucks are trying to convey the company’s challenges
and how it is keeping customers safe, CEO Kevin Johnson wrote that Starbucks has
“increased cleaning and sanitizing procedures” its stores and prepared stores “to
respond quickly to any emerging situation, leveraging the considerable insights we’ve
gained from our experience in China.” (Sean, 2020). Another company, Walgreens
made a few changes to communicate better with their customers by setting limits to
purchases, offering free delivery, and giving some parking spots for Covid-19 testing.
These are some of the companies we found out that supports our topic.

Data Presentation And Analysis:

We will analysis our data for this hypothesis based on two resources – primary and
secondary data.

Primary Data:

Some analysis from our primary data are discussed below:

 Do you think businesses face a great set of challenges starting with the
lack of human interaction to ineffective online tools?

5%
15%
Agree
May be
50%
May be not
Don't agree
30%
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2

Analysis: From the pie chart of a mention question we can see that 50% people are
agreeing on the topic that businesses face a great set of challenges starting with the
lack of human interaction to ineffective online tools. On the other hand, 30% are
saying may be, 15% are saying may be not and 5% aren't agreeing with the topic.

 Do you think thousands of businesses went remote with the spread of

coronavirus?

5%
15%
Agree
May be
50%
May be not
Don't agree
30%

Analysis: From the pie chart of a mention question we can see that 50% people are
agreeing on the topic that thousands of businesses went remote with the spread of
coronavirus. On the other hand, 30% are saying may be, 15% are saying may be not
and 5% aren't agreeing with the topic.

 Is there any way to make remote business communication as effective as it

used to be?
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2

10%

Yes
40%
May be
30%
May be not
No

20%

Analysis: From the pie chart of a mention question we can see that 40% people are
agreeing on the topic saying yes that there is way to make remote business
communication as effective as it used to be. On the other hand, 20% are saying may
be, 30% are saying may be not and 10% aren't agreeing with the topic by saying no.

 Do you think voice messages are a great way to enhance the

communication?

5%
15%
Agree
May be
50%
May be not
Don't agree
30%

Analysis: From the pie chart of a mention question we can see that 50% people are
agreeing on the topic that voice messages are a great way to enhance the
communication. On the other hand, 30% are saying may be, 15% are saying may be
not and 5% aren't agreeing with the topic.

 Is it important to pick the right communication tool?

 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2

Analysis: From the pie chart of a mention question we can see that 40% people are
agreeing on the topic saying yes that it is important to pick the right communication
tool. On the other hand, 20% are saying may be, 30% are saying may be not and 10%
aren't agreeing with the topic by saying no.

Secondary Data: After analyzing journals, websites, articles I’ve found that the
world has been modified forever by COVID-19 and business communication is no
different. Remote work is now a modern normal for workers to set up their home
offices and connect all of the work online. Nothing is the same any longer, whether
we are interacting with our team at work or with clients and partners. Companies
naturally face a wide range of problems, beginning with the absence of human contact
with inadequate online platforms that do not fulfill their needs.

Summary of Research findings

We have attempted to discover our hypothesis is right or not by essential and auxiliary
information examination. Subsequent to doing this Survey among the 38 people
groups and we have discovered our hypothesis is right. We took 38 people groups
from various calling and asked them various inquiries to recognize what are they
think. These inquiries are straightforwardly identified with my speculation.

First of all, we wanted to know, what do they think about businesses face a great set
of challenges starting with the lack of human interaction to ineffective online tools
during COVID-19 period and we have found that 50% people among 38 peoples are
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2
agreeing on the topic that businesses face a great set of challenges starting with the
lack of human interaction to ineffective online tools. We have also found that 50%
people are agreeing on the topic that thousands of businesses went remote with the
spread of coronavirus on our second survey question. On our third survey question we
have found that Is there any way to make remote business communication as effective
as it used to be? We have found that 40% people among 38 peoples are agreeing on
the topic saying yes that there is way to make remote business communication as
effective as it used to be. To prove our hypothesis is wrong or right, we have asked
them, is it important to pick the right communication tool? And found that 40%
people are agreeing on the topic saying yes that it is important to pick the right
communication tool. So, by did this online survey we have found that our hypothesis
is absolutely right which is COVID-19 has changed the Business Communication
Game.

To prove our hypothesis is more accurate we have also collected and analyze data
from different journals, websites, articles and found that the world has been modified
forever by COVID-19 and business communication is no different. Remote work is
now a modern normal for workers to set up their home offices and connect all of the
work online.

By did this both online survey and analyzing data from different journals, websites
and articles, now we can say our hypothesis is strongly right.

Recommendations
There are approaches to handle the pandemic, and if a couple of components could be
followed as opposed to stressing, the outcomes will be more productive.

For all organizations and organizations, one of the top points of reference ought to be
to ensure workers. The Covid-19 emergency has been sincerely testing, as it
influences everyday lives phenomenally. Organizations can begin by executing plans
steady with the organization's rules but on the other hand is reasonable in an offered
to help workers. Correspondence among representatives and businesses should be
plainly resolved to guarantee nobody feels risky.
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
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Bus251.9 Group:2
Organizations ought to name an immediate report to the CEO and ought to name
individuals from each order for help.

Organizations need to characterize situations custom-made to the organization's

unique circumstance. Organizations should show their fiscal reports in every situation
and recognize triggers that may fundamentally weaken liquidity. For each such
trigger, organizations ought to characterize moves to balance out the association in
every situation. To settle store network channels, organizations need to characterize
the degree and likely span of their production network openness to regions that are
encountering network transmission.

Stay near your clients. Organizations that explore disturbances better regularly
succeed on the grounds that they put resources into their center client pool and foresee
their practices. In China, for instance, shopper interest down doesn't mean it has
vanished; individuals have significantly moved toward web based looking for
practically a wide range of merchandise. Organizations ought to put resources into
online conveyance (Taqui, 2020).

Conclusion
Because of this Pandemic situation, the communication process from all the aspects
have been changed. This kind of changes were much needed to run the business
process properly. But as this system is a new one, it will take time to adjust with it but
at the long run this online communicating process will create a great impact in the
business industry.

References
 Has Covid-19 changed the business
communication?
Bus251.9 Group:2

Ludwig, S. (2020, March 16). Communicating with customers during Corona. Retrieved from

https://www.uschamber.com/co/grow/customers/communicating-with-customers-

coronavirus

Vu, D. (2020, August 10). COVID-19 has changed the business communication game - Here’s

how to adapt – Chanty. Retrieved from https://www.chanty.com/blog/business-

communication

Ward, D. (2020, May 18). How COVID-19 is changing how companies communicate. Retrieved

from https://www.aem.org/news/how-covid19-is-changing-how-companies-

communicate