Jakarta – The novel coronavirus has been the main topic over the year. The outbreak has changed the way human being interact with each other and how we do business. Consequently, our economy has dramatically shaped along with the pandemic, many stores are closed and companies forced to reduce their cost to survive during the crises. In light of that, businesses are exposed to several risk that need to be mitigated, from their operational risks to the strategic and high level risks. Many governments have started to re-open the economy which move the society into some called New Normal. The New Normal will create its own risks and opportunities. To manage stakeholders’ expectations, New Ways of Communication is needed to address the crises and maintain public image in this New Normal phase.

The speaker from Singapore, Krishnasamy Bhavani, who is the Past President of the Institute of PR Singapore (IPRS)

To conclude the 3-part ‘PR Webforum’ series, ASEAN PR Network and Global Alliance of PR and Communication Management (GA) collaborative work, the topic “Risk Issues and Crisis Management in the New Norm” has addressed three (3) issues and one of which is on Internal Communication that Catherine Arrow, a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ), has shared about how companies can find genuine creative ways to show empathy and emotionally connect with their employees and customers during a crisis.

Catherine Arrow, a Fellow of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ)

The second issue that the webforum has addressed is on the best practices and significant changes in the media landscape during the pandemic and its likeability to continue in the recovery phase. The speaker from Singapore, Krishnasamy Bhavani, who is the Past President of the Institute of PR Singapore (IPRS) share her views also on the emergence of new strategies for organizational leaders to apply in fostering relationship with the media.

PR expert from Kenya, Peter Mutie has joined in the line-up of speakers

The forum was more interesting as a PR expert from Kenya, Peter Mutie has joined in the line-up of speakers and shared insightful facts about Africa’s approaches in dealing with the pandemic particularly for businesses to communicate to its stakeholders, customers and investors. He specifically discussed about how leadership communication can significantly boost investors confidence. The virtual forum was moderated by LSPR’s very own ‘Crisis Guru’, Nico Wattimena who himself has been teaching Strategic Issues Management for many years aside from authoring books on Public Relations and Media.