You are the public information officer (PIO) for a small company, responsible for communicating and distributing information for your organization.
Prompt
In this scenario, an unexpected incident has occurred within your local community, impacting the safety of employees returning to the office for ANY reason for the foreseeable future. Your task is to record an AUDIO message 1-3 minutes in length that will be used to communicate this emergency. This audio message will be sent to all employees immediately. The audio message should convey the (a)situation, (b)the transition to remote work after the message, and (c)include a brief example from your research of another company experiencing unexpected closure.
First, Choose the incident - be creative with your incident description. Choose one of the following disasters as the basis for your message:
• A technological incident – examples include power outages, dam failures, chemical incidents, nuclear events, industrial pollution, and transportation accidents.
• A man-made incident – examples include civil disorder, terrorism, crime, arson, and chemical spills.
• A natural disaster incident – examples include hurricanes, weather incidents, avalanches, droughts, landslides, flooding, and earthquakes.
Second, Write the Script
Write the script message you will convey in a voicemail distributed to all employees addressing the office closure without inducing panic.
Elaborate on the transition to remote work. No need to detail remote work instructions, your task is to inform of the transition.
Research a real-world example of a company that faced an unexpected closure similar to YOUR incident (if your incident is technological, this example must be technological, if your incident is man-made, your real-world example must be man-made; if your incident is natural, your real-world example must also be a natural disaster), share how the real-world company communicated to their employees and stakeholders of the office closure. Share your findings after/at the end of your audio message (after the scenario voicemail).
Fourth, Record your Message - In a 1-3 minute audio message in YOUR VOICE, the following elements must be present:
• Convey the immediate office closure without causing panic.
• Elaborate the immediate transition process for remote work to employees.
o You must convey they are NOT to come to the building.
• AFTER the message
o Include an example from the research you conducted of a company unexpectedly closing and how employees were communicated to keep employees from returning to work. This researched example is NOT due to fiscal or store closure; the example must be disaster-related and NOT COVID-related. Finally, how did this real-world example of a company that faced unexpected closure communicate to employees and stakeholders?
• Your script AND the Reference for your Example MUST be submitted with the audio recording.