The issue for many businesses is keeping the doors open and sustaining demand for products and services. For others there is a need to innovate. This could be reorganising how your people work rewriting processes and procedures, working from home, or staggering your workforce's onsite times. Sadly for many it has meant standing down valued employees for an undefined period of time.

All of these changes require definition of the specific changes we're implementing - a change in business model, employees way of working, your product offering or delivery channels.

The most difficult part of this is we're managing these changes at speed, in an everchanging environment and under great stress.

It's never been more important to provide consistent clear communication with explicit channels for employees to surface their concerns and ask for clarification. This enables your organisation to address concerns quickly and to quickly head off any issues they may be facing.

Consistent, regular communication is key in supporting your employees. Definitely no spin! Tell people what you can tell them and tell them what you can't tell them yet.

Just because people aren't together in the same workplace, do not abandon the power of face to face communication. Use video messages or online group communication tools such as Skype, Zoom or Teams to maintain human contact and team cohesion.

Staff seeing their line manager or even the CEO working from home is powerful especially if they're honest about what that adjustment feels like for them. Ensure your workforce understands you're all in this together.

Ask how people are and ensure you're really ready to hear the answer and provide support. Do your people know about your employee assistance program (EAP) or where to get other external support for any personal issues they may be experiencing? Make this information easily available.

We are seeing inspiring local examples of innovation. The gin distillery that has started making hand sanitiser, the high end restaurants doing cook at home packs, and the dry cleaning company offering delivery support to pharmacies with increased demand for home deliveries of scripts and medication.

Leaders don't have to have all the answers. Applying Human Centred Design principals means we can gather the ideas of customers and staff to create an appropriate solution that works.

You don't have time for detailed evaluation. Try something, test if it works and adapt. Be prepared to fail and try again.

It is more important than ever to follow up to ensure changes are being implemented effectively and that staff don't fall between the cracks.

There are plenty of experts in the marketplace to bring in to help get things done strategically and quickly.

Lenore Miller is a Hunter leadership, employee engagement and change management consultant. She's offering a free 30 minute phone meeting for any Hunter business needing strategic change management support. Connect with her on LinkedIn