Legal and communications teams often have differing – and even opposing – points of view on the same issue. Though that may seem counterintuitive, it should be the goal for any organization. Both groups view issues through different lenses and looking to minimize different immediate and longer-term risks. Where legal teams typically focus on preparing for and protecting against legal or litigation risks, communications teams are working to preserve and protect the organization’s reputation. Both are critically valuable to senior executives, providing important perspectives to a shared goal of ensuring the organization’s overall success.
Unfortunately, many organizations don’t actively foster a partnership between these two groups, with each being siloed and focused on their own work. While this may seem benign, allowing these two groups to operate completely independently creates a risk for the organization. Maintaining alignment between communications and legal ensures senior executives receive balanced, nuanced, and well-rounded counsel when making important organizational decisions. The insights both teams provide, individually and collectively, present an organization’s leaders with a comprehensive fact base from which to guide strategic plans and minimize risk.
The Day-to-Day Partnership
Some may believe the best time for these groups to come together is during a significant issue or crisis. While legal and communications must work closely when the organization is at risk (more on that later), the relationship needs to exist beyond those critical situations. These two groups must actively engage with one another on a regular basis to get a feel for how the other works, start to understand where the other is coming from, and develop good habits that allow for effective collaboration.
There are any number of examples for how legal and communications can work together on a day-to-day basis. Maybe a regulator implements a new rule that requires an operational change within the organization. In the past, the legal team may have simply sent the regulator’s decision directly to employees. While they have technically informed the organization of the change, the regulator’s decision might be difficult to understand without a law degree and the implications for how the rule impacts employee work may be unclear.
Instead, once legal is aware of the ruling, they should reach out to communications and the two groups should work together to quickly understand the implications of the new rule, how those impact the organization, and then share the changes in easily understood communications.
By partnering in this way, the two teams can save time and resources by structuring the communication so it proactively answers many of the questions employees may have. This allows legal to focus on what’s coming next and prevents communications from needing to scramble and put together a clarifying follow up communication.
The Ultimate Defense During a Crisis
The worst possible time for legal and communications to figure out how to work together effectively is when an organization faces its most serious threats. Whether that’s a natural disaster destroying a primary production factory, employee or customer data being stolen, or a shooting at a plant or office, organizations need to respond as quickly as possible to show they’re addressing the situation and reassure their key audiences. If the legal and communications teams haven’t already established a trusting relationship, it could prevent the organization from responding as efficiently as possible and potentially exacerbate the situation.
When a crisis hits, the legal and communications teams should already have a plan in place that details how they’ll respond. Ideally, the communications team will have developed a comprehensive crisis communications playbook that includes pre-drafted, template scenarios for the most-likely situations the organization could face. The legal team will have already thoroughly reviewed and approved those scenarios, so will only need to give the final communications a quick review (once the details of the crisis are added) before the communications are distributed.
The crisis communications plan should also specify exactly who each group will communicate with and when, so there are no questions in the moment. While communications will likely manage responses to most stakeholders, the legal team may have specific relationships with regulators, vendors, or other partners that they need to own. Pre-planning who these groups will communicate with ensures the organization engages all relevant stakeholders and doesn’t forget anyone in the chaos of a crisis.
As the crisis unfolds, legal and communications should stay closely aligned. Additional information may come to light, or a separate crisis might evolve out of the original. Whatever happens, the groups should maintain close contact so they can quickly develop additional stakeholder communications and monitor the situation for any further legal or reputational risks.
Collaborating During Volatile Situations
When the communications and legal teams have a strong foundation, they’re better prepared for more significant challenges. In the complex landscape of labor relations, this relationship plays a pivotal role in managing the organization’s response to union organizing, potential union elections, and bargaining a first contract or in subsequent renewals.
Legal expertise is essential for ensuring the organization and its leaders stay within the bounds of ever-stricter labor laws and regulations, as well as crafting an effective strategy that focuses on the organization’s priorities. Their knowledge allows them to develop proposals and counteroffers that are not only fair but also legally sound, mitigating the risk of disputes or legal repercussions before, during, and after negotiations.
At the same time, communications teams focus on shaping a transparent, trustworthy, and relatable narrative when employees are considering organization or around negotiations. That narrative needs to promote the organization’s perspectives while resonating with all key audiences (e.g., employees, customers, partners, community leaders, elected officials, etc.). That messaging also needs to balance employee concerns with the practical and financial realities of the organization.
When the temperature turns up during these situations the partnership between legal and communications is even more important. If employees go on strike, the two groups can work in concert to quickly share everything that was done to avoid the strike, all the compromises the organization has made to try to keep both parties at the table, and, when appropriate, highlight how the union was planning to take this action all along, no matter what the organization did.
Clear, concise, and consistent communication serves as the bedrock for successful outcomes. By working closely with the legal team to keep messaging within established legal parameters and to distill complex legal terms into conversational language, communications professionals can ensure the organization’s goals are clearly conveyed to all stakeholders. This prevents misunderstandings and builds a sense of trust between the organization and its employees.
Ultimately, it’s important for CEOs and other senior leaders to facilitate a strong partnership between the crucial legal and communications functions and listen to each of their perspectives when making decisions. This partnership can help the organization balance the desire to achieve its goals with the need to preserve a positive reputation, while at the same time mitigating the most extreme threats to the organization’s success.