Raquel Cool

Here are underrated but powerful collaboration tools for remote internal communications teams... ( + how to use them in internal communications!) ✅ Uplevel your team meetings or All Hands Slido (live polling and Q&A), Wheel of Names (spin a wheel to reveal a randomized winner), Canva (video creation - e.g. opening employee video) ✅ Track your engagement data Whether you use Google Sheets, Excel, or Smartsheet, the important thing is to keep ONE side-by-side dashboard that is updated with ongoing metrics over time. ✅ Generate and share new ideas Otter AI (great for AI-generated transcripts and summaries), Go Full Screen (Chrome extension that takes a snapshot of your page), Loom (screen recording)

When I first started out in internal communications, I kept a little dry erase SCRUM board to manage bigger projects, like Town Halls. It had a column for TO DO. It had a column for DOING. It had a column for DONE. I've noticed that some people see their internal communications jobs as a series of many tasks. To me, the most interesting part of this field is in effecting results. And overseeing the end-to-end processes that drive those results. Tasks are a part of that. But when uncoupled from the big picture, they are not inherently useful. Focus on results, not tasks.

Elevate your executive reports by being direct, brief, and action-oriented. ☑ Give people a reason to keep reading by establishing the update (and the ask) upfront. Establish why it matters quickly. ☑ Use bullets for skimmability. ☑ Be deliberate about the words you bold. Bolded sub-headers should give you the gist of the update just by skimming them. ☑ Delete, delete, delete any errant information. ☑ Make data digestible. Don't bombard. Hone in on one takeaway at a time.

Three tips to navigate decision-making as an internal communicator: → 💡Be clear on decision-makers at the start. Don’t skip this step! If you’re just starting out, a corporate framework like RACI could help… that means defining who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed. → ✏️Tip for your Word document: List reviewers there, so you can track who reviews and the status of their review. → 😊 If you’re unsure of what to do, don’t guess. Just ask. Chances are, you're not creating something new under the sun, and you can learn from the established order of operations.

Ever since I learned about the Zone of Genius matrix years ago, it has lived rent-free in my head... It's also an effective lens for delegating in communications 💡 How it works: We all have four zones. Anything you do falls into one of these quadrants: → Zone of Incompetence → Zone of Competence → Zone of Excellence → Zone of Genius The Zone of Genius refers to the intersection between your unique talents, passions & strengths. It's tempting to spend time in your Zone of Excellence, but try to prioritize doing the things that bring you joy and you're uniquely good at. 🤔 Q's to consider... What comes easily to you that is hard for other people? What is the most efficient path to getting results? What is needed to get there?

Four strategies that helped me grow in executive and internal communications: 1 → Connect with experts. 🤓 Carve out time to check in with strategic communicators in your field - coffee chats, regular 1:1s, group calls. 2 → Zoom out. 🌎 So much of the role of the internal communicator is heads down, delivering urgent work. It’s important to look up, look around, see the big picture, check progress against goals. This can only happen if you regularly do this. Block time. 3 → Keep learning. 📙 Don’t settle for the same way of doing things. Marketing and communications are constantly evolving. 4 → Hire a coach. 😄 If you have a big goal, find someone who has already spent 10,000 hours doing what you want to do. Learn from them.