Hey there, I'm Devin!
Most of the time you can catch me deep in the world of internal comms at Workshop (yes, the Happy Mondays folks!), and while I love AI, there are just some comms questions that need a human who really gets it… that’s me!
Hey Devin! I’m an internal comms professional at a company of about 6,000. We’re about to announce a big change to employee benefits, and we’re debating the order of operations for communicating to managers.
We’ll have a benefits guidebook (high-level summaries plus the “why”) and an FAQ that covers their role as leaders in the change. The current thinking is to host webinars with HR/change experts for managers first, then provide the guidebook and FAQ as follow-up.
But my concern is that managers are busy and might not attend, even with multiple time options. I also see how having the handouts first, then someone to explain them, could help.
Employee benefits changes (or really any sort of change comms) are high-stakes, so I appreciate that you’re really thinking strategically about the sequence… because it matters!
So, if I had to pick an order, I’d lead with the materials, not the webinar. Get managers what they need to read and reference first, and treat any live session as optional. I know that’s the opposite of the current plan, so let me walk through why (and what I’d actually do instead!).
Here’s the thing about copying the senior leadership playbook: my guess is that in-person event worked partly because of a huge built-in advantage. The audience was captive. Everyone was in the room, lunch was served, nobody was double-booked. At 6,000 employees, you’re likely talking about a lot of middle managers, all navigating workdays that may not allow for that kind of captivity. So instead of trying to corral everyone into one room (or one Zoom) at one time, I’d meet them where they are.
And honestly, this is my slightly spicy take on webinars in general: I really like them, but it can be really hard to know how they’re landing. A live session asks managers to be somewhere specific at a specific time, which can create some attendance issues. It also takes real production to do well (or at minimum, a clean recording someone actually manages), and impact is tough to measure. Attendance ≠ understanding! Watching a webinar, even a recording, doesn’t inherently mean a manager is prepped to turn around and cascade the news to their team.
So here’s the order I’d go in.
Start with talking points. Before anything else, get crystal clear on what managers absolutely need to know and share: the handful of things that must come out of their mouths, in plain language. This is the piece most rollouts skip, and it’s the difference between a manager who understands the change and one who can actually deliver it. (My favorite thing to hand them isn’t even an answer, it’s a script for when they don’t have one: “That’s a great question. Let me get you the right answer and come back to you by Friday.” Because managers don’t freeze from a lack of information. They freeze because they’re scared of being put on the spot in front of their team. Solve the fear, not just the FAQ.)
Then layer the supplementary comms to tell the bigger story: the why behind the change, when it takes effect, where employees can go for more. This is where your guidebook, FAQ, a searchable microsite/intranet page, and (if you want it) a recorded webinar all come in. Talking points get managers ready to talk today; the supplementary materials are what everyone leans on for the fuller picture.
Through all of it, I’d aim for the path of least resistance. Managers are juggling a hundred things, so make it as easy as humanly possible for them to step into the communicator role without the overwhelm.
Here’s how we’ve handled it at Workshop, if a real example helps! A big change gets announced at our weekly All Hands, so everyone hears it at once, from the top. But before that, managers already have their talking points in hand, ready for the 1:1s and department meetings that follow. Then representatives do a “roadshow” of sorts, dropping into each department to give an overview, support managers, and answer questions in person. And finally we share a microsite so employees can dig into the details on their own time.
Notice what’s doing the heavy lifting there: not a scheduled webinar everyone has to attend, but talking points up front and experts coming to the managers. That roadshow is basically the webinar you were considering, just flipped so the busiest people don’t have to find the time… the experts come to them.
And if you do want a webinar in the mix, produce it for understanding, not just to check a box. Clear chapters so people can jump to what’s relevant, links and documents attached for reference, and a genuinely digestible runtime, something a manager can catch in passing rather than a full hour they have to protect. The easier it is to consume, the more likely it actually gets consumed.
Last thing (sorry this is long!), because it ties everything together: this is really a cascade question. Map out who hears what, from whom, and in what order before you send a single message. Senior leaders already know (great, first ring). Managers come next, and they need their talking points before the all-employee announcement, because the second employees hear the news, they’ll turn straight to their manager. Protecting that gap between “managers are ready” and “everyone knows” is the whole game.
