Ask Devin

I think a lot of internal communicators (or comms teams in general!) fall into the trap of thinking that all communication has to come from them. That’s one of the quickest ways to burn out, lose control, or end up in a place where comms becomes reactive instead of intentional.

Instead, I think the real priority is empowering other people to communicate well. Managers, department heads, and team leads should be communicating regularly with their teams — because they’re closest to the work and can add context, goals, and nuance that a central comms team just doesn’t always have. Trying to download all of that information and then repackage it yourself usually takes more time and creates more friction anyway.

So if I had to summarize the goal, it’s this: internal comms shouldn’t be responsible for communicating everything, but it should be responsible for championing good communication across the company. For me, that means spending the most time on communication that impacts the whole company, drives alignment, or requires more thoughtful framing and supporting teams so they can own the rest.

One of the goals we have at Workshop is making sure everyone is a strong internal communicator, regardless of role, title, or seniority. Very practically, we do this through Lunch & Learns that focus on things like hierarchy, design, clarity, and accessibility — all the basics that help messages actually land. We also include marketing and comms training as part of onboarding, so from day one employees understand our brand voice, tone, and how we think about communication internally. That way, as people start sharing updates or messaging their teams, they’re already aligned on how we communicate, not just what we communicate.

We also use a shared comms calendar so we can see what’s going out and when. That helps us avoid overloading employees (especially first thing Monday morning!) and gives us a way to coordinate without slowing anyone down.

Another way we prioritize is by thinking creatively about how we communicate. We have an internal podcast at Workshop, which allows me to have more in-depth conversations with other team members about strategy, goals, and alignmen… you know, the things that don’t always translate well into a short written update.

When teams feel confident communicating clearly and consistently, information moves faster, decisions stick better, and employees stay more aligned — without comms becoming a bottleneck.

So my advice is to invite others into your comms ecosystem, rather than trying to own everything yourself. Let people do what they do best, support them with tools, structure, and guidance, and focus your time on the communication that truly needs a strategic lens.