​

Hey Reader,

Before we dive into this week's newsletter, I have an invitation for you. Join me for a free live event on 12th November in partnership with Blink, who are going to put me in the hot seat and ask me tricky, meaty questions about internal comms. There will be hot takes and spicy questions and probably some self-deprecating humour along the way too.

Come join me, I'll help you get unstuck on your challenges and give you practical, actionable advice to help you with your job. Did I mention it's free?

Okay let's get stuck into today's topic. Each week in this newsletter I answer a question from a reader. This week's question comes from an internal comms manager in Toronto who says:

Ah my friend, are you The Ghost of Past Me? Because I could have written this verbatim earlier in my career. I used to find approval processes extremely painful and I'd lose a lot of productive time on trying to edit my stakeholders' edits which in turn would lead to further edits... and then whatever comms we published was nothing like the beautifully clear communication I had drafted in the first place. My lovely content was usually completely butchered, full of acronyms, jargon and unnecessary complexity.

This kind of situation is frustrating for everyone involved; it's frustrating to you as the internal comms professional because your work is getting ruined by unncessary edits and meddling, it's frustrating for your stakeholders because it feels like extra work on their plate to rewrite content and it's frustrating for our employee audience because we often end up publishing long-winded, jargon-filled comms that result in confusion and annoyance.

And here's the thing, I was getting frustrated with my stakeholders for rewriting everything but actually over time I realised maybe it was my fault. I wasn't clearly communicating the approval process to them or being specific enough about what I actually wanted them to do.

Choose your questions wisely

For years, when I sent content to stakeholders for approval, I'd ask something like:

Seems reasonable, right? But actually if you look at it, really LOOK at it, this question is pretty vague and was the cause of all my problems. This question opened the door for stakeholders to rewrite everything because I was actively inviting them to "make any changes", which of course I didn't want them to do at all. This kind of question is an open invitation to change anything really; the style, the tone, the formatting, the word choices, the length... all of it.

I learned over time to ask a better question instead. Instead of that vague question that inviting all sorts of shenanigans, I started getting much more specific. My favourite question was this:

Do you see how different this is? It's specific. It's clear. It narrows the scope of what you're asking the stakeholder to do. I was explicitly asking them to check the facts only. I wasn't asking for their opinion on style, tone of voice or formatting. I wasn't inviting them to rewrite my carefully crafted message or add more paragraphs or add in lots of jargon. I was simply asking them to verify that the information was factually correct.

This kind of approach positions you as the communications expert (which you are) and makes it clear that your job is to determine the right style, tone and format for your audience. The stakeholder's job is to ensure accuracy. This is much clearer in terms of roles and responsibilities, and honestly I feel like this kind of clarity is very kind. The stakeholder doesn't have to second guess what you want them to do and their role is clear - just read it and catch any incorrect information. Easy (and quick, too).

Other tips for your approval process

Changing the question you use in an approval process is something that helped me a lot but here are some other tricks I learned over the years to speed up your approval process. Honest note that I learned all of these tricks by making many mistakes over many years; hopefully my mistakes can help you create an approval process that works for you.

Tip 1: Set clear expectations upfront

Before you even start creating content for a campaign or project, have a conversation with your stakeholder about how the approval process will work. Explain that you'll be asking them to fact-check for accuracy and that you'll be responsible for the style and tone because that's your area of expertise.

This sets the boundary early and helps them understand their role in the process.

Tip 2: Give them a deadline (and stick to it)

When you send content for approval, you can include a specific deadline. Don't say "can you review this when you get a chance?" because that's way too vague and it'll sit in their inbox forever.

Instead, say something like: "Can you fact-check this for accuracy by 3pm on Thursday? If I don't hear back by then, I'll assume the facts are correct and proceed with publishing."

That last part lets them know it will be published with or without their input and this will incentivise them to catch any errors in the content.

Tip 3: Limit the number of approvers

One thing I definitely learned over the years is that the more people who need to approve your content, the longer it takes and the more it gets diluted. Every person who touches it will want to add their own spin.

So be ruthless about limiting approvers. Ask yourself who REALLY needs to approve this? Often, you only need one person, most likely the subject matter expert who can verify accuracy.

Try these approaches yourself

These tricks transformed my approval processes over the years. The whole process became quicker, easier, more efficient... and the content stayed clear, jargon-free and easy for employees to understand.

Take these tips and use them the next time you're getting content approved and see if it helps you. I certainly wish someone had told me these tips many many years ago!

Thanks for reading and stay curious,

Joanna

​

Find me on YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn and check out my book

Want to work together?

• Join The Curious Tribe. This is my membership community for ambitious, curious communicators who want to achieve more in their roles and have fun at the same time. Membership allows you to work directly with me for 12 months, make deep connections with other communication pros who 'get it' and improve your skills through training and learning. More info here.
• Ready to review your channels and content but don't know where to start? Download my practical Internal Comms Audit Playbook to guide you through a DIY audit - no expensive consultant needed.​ This has ready-to-use templates and checklists to give you a systematic way to do your own audit which you can repeat every single year. Get it here.
• Take a shortcut. I've developed a collection of tried-and-tested templates, checklists and how-to guides for the key processes you'll need in your role as an internal communicator. You can download my Internal Comms Cheat Sheets here.​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​
​Unsubscribe ·