Promoting Open Communication

Over the last year, I’ve seen many people fall into the same trap: They launch an AI-powered agent (chatbot, assistant, support tool, etc.)… But only track surface-level KPIs — like response time or number of users. That’s not enough. To create AI systems that actually deliver value, we need 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰, 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 that reflect: • User trust • Task success • Business impact • Experience quality    This infographic highlights 15 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 dimensions to consider: ↳ 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 — Are your AI answers actually useful and correct? ↳ 𝗧𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 — Can the agent complete full workflows, not just answer trivia? ↳ 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 — Response speed still matters, especially in production. ↳ 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — How often are users returning or interacting meaningfully? ↳ 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 — Did the user achieve their goal? This is your north star. ↳ 𝗘𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 — Irrelevant or wrong responses? That’s friction. ↳ 𝗦𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Longer isn’t always better — it depends on the goal. ↳ 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Are users coming back 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 the first experience? ↳ 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — Especially critical at scale. Budget-wise agents win. ↳ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗵 — Can the agent handle follow-ups and multi-turn dialogue? ↳ 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 — Feedback from actual users is gold. ↳ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 — Can your AI 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳 to earlier inputs? ↳ 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 — Can it handle volume 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 degrading performance? ↳ 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 — This is key for RAG-based agents. ↳ 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 — Is your AI learning and improving over time? If you're building or managing AI agents — bookmark this. Whether it's a support bot, GenAI assistant, or a multi-agent system — these are the metrics that will shape real-world success. 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀? Let’s make this list even stronger — drop your thoughts 👇

Hire people BETTER THAN YOU and DIFFERENT TO YOU… Then LEARN FROM THEM. 🙏🏾 Sounds straightforward, doesn't it? Yet, why do so many leaders still struggle to grasp it? It’s because there's often hidden complexity beneath the surface. For example: 👀 Insecurity: Some leaders want to maintain the perception of being the smartest or most capable in the room. Therefore, surrounding themselves with highly skilled individuals could make them feel inadequate or threatened. 🔐 Need for Control: Hiring “less competent” team members could ensure that the leader remains the central figure, exerting control over important matters. 😱 Fear of Challenge: A diverse team can bring different viewpoints that might challenge the leader's ideas and decisions. 🧘🏾♂️ Comfort Zone: Some leaders prefer familiarity and ease, preventing them from being pushed out of their boundaries. ❤️ Misguided Loyalty: Leaders might adopt favouritism and hire people based on personal relationships or loyalties. 🤔 Short-Term Thinking: Hiring less skilled individuals could be a short-sighted approach to save costs or meet immediate needs, ignoring the long-term benefits of a talented and diverse team. 🤷🏾♂️ Lack of Awareness: Some leaders might just not fully recognise the value of diversity or the importance of surrounding themselves with skilled individuals. Leaders like the above ☝🏽are missing out on: 🧠 Amplified Intelligence: “Fuse Minds" Surrounding yourself with smarter people boosts team intelligence. Just like a puzzle, different pieces fit together to create a whole that's stronger than its parts. 🚀 Fast-Track Growth: “Learn from Experts" Learning from the best accelerates personal growth. Imagine being on a rocket powered by knowledge and experience – you'll reach your goals faster. 🤔 Constant Innovation: “Open Doors" Humility opens doors to innovation. Acknowledging that you don't know everything encourages openness to fresh ideas and creative solutions. 🏋️♂️ Informed Choices: “Embrace Thought Variety" Embracing diversity of thought leads to well-rounded decisions. Different perspectives catch what others might miss, reducing blind spots. 🤝 Unified Power: “Flourish in Collaboration” Collaboration flourishes when skills vary. Strength lies in unity, and a mix of talents creates a powerhouse of cooperation. 🌱 Trust Building: “Strengthen Culture" Inclusive leadership fosters loyalty and trust. Encouraging growth shows you value your team members, creating a supportive environment. 🚀 Ensured Continuity: “Smooth Transition" Passing the baton ensures continuity. When your team can carry the torch, you're free to explore new horizons without being tied down. In short, the aim of any great leader is to make your daily responsibilities redundant. This is best achieved by hiring people better than you, and those that share a different perspective. Empower them, learn from them and the rest will take care of itself 🦋

It’s International Women’s Day. And while we’ll see plenty of feel-good posts about empowerment, here’s a reminder of why the fight for women’s rights isn’t just about celebration—it’s about change. Most Saturdays, I post an ad that’s clever or fun, something to spark lighthearted conversations. But today’s ad is different. Because this conversation matters. Here’s the truth: Women don’t need more pastel-colored ‘girl power’ campaigns. We don’t need vague corporate slogans about equality from companies that still have gender pay gaps and leadership teams that look like a boys’ club. Because no matter what we achieve, women are still judged on things that have nothing to do with their worth. Their clothes. Their tone. Their choices. Too much? Not enough? There’s always a label. What we do need? A world where women are valued for their contributions, not judged for their clothes, their tone, or whether they fit someone else’s idea of ‘likeable.’ A world where:   → A woman who speaks up isn’t ‘aggressive’ while a man is ‘assertive.’ → A mother doesn’t have to prove she’s still dedicated to her career. → A woman walking alone at night doesn’t have to hold her keys like a weapon. → A woman’s clothing choices don’t dictate her respect, her safety, or her credibility. The problem isn’t that women need to ‘break the glass ceiling.’ It’s that the system was built in a way that expects us to be grateful for the cracks. So before we pat ourselves on the back for progress, let’s ask: 💭Who’s missing from leadership? 💭Who gets interrupted in meetings? 💭Who gets told to "smile more"? 💭Who gets labeled before they even speak? And more importantly—what are you doing to change it? I know today’s ad isn’t my usual Saturday post. But I hope it still sparks conversation—because this is a conversation worth having. Progress doesn’t happen through hashtags alone. It happens when we stop making excuses and start making change. (This ad was part of a campaign from Terre des Femmes, Germany's largest women's rights organization.)

How to measure the impact of Internal Communications? A practical guide below 👇 If you’re still reporting on opens, clicks and event attendance, you’re measuring activity. That is ok. But the IMPACT sits deeper. Here’s a simple 4-level structure you can use: 1️⃣ Reach & Response Did people see it? (opens, clicks, attendance, views) 2️⃣ Perception & Understanding Did trust, clarity or alignment shift? (pulse checks, sentiment, quick polls) 3️⃣ Behavior Change Are people doing something differently? (define the behavior → measure baseline → measure again) 4️⃣ Strategic Impact Did this influence retention, eNPS, productivity or performance indicators? (track the correlation) Internal Comms becomes strategic when communication connects to behavior and behavior connects to business metrics. Save this framework for your next campaign. Share it with someone who’s building IC as a system, not a content stream. #InternalComms #CorporateCulture #EmployeeEngagement #CommunicationStrategy #SageXP #Measurement #Communications

Most company all hands are a colossal waste of time. Executives love them. Employees endure them. And by the end, everyone walks away wondering why they just spent an hour listening to corporate jargon and self-congratulatory speeches. The best town halls inspire, entertain, and actually help employees do their jobs better. Here’s what separates a high-impact all-hands from a glorified PowerPoint recital: ✅ What to DO: 1. Recognize employees—at all levels. Praise from leadership boosts morale and retention, but too often, these shoutouts are reserved for the C-suite or department heads. A great town hall highlights frontline employees too—people in the trenches who don’t usually get the mic. Give them a moment. It matters. 2. Prioritize Q&A—real Q&A. Nobody likes the “carefully curated” questions that sidestep real concerns. Collect questions in advance, offer an anonymous option, and don’t dodge the tough ones. If it’s on a lot of people’s minds, address it head-on. Lean into discomfort and build trust. 3. Have a clear POV. People don’t just want updates. They want direction. What’s the leadership’s stance on the company’s future? What big decisions are on the table? Spell it out. 4. Keep it under 45 minutes. Attention spans are short. Cut the fluff. 5. Offer remote and in-person options. And for those in-person? Give them real refreshments. A sad plate of stale cookies isn’t a gesture of appreciation. Show you give a damn. 6. Be honest about bad news. The best town halls aren’t just cheerleading sessions. If layoffs are coming, if a major initiative flopped, if a leadership shake-up is happening, own it. Employees respect transparency more than spin. 7. Use tech to keep it engaging. Polls. Live reactions. Interactive elements. The more this feels like a two-way conversation, the more engaged people will be. ❌ What NOT to do: 1. Make it a CEO monologue. This isn’t TED Talk: Corporate Edition. The best town halls involve multiple voices, including employees themselves. 2. Over-script everything. Yes, prepare. No, don’t read a novel off a teleprompter. A town hall should feel human, not like an earnings call. 3. Pretend everything is great when it’s not. Nothing makes employees tune out faster than toxic positivity. If things are tough, acknowledge it. Then share how the company is tackling the challenges. 4. Forget the follow-up. People ask questions. Issues get raised. If leadership doesn’t circle back with answers later, trust erodes. Send a recap, outline next steps, and actually act on what you heard. TL/DR: A great town hall isn’t just a meeting. It’s a culture-building moment. Get it right, and you strengthen engagement, trust, and impact. Get it wrong, and you’ve wasted everyone’s time and provided a reason for them to job search. What’s the best (or worst) town hall experience you’ve ever had?

Meetings cut in half. Escalations down 75%. No new tools required. A cross-functional marketing team at a major global retailer was drowning: only 22% thought their meetings were a good use of time, and just 39% understood the metrics they were being evaluated against. No calendar audit fixed it. What did? Getting their team working norms aligned, starting with cross-functional goals. With help from Sacha Connor at Virtual Work Insider, the team worked through five intensive 90-minute sessions over two months. Three focus areas made the difference: 🔹 Align goals before anything else. They mapped KPIs side by side and found one function's top priority barely registered for the other. They worked to get aligned, and shared understanding of team metrics went from 39% to 83%. 🔹 Clarify decision rights first. Designated points of contact absorbed a brutal 15:1 staffing ratio, without adding headcount. It also cut down on meetings ("where are we on X") and reduced escalations by 75%! 🔹 Create norms for communication. One rule on Teams: drop an eyeball emoji to acknowledge you've seen a message. Information-flow effectiveness jumped from 41% to 83%. As Sacha put it about Team Working Agreements: most companies put a toolkit on the intranet, maybe a couple teams download it, work through the logistics and call it done. It's not. Three-quarters of teams have never established formal norms. If you're about to layer AI on top of that foundation, you're building on sand. 👉 Full case study in today's newsletter, linked in comments What's actually standing in the way of your team doing this work? #Meetings #Management #AI

In which of these 2 scenarios, will a sales rep sell more blenders? a) She nails the demo, flawlessly blending a smoothie in front of potential customers b) Same exact pitch, but when she pours the smoothie, she spills it all over the table Dr. Richard Wiseman conducted this exact study. More people bought the blender when she made an absolute mess. This phenomenon is called the "other shoe effect." The underlying principle: We instinctively know people aren’t perfect. So when someone appears too polished in high-stakes moments—job interviews, pitches, first dates—part of our brain asks: “What are they hiding? When does the other shoe drop?” The longer someone appears flawless, the more suspicious we get. This creates a dangerous cycle: • You try to appear perfect in the first impression • The other person's brain gets increasingly distracted wondering about your hidden flaws • When your imperfection finally shows (and it will), it hits much harder than if you'd acknowledged it upfront I learned this the hard way. When I first wrote Captivate, I tried to sound like an academic. My editor called it out: “This doesn’t sound like you.” So I rewrote the intro to be me, very me in a vulnerable way: “Hi, I’m Vanessa. I’m a recovering awkward person.” That vulnerability built instant trust. By dropping my shoe early, I built trust immediately and let readers know they were in good company. This is also how I introduce myself in conversations, and I have noticed everyone laughs and relaxes when I say it. There are a couple situations where you can actively use this effect: • Job interviews: After sharing your strengths, say "One area I’m still growing in is public speaking—which is why this role excites me." • Investor pitches: After a strong open, confess: "One challenge we’re still working through is [X], and here’s how we’re tackling it." • Team meetings: Proactively raise project risks, then offer a solution. Don’t let others discover it first. Rules to remember: • Choose authentic vulnerabilities, not fake ones • Drop your shoe AFTER establishing competence, not before • Pair vulnerability with accountability - show how you're addressing it Remember: The goal isn't to appear perfect. It's to appear trustworthy. And trustworthy people acknowledge their imperfections before others have to discover them.

"My door is always open" is the laziest leadership advice ever. You think it makes you accessible. You think it builds trust. You think people will come to you when they need help. They won't. Here's why your open door isn't working: • People still worry about "interrupting" you • They don't want to seem needy or incapable • They can't tell if you're genuinely available or just being polite • They assume you're too busy for their "small" concerns The result? Hidden problems. Silent struggles. Missed connection. Leadership isn’t about waiting for people to walk through your door — it’s about pulling them in. Here's what actually works: 1. Practice Active Promotion → Publicly recognize when someone brings up issues → Share how their feedback led to improvements → Thank people for trusting you with their concerns 2. Remove Status Barriers → Join team events → Spend time sitting with the team → Show up early to meetings for casual chat 3. Make Personal Connection Explicit → "Tell me about your weekend" isn't small talk—it's leadership → "How are you handling the workload?" shows you see them as people → Share your own struggles to model vulnerability 4. Follow Up Consistently → Remember what people tell you → Check back on issues they mentioned → Take action to show their concerns matter 5. Build Multiple Listening Channels → Walk the floor → Collect anonymous questions/feedback → Travel for site visits → Schedule "skip-level" meetings If people aren't coming to you, it's not because they don't need help. It's because you haven't made it safe enough to ask. Your job isn’t to be passively open. It’s to be actively available. Pick ONE from this list. Try it this week. Reply and tell me which one.

Ever feel like your conversations hit a wall—fast? You’re asking questions. You’re showing up. But all you’re getting are surface-level answers... or polite head nods. Here’s the truth: It’s not just what you ask.  It’s how you ask it. Strong leaders don’t need to have all the answers. They need to ask the right questions—the kind that spark clarity, ownership, trust, and growth. Here’s a quick breakdown that’ll level up your communication game ⬇️ 🔓 Open-Ended Questions Use when you want reflection, dialogue, and real insight. They unlock honesty, creativity, and connection. 💼 Leadership & Team • “What’s your perspective on how this project is going?” • “What do you feel about the direction we're heading?” • “What do you need from me to be successful right now?” • “How do you think we can improve our team dynamic?” 🔄 Feedback & Growth • “What part of that feedback surprised you the most?” • “What’s been working well for you—and why?” • “What would make this feedback more useful?” 🔍 Problem Solving • “What options have you considered so far?” • “What's the root cause, as you see it?” • “What would success look like in this situation?” 🤝 Coaching & Mentoring • “What’s holding you back right now?” • “What do you want to be known for in this role?” • “How can I support you without overstepping?” 🔐 Closed-Ended Questions Use for structure, speed, and decision-making. They bring focus, clarity, and momentum. ✅ Quick Check-ins • “Did you send the proposal?” • “Is the deadline still realistic?” 📊 Data & Decisions • “Do you agree with this plan?” • “Is that within our budget?” ⏱ Operational • “Has the issue been resolved?” • “Did the system go live on time?” 🎯 Pro Tip: Open-ended questions build trust and unlock real conversations. Closed-ended ones move things forward fast. Smart leadership is knowing when to use which—and why. Here’s the bottom line: Your questions shape your culture. They either open doors—or close them. Ask better, and you lead better. 👇 What’s one question that’s helped you unlock deeper conversations at work? ♻️ Share this with your network if it resonates. ☝️ And follow Stuart Andrews for more insights like this.

How do you retain people? "Make few promises. Keep them all." That's the simplest rule I always recommend. How do you keep your promises when they're a WIP? You send comms to keep people updated. But... How do you know if they're landing? Enterprise orgs should track these metrics: 1) Did they even get it? Measure: Delivery rate or % of employees who got this message. If people never see the message, nothing else matters. You'd be surprised how many internal IT protocols actually end up blocking your internal comms. Happens more than you think. 2) Did they see it? Measure: views or video plays. It helps show you initial engagement which is a good start. It doesn't quite tell you comprehension yet but that comes later. P.S. I've seen open rates below 10% before at Fortune 100 companies who initially thought their comms were landing well until they started benchmarking open rate by cohort & department 3) Did they understand it? Measure: Quick poll: “Was this clear?” (Yes/No. Short quizzes help too btw) People may see the message but not understand what to do with the info. That's why I'm a big fan of the BLUF technique the Navy Seals used for comms. It stands for "Bottom Line Up Front" where the most important information is presented at the beginning of your message. 4) Did they act on it? Measure: Did employee complete the action in question. Ex: what's your completion rate on the actions you sent? THIS is your ultimate indicator that comms are working. 5) Did they feel heard? Measure: Weekly or monthly pulse surveys This gives you qualitative data that helps improve tone, clarity, and trust over time. What you say is one thing but the TONE that your frontline feel from it is what really matters from a culture perspective. Friendly reminder: All of these performance analytics SHOULD be segmentable by department, location, team and region to validate where your areas of high and low engagement are so that you can address this with operations and local leadership teams. P.S. What else would you add?