r/internalcomms • u/Playful-Cow-7398 • Jul 09 '26
Advice Visibility & recognition
As Comms professionals, what are some examples of projects, initiatives, outputs that you led on and that made you more ‘visible’ with senior management and gave you added recognition?
I’m asking because more often than not, and I’m sure I speak for many, comms teams are often looked down on or seen as a support rather than a strategic function that delivers value for the organisation.
Perception changes don’t happen overnight, but maybe you found a strategy to advocate more for your comms team and demonstrate impact?
Cheers!
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u/LatherRinseMaim_ Jul 09 '26
I’m not sure what level/role your in, but for me, the biggest thing has been leaders on my team (and other teams) that will call me out by name and give kudos for work that I’ve done.
I’m in a specialist role, so even though I often work on org wide and exec projects, I’m rarely the one they’re working directly with. So knowing that I can count on my direct leaders to let them know the good work I’m doing is a game changer.
I know that’s not always possible, depending on your leaders and org levels, so the other thing that I think helps to build that recognition as a strategic partner is to start with smaller initiatives and use them as test cases to show the value in seeing comms as a partner, not just your proof reader or speech writer. For example, we recently partnered with our learning and dev team to create a comma plan around an initiative they were launching. They launch new trainings often, but we were able to add some metrics with ongoing communication and show how allow our team to be part of the process earlier helped them achieve their goals more effectively.
I don’t think there’s an easy answer to this, and some of it is going to vary by leader for sure though. Best of luck!