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Surprised to see me in your inbox on a Thursday?! Well, here I am! 👀

This is a ✨ special edition deep dive ✨ of I Hate it Here. Every now and then you may get one of these from me! 👏

This special edition deep dive is sponsored by Workvivo by Zoom who have a very exciting virtual event coming up on July 29th with AMC Theatres.

What's a deep dive?

Deep dives are opportunities for me to collab with specific companies in the HR/People space on topics of joint interest to them, me, and even you! The sponsoring company provides invaluable input on the topic but this edition itself is written, edited, and published by your fave gal, me!

And today I’m diving into 4 creative strategies to add to your DIY comms playbook!!

🍿 BONUS: If you want hear from a brand simply killing it, Workvivo is unpacking and sharing how AMC Theatres (the world's largest movie theatre chain) engages 30,000+ employees one story, multiple locations and one post at a time.

They are going to dig into when your teams are spread across locations, time zones, and shifts, how to build a culture with a strong sense of belonging. AND MAKE IT FUN!!

So grab your popcorn and register now!

Trust me you don’t want to miss it. This newsletter is just a preview of what’s to come…

COMMUNICATION

The DIY Comms Playbook: Steal AMC Theatre's Tactics

🍿 “We come to this place for magic....”

In a perfect world? We would be describing work that way!

A big chunk of what makes orgs function is the ability to communicate properly to teams.

But between a million Slacks, three apps for employees, and emails that feel like they were written by a robot who literally hates joy, comms are...not landing for a lot of folks.

And when they don't land, morale suffers, engagement dips, and trust?

Well, it ghosts. 👻

We know the psychology here: when people don’t have clear, consistent information, they feel uncertain.

Uncertainty at work isn’t just an inconvenience, it also becomes a chronic stress response that chips away at confidence and well-being.

Sooo what actually works?!

How do you create communications that make people feel connected, informed, and seen?

AMC (yes, the movie theater brand and my favorite place to escape) has a proven playbook that you need to see!

Their comms approach hits all the right notes:

✅ Creative

✅ Employee-driven

✅ Culture-deepening

And the best part? It’s stealable.

Let’s break down strategies from their playbook, shall we?

Here are 4 strategies you need to know more about…

Turn Up the Volume on Employee Voices:

Put employees in the spotlight with campaigns by them, for them!

💡 The idea: who better to craft messages that resonate with frontline workers...than frontline workers themselves?

Tap employees to lead internal campaigns around values, customer service, and even safety protocols.

Instead of the usual top-down comms that feel like homework, these can have personality, relevance, and heart!

Why it works: When comms come from leadership, they often sound like…well, leadership.

And that’s not always a bad thing, but it’s not always relatable either. Employees trust people who get their daily challenges, aka their peers! When employees lead the message, it creates an immediate sense of relevance and authenticity.

These campaigns inform AND build belonging at the same time.

In environments where uncertainty breeds stress, that sense of connection becomes a psychological buffer.

You’re not just getting a message across, you’re calming nervous systems and reinforcing culture in a way a memo never could.

Sometimes, it really is that simple!

🛠️ 3 steps to launch this tomorrow:

1. Pick a focus. Choose a topic with high relevance for your team like:

A core value (“what does ‘teamwork’ actually look like here?”)
A seasonal push (e.g., summer safety reminders)
A customer service highlight (“moments of magic” on the floor)
A recent big win

2. Identify 2–3 employee champions. Find employees who are:

Respected by peers
Comfortable on video or writing
Willing to have a little fun

3. Give the employees “the mic” but don’t forget to prompt them ideas like:

What do you wish people knew about this topic?
How do you actually practice this in your day to day?
What advice would you give a new hire? (JUICY!!)

There are A TON of format options to pick from! Here are some to consider:

Short video clips (1–2 minutes, filmed on phones Tiktok style)
Voice memo or podcast-style snippet
Slack thread Q&A
Company wide newsletter takeover

Ready to bring this to life but need some inspo? Workvivo & AMC Theatres are teaming up to share how they made this come to life to over 30,000 employees next week.

📺 Snag a spot and walk away with even more ideas to implement.

Creative Contests Tied to Business Themes:

Contests can be cringe, unless they’re actually fun and relevant.

You can get it right by tying competitions directly to business priorities.

Examples? A compliance challenge turned into a meme war, or a safety campaign done with TikTok-style videos.

The result? Massive participation, buzz, and performance lifts that aren’t driven by pressure, but by pride and a lil fun! 🥳

Why it works: When was the last time someone got excited about a compliance checklist?! Yeah, exactly.

(If you raised your hand, you are fascinating to me)

Give people a chance to be creative about that checklist and suddenly it’s not just engagement, it’s activation.

Contests reframe corporate objectives into something people want to play with, not just check off.

And when the campaign is tied to real goals (and not just “fun for HR’s sake”), you get high participation and performance.

It's psychology 101: people remember what they emotionally connect with, and if they had fun doing it, they'll do it again.

Now that's a sustainable impact! 👏

Stop Gatekeeping the Mic:

Ditch the dusty old intranet model and replace it with decentralized content hubs, so local teams can adapt core messaging, share their own updates, and remix content that actually fits their crew.

🎧 Think of it like a Spotify playlist, but for comms.

This not only makes messaging feel more personalized, but it also empowers managers and team leads to communicate in the style and tone that works for them.

Why it works: Simply put, people don’t engage with what doesn’t feel made for them. Period.

Centralized comms are often generic by design, but local teams need messaging that matches their pace, tone, and realities.

Giving them a flexible hub creates autonomy, which increases ownership, and with it, buy-in!

When HQ is the only voice, it’s easy for people tune out.

But when comms come from within the team, they hit different.

It’s relevance + resonance = results.

How we do this: we use Notion as a hub for content. Our homepage is all about our company but each department / team has their own page to format as they see fit!

Your Culture Needs a Plotline:

Want people to care about your message?

Tell them a story. Not a slide deck. Not a KPI memo. A story!

🎥 You can lean into storytelling by sharing real stories from the field, like recognizing top performers, celebrating quirky team traditions, and pulling back the curtain on what makes your culture tick.

Why it works: Humans are wired for stories. It’s how we learn, remember, and relate to the world around us.

So if your comms are just a list of updates and not a narrative people can see themselves in, you’re missing the opportunity to inspire!

Stories create emotional stickiness, and that’s what we appreciate about all of the best movies, music, and companies in the world.

Stories remind people who they are, what matters here, and where we’re going together, especially when uncertainty is high.

It’s not fluff. It’s functionally powerful!

✨Pro-tip: find your story sparks. Instead of inventing stories, mine them:

Who had a big win this week? (Performance)
Who went above and beyond for a teammate or customer? (Values)
What’s a quirky team tradition that others would love? (Culture)
Who just hit a work anniversary with a great backstory? (Belonging)

All those are stories to tell and share!!

Learn from the Pros, Then Be One

Communications shouldn’t ever feel like background noise.

They should feel like a soundtrack: energizing, relevant, and made for the people listening! 🎵

AMC cracked the code by letting employees lead, inviting creativity, loosening the grip on messaging control, and turning everyday wins into stories that resonate.

People Leaders, this is your playbook.

Because when comms are human, morale lifts.

When they’re strategic, trust grows.

And when they’re a little bit magical? Engagement follows.

Wanna join a deeper discussion around how all of these proven tactics work?

Join Workvivo on July 29th for a behind-the-scenes session with the team from AMC!

You'll walk away with even more real-world tactics to bring this magic to your org.

It’s time to make work a place we alllll go for magic!

Thanks for reading this deep dive! Reply with any thoughts you have.

XOXO,

Hebba Youssef

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