Five ways to work with 538.

538 Alignment Diagnostic

Leadership and employee interviews, a channel audit and information-flow mapping, ending with the three to five problems most worth solving.

Example: A 175-person organization has mediocre engagement scores and employees say “communication is bad.” The diagnostic establishes what that means, why it’s happening and what leadership should fix first.

You get

• Diagnostic report
• Communication flow map
• 90-day roadmap
• Measurement scorecard
• Leadership findings session

Communication Health Assessment

A rapid, facilitated review of your channels, messages and existing employee feedback, scored across the areas that most often break down.

Example: A CEO isn’t ready to commission a full diagnostic but wants to know whether internal communication has obvious structural problems.

You get

• Communication health snapshot
• Five priority opportunities
• Quick wins vs. longer-term issues
• Leadership debrief

Employee Listening Sprint

Interviews or focus groups with the right employee groups, coded into themes and translated into specific recommendations.

Example: Leadership knows employees are frustrated after a change but doesn’t understand why.

You get

• Listening report and theme map
• Differences by employee population
• Recommended actions
• “What We Heard / What Happens Next” employee message

Manager Communication Assessment

Traces recent announcements through the manager cascade and compares what leaders intended, what managers understood and what employees heard.

Example: Executives say they’re communicating constantly, while frontline employees say they’re always the last to know.

You get

• Current-state cascade map
• Breakdown analysis
• Future-state cascade
• Manager brief and FAQ templates

Strategic Plan Activation

Turns an executive strategic plan into an employee narrative, launches it through leaders and managers, and checks whether people understood it.

Example: Leadership spent nine months producing a strong strategic plan that risks becoming a PDF nobody reads.

You get

• Employee strategic narrative
• Role relevance matrix
• Manager toolkit
• Team discussion guide
• Understanding pulse

Change Communication Strategy

Manages the communication system surrounding a change: readiness, audience-specific messaging, sequencing, manager preparation and listening as the change unfolds.

Example: A 500-person organization restructures several departments over 90 days.

You get

• Stakeholder map and change impact matrix
• Message architecture
• 90-day communication calendar
• Manager toolkit and FAQ
• Question and issue tracker

Focused Strategic Communication Project

A defined communication challenge, taken from objective to audiences, messages, channels, launch and measurement.

Example: A new CEO, a major policy rollout, a return-to-office decision or a significant operational change.

You get

• Message architecture
• Communication calendar
• Executive announcement
• Manager briefing and FAQ
• Measurement plan

Manager Cascade System

A repeatable way for managers to receive, share and respond to organizational information, piloted with real managers before it scales.

Example: Every major announcement becomes a manager brief built on Know → Say → Do → Ask.

You get

• Manager cascade playbook
• Know → Say → Do → Ask template
• Escalation protocol
• Manager training session

Leadership Communication Architecture

Defines what the CEO, executives, HR, communications and managers each communicate, through which channels and how often.

Example: A monthly CEO town hall, executive updates, the manager cascade and employee feedback, operating as one system instead of unrelated communications.

You get

• Executive roles matrix
• Channel purpose matrix
• 12-month leadership communication calendar
• Town hall framework

Employee Voice System Design

Maps how employees speak up today and what happens next, then designs a closed loop with clear ownership and response standards.

Example: Moving from “we run an annual engagement survey” to “employees can see that speaking up causes something to happen.”

You get

• Current-state listening map
• Voice architecture
• Leadership response protocol
• “You Said / We Did / Here’s Why” template

From Leadership Priority to Employee Understanding

The flagship session. Participants take one real priority, diagnose how it’s being communicated today and redesign it from the employee’s point of view.

You get

• Participant workbook
• Communication journey map
• Redesign worksheet
• Action plan

Manager Communication Fundamentals

Message clarity, employee context, difficult questions, listening, and communicating decisions managers didn’t make themselves.

You get

• Manager communication playbook
• Difficult-question framework
• Team meeting template

Communicating Organizational Priorities

Turning broad priorities into employee relevance: audience, meaning, behavior and message, practiced on a real priority.

You get

• Priority translation worksheet
• Audience relevance matrix
• Manager conversation guide

Communicating Through Change

How uncertainty, trust, timing and manager behavior shape understanding during change, including how to communicate when leaders don’t have every answer.

You get

• Change communication checklist
• Known / Unknown / Next Update framework
• Manager talking points

Employee Voice & Feedback

What makes employees speak up, where feedback loops stay open, and simple practices managers can use to close them.

You get

• Feedback loop map
• Manager listening guide
• “You Said / We Did / Here’s Why” template

Communication Across Distributed Workforces

Differences among desk-based, field, remote, shift and multi-site employees, and how to redesign one message so it reaches all of them.

You get

• Workforce audience map
• Channel accessibility matrix
• Message adaptation worksheet

Communicating Employee Wellbeing

Helps organizations communicate the wellbeing resources they already offer, so more employees know about them, trust them and use them.

You get

• Audience and barrier matrix
• Wellbeing message framework
• Manager reinforcement guide
• Awareness measures

Strategic Advisory

Two scheduled strategy calls a month, reasonable asynchronous access, and review of sensitive or high-value communications before they go out.

Example: A CEO or CHRO wants a trusted sounding board for announcements, leadership messaging and employee reactions.

You get

• Monthly advisory sessions
• Message and strategy review
• Priority tracker
• Quarterly health review

Fractional Internal Communications

Owns or co-manages the internal communication roadmap, editorial priorities, leadership communication and measurement, and produces selected high-value communications.

Example: The internal communication function is a team of one, and that person is stretched thin.

You get

• Internal communication roadmap
• Editorial calendar
• Major communication deliverables
• Measurement dashboard
• Monthly status report

Embedded Internal Communications

A fractional head of internal communications in the leadership rhythm, owning strategy, change, manager communication, listening and measurement, and building processes the organization can eventually run itself.

Example: The organization is building an internal communication function and wants it designed well from the start.

You get

• Annual strategy and quarterly roadmaps
• Leadership communication system
• Listening architecture
• Internal playbooks
• Capability-transfer plan