Communicating through change: How scaling businesses can stay aligned

8 July 2025 Reading Time: 3 minutes

by Clarissa van Emmenes:

Growth is exciting, but it’s rarely straightforward.

As businesses scale, things move faster. Teams grow, priorities shift and the strategy evolves (whether intentionally or not). But the messaging doesn’t always keep up. Somewhere along the way, communication starts to feel messy, reactive and inconsistent.

It’s a common challenge for growing organisations, especially those with lean teams and limited resources. Communications can easily become an afterthought, until things start to unravel.

In environments like these, structure makes all the difference. One approach that can help communications teams manage growth change more intentionally is the ENGAGE framework. It’s a simple way to bring shape to communications when everything else is moving fast.

The challenge

As the organisation grows, comms complexity tends to creep in. This might look like: 

1. Mixed messages

Different teams start telling different versions of the story. One leader says “growth at all costs.” Another says “sustainable scale.” Employees hear both, and don’t know what to prioritise.

2. More noise, less clarity

Growth often means more updates, more meetings, more emails but not necessarily more understanding.

3. Everything feels reactive

Communications turns into a game of catch-up. You’re rewriting the same messages, chasing sign-off, repeating yourself. Strategy takes a back seat to volume.

A framework that keeps things grounded

The ENGAGE framework gives growing teams a way to stay consistent, strategic and focused—without adding unnecessary complexity. It’s not a full comms plan, but it helps keep the fundamentals strong while the business evolves.

Here’s how it works:

1. Evaluate

Start by getting clear on what’s working and what isn’t. What messages are landing? Where’s the confusion? What channels are making noise but not driving action?

Prompt: What’s creating a lot of activity but not much impact?

For example, if no one is opening your internal updates, it’s worth asking whether the content, timing or channel needs to change. Don’t just measure clicks—ask your audience.

2. Nurture

Build trust before you need it. That means simple, regular communication from leadership. A consistent tone. Making space for honest questions. And following through.

Prompt: Do our people hear from leaders regularly in a way that feels real and relevant?

For example, a monthly update from your CEO filmed on their phone might go further than a slick, formal email ghostwritten by someone else.

3. Grow

As the business scales, so does the number of messages and audiences. This phase is about keeping everything aligned. Reuse what works. Adapt smartly, not endlessly.

Prompt: Are we adapting content smartly, or rewriting every message from scratch? A single campaign message can be adapted for internal updates, investor communications, and social content without losing clarity.

4. Automate

Set up templates and systems so your team isn’t constantly reinventing the wheel.

Prompt: What are we creating manually that we could templatise or schedule in advance? Building a pre-approved response library for recurring announcements like new hires, office openings or product updates will save time and by extension improve ROI – not just for comms teams, but internal customers too. 

5. Generate

This is where strategy meets real-world execution. If your brand story, tone of voice and writing tools are clear, your content becomes faster to produce and will likely be better received.Prompt: Can others in the business write or contribute confidently, without derailing tone or message? A short writing guide with before-and-after examples can save hours of editing and help subject matter experts write in brand voice.

6. Elevate

And finally: measure what matters. Focus less on how many messages you’ve sent, and more on what they’re actually achieving. Are people aligned? Are behaviours shifting?

Prompt: Are we measuring outputs or outcomes? Instead of counting newsletter sends, track if behaviour changed. Did people attend the event? Adopt the policy? Change how they work?

In closing

Growth will always come with pressure. But good communication can reduce friction, create clarity, and help people stay focused on what matters, especially when everything feels like it’s changing at once.

You don’t need a full comms department to do this well.

But you do need structure. Because when communication works, people feel confident. They know where the business is going—and how they fit into it.

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Clarissa van Emmenes is an award-winning communications strategist specialising in aligning internal culture with brand storytelling to drive loyalty, impact and business success. Clarissa is a Communications and Content leader, strategist and integrated communications evangelist. She is also a #WeLeadComms honoree and writes about communications strategy, content and AI in communications.

Written by: Editor