How to go from being an order taker to a strategist

What does it take to become an effective, impactful and strategic internal communications leader? During the closing fireside at Ragan’s Employee Communications 101 Conference earlier this winter, Ragan Conference Producer and Reporter Isis Simpson-Mersha interviewed Stacie Barrett, internal communications director at Domino’s, about how she became a strategic partner to the business.

Here’s what we learned.

Positioning yourself as a strategic partner with research

Barrett began by saying that she, like many in attendance, started off as a communications team of one—just taking orders and trying to keep up.

“I was doing, doing, doing and not ever saying ‘no’, not taking a step back to focus on the big rocks,” she said.. “When I was able to take a step back, I was able to inform the things that we can change. That helps build a team, build our influence and build our impact on the business.”

The big markers and changes that helped Barrett think about this from a wider perspective all stemmed from research and taking a moment to look at how her audience was really consuming information.