🎁 The Year In Review: 2023

Best Practices, Learnings and Highlights from The Switchboard

☃️ I’m grateful you’re here. It’s my holiday wish to support more people with stories, interviews and best practices with The Switchboard, and it’s only possible because of your kindness that I can reach others. I have a year-end ask — if you appreciate The Switchboard, would you share it with a friend or post your favorite edition on LinkedIn? Thank you and Happy Holidays. ❄️

This was the year of rituals, smiles and hot dogs! It was also the year of mistakes, prioritization and legos.

What Switchboard stories resonated with you in 2023? Let me know — reply to this email or add a comment below.

I’m grateful to the leaders who shared their career journeys with us. Thank you for being a reader and championing the importance of the ways we communicate and connect at work and beyond. Below is a look back.

Best Practices

📝 Creating a 90-day Plan with Adrian Hopkins

Are you starting a new role or want to begin the new year by thinking differently about your current work? Start here:

•  ➕ Consider the mantra of “BAU+” — Business As Usual, Plus

• 🔍 Treat your early days like a research and discovery mission

• ✏️ Be a student of the company

🐝🍊 What I Learned from the Be Orange Ambassadors

Scale your culture impact by building community at work by empowering your colleagues as partners. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. 🛣️ Write your Mission, Goals and Plan 

2. 🎤 Secure an Executive Sponsor 

3. ✏️ Outline Responsibilities and Time Commitment

4. 🎀 Name and Brand Your Program

5. 💙  Recruit Diverse Employees 

6. 🍿 Find out Everyone’s Why for Joining and Connect People with Opportunities 

7. ⚡ Empower Employees

8. 📅 Create a Calendar

9. 📯 Host a Kickoff Event and Create Conversation Forums

10. 🏋️ Keep the Momentum

🌭 How Hotdog Moments Transform Employee Experience

Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara was my favorite book of the year — he tells the story of how a hotdog transformed his approach to customer service. It inspired me to share the lesson and look at what we could learn from these restaurants:

1. 🥪 Zingerman’s: Welcome Guests Back and Thank the Thankers 

2. 🗽 Emma's Torch: Hire Thoughtfully and Encourage a Taste of Home

3. 🚌 The Grey: Reimagine the Past and Embrace the Hard Conversations 

4. 🧇 Waffle House: Focus on the People and Support Your Community 

5. 📮 The Lost Kitchen: Share Stories of Resilience 

Rituals Round-Up

I embarked on a year of exploring communications intentions with the tools to support you accomplishing them. Here’s a summary of the resources:

1. 📅 How to Start Writing Your 2023 Annual Report Today

2. 🌱 Choose One Way to Grow This Year

3. 🎫 🍫 A Golden Ticket to Prioritization with Willy Wonka

4. 😃📂 Create Your Smile File

5. 🌆 The Way We Wrap Up a Work Day Matters

6. 🎨 Create an Arts and Crafts Ritual at Work

7. 🧱 Take a LEGO Ideas approach to Culture

8. 🎨 🧪 Create Your Annual Plan like an Artist and a Scientist

Learnings

📺 What We Can Learn from Wednesday, Acapulco and Ted Lasso

1. 🔮 Wednesday: Colleagues care, even when they might not show it. Take care of your (work) friends. Be persistent in pursuit of a goal. Tap into your superpowers. 

2. 🏖️ Acapulco: Prioritize family. Second chances are possible. Treat your employees well. Take vacation. Give employees ownership in their workplace. 

3. 🍰 Julia: Any career is possible at any age. Believe in yourself. Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. Bon Appétit!

4. ⚽ Ted Lasso: Show Empathy. Believe in possibility. Don’t judge. Put yourself in someone else's shoes. It’s okay to ask for help.

5. 🕵🏻 Slow Horses: Never underestimate someone’s potential because of one error. Check-in on your colleagues. Overcome obstacles to pursue your passions.

🎭10 Employee Club Ideas to Start with Zero Budget

Jumpstart conversations and community with these employee groups. Below are five ideas to get started. Explore the article for more.

1. 🧰 The Tinkerers Society 

2. 📰 Newsletter Club

3. 🧶 The EIRs — Experts in Residence 

4. 🧪 The Failure League

5. 📁 Case Studies Circle

🍳 Communications Nourishment from Chefs and Food Storytellers

What today’s well-known food leaders who host shows, produce podcasts, manage restaurants and bakeries can teach us about communications and community:

1. 🥘 World Central Kitchen’s Chef José Andrés |  Give Kindness

2. 🍊 The Orange Bakery’s Daughter and Dad Duo, Kitty and Al Tait | Support Mental Health

3. 🥨 Somebody Feed Phil’s Philip Rosenthal | Embrace Wonder

4. 🧁 Molly Yeh |  Seek Joy with Sprinkles

5. 🍝 The Sporkful’s Dan Pashman | Think Creatively

📮 Recognizing 6 Women in Communications History

The stories of women who trailblazed the way for the communicators of today.

1. 📮 Mary Katharine Goddard: Newspaper Publisher, first US Postmaster and Printer of The Declaration of Independence  

2. 📝 Ethelinda Hadwen: Typewriting Office Owner, Women’s Suffragist Leader and Public Office Holder

3. 📰 Ruth Ellis: Detroit Printer and Black LGBTQ leader

4. 🧮 Elizebeth Friedman: America’s first female Cryptanalyst (Code Breaker)

5. ⚖️ Patsy Takemoto Mink: Lawyer, Congressional Leader and Legislative Trailblazer

6. 🪖 Grace Banker: Switchboard Soldier and Chief Operator  

🏕️ Summer Camp Adventures

Lessons on creativity, resilience and teamwork from the great outdoors.

• 🏕️ Campfire Stories

• ⚾ Go The Extra Mile with Sports Lessons

• 🎨 Create an Arts and Crafts Ritual at Work

• 🌸 Nature At Work

• 🪀 Michelle Lee: Partner & Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO

• ⛺ A Look Back at Summer Camp

🍮 Lessons from The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders

You can’t send your meal back to the kitchen, even if it’s not what you ordered here. The servers are people with dementia and the customers accept and appreciate them in a way that teaches us to choose your reaction.

1. 🙏 Treat Everyone with Kindness 

2. ❣️ Accept People For Who They Are

3. ♟️ It’s Ok Not To Be Perfect

4. 😂 Choose Your Reaction

5. 🍜 Enjoy The Moment

The Year in Interviews*

Here’s a look back at the conversations I’ve had this year. Thank you to these leaders for sharing their stories with us.

• 🌞 Sherrie Westin: President of Sesame Workshop

• 🏢 Jesse Tron: Head of Communications, Americas at JLL

• 🕯️Roseli Ilano: Head of Community at Eventbrite

• 🧁 Candace Nelson: Founder, Sprinkles and Pizzana | Author, Sweet Success

• 💿 Sean Garrett: Founder and Convener at Mixing Board

• ⚡️Victoria Young Idol: COO and Co-Founder at Outpace

• 🪐 Caleb Bushner: Vice President of Marketing at Unusual Ventures

• 🏛️ Wes Kao: Co-founder at Maven

• 🚀 Laura Mesa: Vice President of Marketing & Community at Product Hunt

• ❤️ Claude Silver: Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia

• 💼 Clara Ma: Founder and CEO at Ask a Chief of Staff

• 🚌 Jenny Mayfield: Vice President of Communications at Zum

• 📐 Kursat Ozenc: Lecturer at Stanford’s d.school

• 💼 Clara Ma: Founder, Ask a Chief of Staff

• 🪀 Michelle Lee: Partner & Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO

• 🛠️ Michael Maney: Head of Internal Communications, The Home Depot

• 🗝 Nick deWilde: Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer at Exec

• ⚡Ben Lang: Head of Community at Notion

• 🏢 Ryan Anderson: Vice President of Global Research and Insights at MillerKnoll

• 📸 Kim Colucci: Culture & Growth Director at Mixbook

• 🍌 Emily Cole: Owner and Director of Fun at Savannah Bananas

• 🎹 Brooke Parrott: Head of Community at Sofar Sounds

• 🍜 Kevin Lee: Co-Founder at immi

*Note the titles reflect the roles of the leaders at the time of publication.

🙏 Thank you for reading along this year. I have a year-end request — if you appreciate The Switchboard, would you share it with a friend, post your favorite edition on social media or reply to let me know what resonated? It’s my holiday wish to support more people with stories, interviews and best practices I curate, and it’s only possible because of your kindness that I can reach others. Thank you and Happy Holidays.☃️ 

Inviting Your Thoughts for Next Year: