Co:Lab at the IoIC Festival
Collective thinking for IC impact
At Cosy Meerkat, we firmly believe that the best ideas happen when people come together around a shared goal. When people from different industries, specialisms, and walks of life share the same goal, but bring a different perspective, amazing things happen.
That’s why we launched Co:Lab, a fast-paced workshop experience that brings people together to solve internal comms challenges in ways that are bold, fresh, and deeply human.
We held our first public Co:Lab at this year’s IoIC Festival, inviting festival-goers to help tackle some big internal comms challenges. And these weren’t just any challenges - they were voted for by the IoIC community on LinkedIn. They were big topics that impact so many of us in internal comms.
On the day, we had three teams with a passion for problem-solving and 40-minutes to thrash out some big bold ideas. At the end of it all, our teams had the opportunity to ‘pitch’ their ideas, Dragon’s Den style, to industry experts.
Here’s how it went:
Challenge 1: IC professionals are often seen as tactical rather than strategic, limiting opportunities to influence business decisions at the highest level
The solution: Make it personal
Using AI and data to understand how people consume content, so comms can match the right message, length, and format to the right person.
It would mean that AI could assist in tailoring messages to personal taste, freeing up IC professionals to focus on listening, influencing and demonstrating the impact of their work at the highest level.
Done well, this allows internal comms to move from the margins of the conversation to a trusted adviser at the top table.
Challenge 2: Reaching and engaging frontline workers remains a major hurdle, with many still disconnected from core internal communications channels.
The solution: My way on the highway - an industry-wide model to support frontline worker research
For many organisations, the biggest gap is making internal comms land with those on the frontline. The team came up with an approach that starts by understanding how frontline workers define their role and how, when, and why they want to connect.
It all starts with asking the right questions and going directly to your audience to understand what works for them. And to do this, you need to make it special. Personalised printing, a KitKat and a cuppa, and real face-to-face time to encourage people to get involved and share their views.
True belonging doesn’t come from more comms - it comes from making people feel valued, listened to, and seen.
Challenge 3: Employees are overloaded with information, but cutting through the noise remains one of the biggest challenges in internal comms
The solution: Personalised app and an in-person launch event
Information overload is one of the biggest internal comms challenges. The team identified the need to draw a line in the sand, and funnel everything through one single-source of truth. But that wasn’t all. To mark the step-change, face-to-face still wins, with a big internal in‑person launch event, to create a true and memorable human experience. This would be a chance for employees to connect, ask questions, and understand. This launch would introduce an app that could be personalised, making it simple for people to filter and prioritise the information that matters to them. No more noise, just clarity.
The big takeaway: people-first, tech-enabled, meaningful experiences
What came out of Co:Lab wasn’t just a set of ideas, but a reminder of why internal comms is worth doing well. At its best, it connects people to their work, to their colleagues, and to a shared sense of belonging and purpose. It’s about making sure every voice is heard and every message has an impact.
We’re now offering Co:Lab as a service for organisations. We’ll help you gather the right people, ask bold questions, and solve the business challenges that matter to you - creatively, collaboratively, and with a lot of heart.
If you’re interested in running a Co:Lab for your team or your company, we’d love to help.
Get in touch for a chat about how we can bring Co:Lab into your business.
