An independent school was undertaking a significant change initiative that carried implications for students, families, alumni and the broader school community.

The strategic rationale for the change was clear and governance processes had been followed. However, as community discussion increased, it became evident that stakeholder expectations regarding consultation, visibility and influence differed from the experience leadership believed had been created.

The challenge

The challenge was not simply to communicate the change.

It was to ensure governance, stakeholder engagement and communication were working together to maintain trust throughout the process.

While decision-making pathways and approvals were established, leaders needed confidence that stakeholders understood how the process worked, where input could influence outcomes and how decisions would ultimately be made.

The school required an independent perspective that could assess both the process itself and the community experience of that process.

Our role

FIT provided independent advice and review support, helping school leaders examine the relationship between governance, stakeholder engagement, communication and community confidence.

The work focused on identifying opportunities to strengthen how complex decisions were explained, consulted on and communicated.

What we did

Governance and decision-making review

• Reviewed governance pathways, decision-making structures and accountability arrangements to understand how key decisions were considered and approved and whether responsibilities were clearly defined and decision-making processes were effective and transparent.

Stakeholder engagement assessment

• Examined consultation approaches, engagement activities and feedback processes to identify strengths, gaps and opportunities for improvement and assess their effectiveness in supporting stakeholder understanding, participation and confidence.

Leadership communication review

• Assessed how the rationale, process and expected outcomes of the change had been communicated to different stakeholder groups throughout the project to determine the effectiveness, consistency and clarity of key messages.

Community confidence analysis

• Considered stakeholder expectations regarding transparency, influence and visibility, and how these aligned with the school's intended engagement approach and whether the approach effectively supported stakeholder confidence and trust.

Future-state recommendations

• Developed practical recommendations to strengthen governance communication, consultation design, stakeholder engagement and change readiness while supporting future effectiveness and stakeholder confidence.

The outcome

The review provided school leaders with a clearer understanding of how governance and communication interact during periods of significant change.

The work identified opportunities to strengthen stakeholder confidence while preserving clear governance accountability and leadership decision-making.

Importantly, it reinforced that effective change is not solely about making sound decisions. It is also about helping communities understand how and why those decisions are made.

In independent schools, trust is rarely built through consultation alone or governance alone. It is built when governance, engagement and communication align to create confidence in the process and the decisions that emerge from it.

An independent school was reviewing whether its approach to student imagery remained fit for purpose in an environment increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, evolving community expectations and growing digital risks.

While the school had established policies, consent arrangements and publication processes, leaders recognised that student imagery was becoming more than a communications issue. It was increasingly intersecting with privacy, safeguarding, reputation, cyber risk and governance responsibilities already receiving attention at leadership and board level. The school wanted greater confidence that its governance arrangements remained fit for purpose in a changing environment. 

The challenge

The challenge was not determining whether student images could be captured or published.

It was understanding who owned the associated risks, how those risks connected with existing governance responsibilities, and whether existing arrangements provided appropriate oversight and accountability.

Student imagery was intersecting with cyber risk, privacy, reputation, safeguarding and AI-related issues already appearing on the board's risk register, creating a need for greater clarity around governance, ownership and assurance.

Our role

FIT worked with school leaders to examine how student image governance sat within the school's broader approach to risk, trust and leadership accountability.

The work focused on governance, decision-making, oversight and preparedness, helping leaders understand how student image decisions intersected with broader organisational risks including privacy, reputation, safeguarding and community trust.

What we did

Governance review

• Reviewed governance arrangements, accountability structures and decision-making pathways relating to student imagery.

Risk and oversight assessment

• Examined how student image risks connected with broader organisational risks including privacy, safeguarding, cyber risk and reputation.

Policy and process review

• Assessed existing image policies, consent arrangements and operational practices against emerging technology and governance considerations.

Leadership and board assurance

• Identified opportunities to strengthen oversight, accountability, ownership and reporting to support leadership and board confidence.

Future-state recommendations

• Developed practical recommendations to strengthen governance, decision-making, preparedness and organisational clarity.

The outcome

The school gained a clearer understanding of where student image governance sat within its broader risk framework and strengthened confidence that governance arrangements would remain fit for purpose as technology and community expectations evolved.

The work helped leaders:

·        Better understand the governance implications of student imagery

·        Strengthen visibility of image-related risks across the organisation

·        Clarify ownership and reporting responsibilities

·        Improve preparedness for potential incidents

·        Increase confidence that governance arrangements would withstand scrutiny if tested

·        Better balance community storytelling, enrolment objectives and student safety considerations

A large independent school was managing a significant volume of leadership communications alongside the operational demands of a busy and complex school environment. Senior leaders needed additional strategic writing capacity while preserving authenticity, consistency and the quality expected of a leading educational institution.

The challenge

School leaders operate under sustained pressure. The communications demands on a principal and leadership team are significant and ongoing, spanning community engagement, thought leadership, internal communications and strategic messaging across a wide range of audiences and occasions.

The challenge was not simply to produce high-quality communications. It was to provide a trusted partner who could work in the voice of senior leaders, maintain consistency across all communications and free the leadership team to focus on students, staff and strategy.

Our role

FIT acts as a trusted Leadership Communications Partner to the school's senior leadership team, providing strategic writing support and communications counsel as a seamless extension of the team. The work is discreet by design. Every piece carries the authentic voice of the leader, not ours.

What we do

Executive and leadership writing

• Provide high-quality ghostwriting and editorial support for the principal and leadership team across a broad range of communications, ensuring every piece reflects the authentic voice, values and standards of the school.

Community communications

• Draft and refine newsletters and community communications for the principal and deputy principal, maintaining a consistent leadership voice across a regular publication schedule.

Speeches and significant communications

• Support the preparation of major speeches and significant community communications for key occasions and audiences.

Thought leadership and profile building

• Provide strategic writing support for thought leadership content and external profile development, helping senior leaders build visibility and credibility beyond the school community.

Communications planning and editorial support

• Provide ongoing editorial counsel and communications planning support to help the leadership team manage communications demands with consistency and confidence.

The outcome

The partnership reduces pressure on senior leaders by creating reliable communications capacity while preserving the authenticity, consistency and judgement expected of a leading school.

FIT provides trusted senior-level support as a seamless extension of the leadership team, bringing the writing quality, judgement and discretion that high-stakes school communications require.

The best leadership communications partnerships are not about producing words. They are about creating capacity, protecting voice and giving leaders the confidence that their communications will be right, every time.

A major Australian superannuation organisation was preparing for a significant technology change that would temporarily affect service availability, member transactions and support channels.

The challenge

Major system changes in superannuation carry significant member experience, operational and reputational risk. Members expect the reliability and responsiveness of a financial institution, particularly when access to retirement savings, pension payments or hardship support may be affected.

The organisation needed to move beyond internal readiness planning and build a clear, practical and member-centred communication approach that could reduce confusion, support vulnerable customers and maintain trust throughout the change.

Our role

FIT was engaged to provide independent communications and readiness support, reviewing sector lessons, identifying likely member and operational risks, and translating those insights into practical recommendations across communications, service continuity, escalation and hypercare planning.

What we did

Sector research and benchmarking

• Reviewed a comparable service disruption in the superannuation sector and extracted relevant communications and operational lessons to inform the organisation's readiness approach.

Member communications readiness

• Recommended a proactive, multi-channel communications approach including member instructions, FAQs, digital updates and targeted outreach to ensure members were informed clearly and early.

Vulnerable member planning

• Identified the need for direct support pathways for retirees, hardship cases and members most likely to be affected by limited service availability during the change period.

Operational resilience

• Identified readiness actions across surge staffing, urgent case management, exception handling and backlog planning to support service continuity under pressure.

Cross-functional response model

• Recommended a coordinated response structure across communications, operations, technology and member support, including escalation protocols and hypercare planning for the critical change window.

The outcome

The work gave the organisation a clearer view of its readiness risks and practical actions to reduce member confusion, support vulnerable customers, manage operational demand and protect trust during a high-impact change.

The recommendations helped convert lessons from an industry disruption into a practical readiness roadmap across communications, operations and member support.

In complex financial services change, communication is not a downstream activity. It is a core part of operational resilience, member trust and risk management.

A regulated financial services organisation needed to strengthen its crisis communications preparedness and ensure its response approach could support fast, coordinated and member-first decision-making during a live incident.

The challenge

The organisation had broader crisis, business continuity and incident management frameworks in place, but required a practical communications playbook that could be used under pressure by communications, executive and crisis response teams.

The challenge was to translate complex regulatory, operational and reputational requirements into clear communications guidance that could support timely decision-making, stakeholder management and consistent messaging when it mattered most.

Our role

FIT was engaged to review and strengthen the organisation's crisis communications approach, with a focus on practical usability, member-first communication, stakeholder sequencing, executive approvals and alignment with regulatory expectations.

What we did

Crisis communications playbook

• Developed a new playbook to make it clearer, more actionable and usable under pressure by communications, executive and crisis response teams.

Member-first messaging framework

• Developed a member-first messaging framework to ensure member communication was prioritised, consistent and credible across all crisis scenarios.

First response structure

• Strengthened the first 24 to 48 hour communications response model to support faster coordination between teams from the moment an incident is identified.

Stakeholder guidance

• Refined stakeholder prioritisation, sequencing and approvals guidance to support timely, coordinated communication across members, regulators, employees and other key stakeholders.

Response templates

• Developed practical response templates and scenario-based guidance to help teams move quickly from incident assessment to message development and coordinated communication.

The outcome

The final materials gave the organisation a clearer, more practical communications response model for use during a live crisis. The work strengthened crisis readiness by helping teams move quickly from incident assessment to stakeholder prioritisation, message development, approvals and coordinated communication, while supporting the organisation's regulatory obligations and reputational risk management.

A large Australian financial organisation was progressing a multi-year program to evolve how customers are supported across people, partners, digital tools, data and service channels. The work was strategically important but complex, involving multiple stakeholder groups, emerging decisions and a need to build confidence without overpromising detail too early.

The challenge

Complex operating model work rarely fails because people lack information. It struggles when the story is unclear, leaders are under-equipped and uncertainty is not handled consistently.

The organisation needed a simple, consistent way for leaders to explain the work, its intent and its customer value. Staff needed clarity about what was known, what was still emerging and how they would be supported. The organisation needed to reduce speculation, maintain trust and connect operational activity to purpose and customer outcomes.

Our role

FIT provided strategic communications, leader enablement and adoption support across the program, helping the organisation build a clear narrative, equip leaders for confident conversations and create practical communication foundations that supported understanding and trust over time.

What we did

Narrative and message strategy

• Developed a clear narrative, key messages, proof points and story hierarchy to explain the intent, rationale and customer value of the operating model evolution in language leaders and staff could understand and use.

Leader communication and enablement

• Created leader-ready messaging, talking points, FAQs and guidance so leaders could communicate with confidence and consistency across different forums and audiences.

People-centred adoption support

• Translated program activity into practical communication that helped people move from awareness to understanding and toward confidence and readiness as the program progressed.

Message discipline and artefact alignment

• Ensured emails, presentations, internal updates and engagement materials reinforced the same core story, reducing drift, ambiguity and the risk of conflicting messages across teams.

Uncertainty and issue framing

• Helped leaders communicate responsibly where decisions were still emerging, including how to explain what was known, what was not yet known and what would happen next.

The outcome

The work gave the organisation a clear and repeatable narrative leaders could use across different forums and audiences. It strengthened consistency across program communications, improved readiness for leader-led conversations and created a calmer, more disciplined communication approach during a complex and extended period of change.

In complex operating model work, trust is built through clarity, consistency and visible leadership. This engagement helped the organisation move beyond technical program language and create a shared story that connected people to purpose, customers and the future experience being built.

A public sector organisation was preparing to launch a new strategic direction and refreshed values to leaders and staff. The work needed to connect long-term strategy, culture, operating expectations and everyday behaviour in a way that felt clear, credible and practical for a diverse workforce.

The challenge

The organisation needed a coherent narrative that explained its direction, why it mattered, and what it meant for how people lead, make decisions and work together. The task was not simply to produce launch materials, but to create language leaders and staff could use with confidence.

The organisation needed messaging that could work at several levels:

• For the CEO, for senior leaders, for people leaders and for frontline employees.

• It also needed to balance ambition with credibility, particularly in an environment where staff were looking for practical meaning rather than slogans.

Our role

FIT provided strategic communications advice, narrative development and practical delivery support across the strategy and values launch, working alongside the executive team and internal People and Culture function throughout.

What we did

Narrative and message architecture

• Developed the enterprise narrative and foundational messaging to connect strategy, purpose, values, culture and operating expectations into a single coherent story.

Values and behaviours

• Reviewed and refined values messaging so each value had clearer meaning, stronger behavioural relevance and less overlap with the others.

CEO and executive messaging

• Developed speaking points and leadership messaging that sounded natural, credible and suitable for spoken delivery at leader briefings and all-staff events.

Leadership engagement

• Shaped leadership materials to help people leaders understand the direction and translate it meaningfully with their teams.

 Launch experience

• Advised on the all-staff launch agenda, speaker sequencing, engagement moments and audience flow to support understanding rather than simply broadcast information.

The outcome

The work helped create a clearer and more consistent communication platform for the launch of the strategy and values. It gave executives and leaders stronger language to explain the direction, connected the values to practical behaviour, and supported a launch experience designed to build genuine understanding across the organisation.

The outcome was a more coherent internal communication approach that helped leaders and staff understand not only where the organisation was heading, but what that direction meant for how people work together day to day.

"The launch of our strategy and values would not have been possible, or at the level it was, without FIT's support. Experience shows and the quality was exceptional. The kind of trusted partnership that makes complex work feel manageable."

CEO, Public Sector

Megan Giles is the Founder and Director of FIT Advisory and a senior strategic communications, reputation and governance adviser with more than a decade of executive leadership experience in complex, high-stakes environments.

Before founding FIT, Megan served as Head of Strategic Communication at Australian Retirement Trust, one of Australia's largest superannuation funds, where she led enterprise-wide communications for a fund supporting over two million members and $350 billion in retirement savings. She also led communications through the Sunsuper and QSuper merger, one of the most significant superannuation integrations in Australian history.

Her experience spans financial services, government, regulated sectors and education, across transformation, merger, crisis and reputation-sensitive environments.

Megan is based in Brisbane and works with clients nationally.

Clare Kennedy is a senior communications, reputation and change adviser with more than two decades of experience helping organisations communicate with clarity, strengthen stakeholder relationships and navigate complex transformation.

Clare works with executives and leaders across strategic narrative development, internal communications, stakeholder engagement and change communications. She brings particular depth in financial services, education and government, and has extensive experience advising senior leaders on crisis preparedness and reputational risk.

In financial services, Clare has spent almost a decade working with leading superannuation organisations navigating complex transformation and merger integration, including playing a key role in the formation of Australian Retirement Trust. Her experience also spans secondary and tertiary education, government, professional services and telecommunications across Australia and overseas.

Clare is based in Melbourne and works with clients nationally.