Leading communication strategies across diverse teams working on high-stakes projects requires not only technical expertise, it demands cultural fluency, storytelling mastery, and the ability to translate complexity into clarity. Victoria Henderson, Head of Communication Services at Cronos Europa, has built her career mastering exactly these challenges.
Victoria works at the intersection of policy, technology, and communication, supporting EU institutions in their communication initiatives. “We often need to take complex policies and break them down into digestible nuggets of information that can be easily understood by a wide range of EU audiences” Victoria explains.
In our conversation, Victoria shared insights on building cohesive strategies across multidisciplinary teams, the essential role of storytelling in making complex information accessible, and what energizes her as a leader in this specialized field.
Victoria, what is your approach to aligning communication strategies across multidisciplinary teams working on high-stakes, often technical, projects?
Clarity, collaboration, and context are key.
I always begin with establishing a shared understanding of the project’s objectives and the key messages we need to convey. EU projects often involve technical experts, policy leads, and communications professionals from different disciplines so translating the technical jargon into accessible language without losing its meaning and nuance is imperative to ensure a shared understanding by the team, but also in the future by the intended audience.
I involve everyone that needs to be involved – policy, technical, communication and creative teams – from the outset. This avoids any potential misunderstandings or misalignments going forward and ensures everyone’s expertise is reflected in the strategy. I follow this with regular check ins and feedback loops, ensuring everyone is on the same page and our approach is being continuously refined and is aligned with the project’s overall objectives.
Finally, as EU projects often span multiple countries, cultures and languages – sometimes even niche communities – we leverage our expertise in tech-led innovative communication solutions to use data-driven insights to tailor content formats, type and channels to the specific local audience intended making sure the message is clear, heard and impactful!
When do you feel most energized in your work?
There are definitely many different scenarios when I feel energised – when a campaign makes a big impact, we find a creative solution to a challenge or when a idea ‘clicks’ – but as a leader, I feel most energised watching my team develop their skills, learning and growing in their roles, taking ownership of their projects and delivering outstanding work for our clients. That’s a huge source of energy and pride for me.
What’s something you’ve learned from working across culturally diverse teams in the EU ecosystem that’s shaped how you lead and communicate?
That you can’t and shouldn’t have one style and method of communication that fits all. There are of course underlying principles such as respect and empathy that I always apply when communicating but given the myriad of nationalities, languages, and professional backgrounds, you need to be mindful of assumptions. What’s considered direct and efficient in one culture, can seem rude and abrupt in another. Being indirect and diplomatic can sometimes mean subtle cues are missed.
And then there’s how you deliver the message, I prefer putting pen to paper or keyboard to laptop so to speak, other colleagues are more visual and prefer brainstorming while live drawing mind maps so adapting is key as is communicating openly what your preferences are, and that works both ways – with your colleagues and with clients.
What role does storytelling play in translating complex policy or program goals into messages that resonate with both internal stakeholders and the wider public?
Storytelling is fundamental to what we do here at Cronos Europa. We support the EU Institutions in their communication initiatives and in doing so, we often need to take complex policies and break them down into digestible nuggets of information that can be easily understood by a wide range of EU audiences. The cultural and linguistic diversity alone of the EU makes this challenging so creating a story that resonates with people is always the preferred way. Human connection, emotions, authencity, real life interviews. Not ground breaking and seems simple enough but can often be executed poorly, that’s why we also like to sprinkle a little something extra on top – whether that’s data-backed insights on the latest video trends, behavioural science principles that guide how people absorb information, or creative innovative formats that go beyond traditional storytelling. The most technical content can be transformed into something engaging and memorable when it’s wrapped in a compelling narrative and it’s our way of making the EU’s work feel personal, relevant and real to its audience.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“We’re not saving lives.”
A key piece of advice I now share with my own team. As creative communication experts, we love what we do, and we are passionate and dedicated to supporting our clients in their communication efforts – we also believe what we are doing is important. That being said, consultancy of any kind, with multiple clients, contracts and projects running in parallel that require quick reactions and responses, can be stressful and demanding and it can be easy to lose perspective. This short sentence just reminds us to take a step back, breathe, take some time and refocus so that we give our clients the very best service we can.
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Great communication has the power to transform complex ideas into compelling narratives that drive real impact. At Synima, we help brands navigate similar challenges, creating visual stories that resonate across diverse audiences and cultural contexts. Ready to transform your complex message into compelling content?
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