Five things internal comms pros should do in 2026
(Take five minutes to read this now, and start using it tomorrow)
If 2025 was the year of “What now?”, 2026 feels like the moment many organisations finally take a breath and say, “Okay - let’s do this properly.”
Internal comms has never had more influence, or more potential, than it does heading into 2026. So here are five things that will genuinely help communicators navigate the year with clarity, confidence and a little more headspace.
1. Make sense, not noise
What people continue to need is help understanding what things mean and where they fit. What they don’t need is more announcements.
This shift in the role of IC from information distributor to sensemaker is something we’ve talked about already following the IoIC’s report. A comms person in 2026 is someone who translates, guides, and gives shape to complexity so people don’t jump to the worst conclusions.
Your 2026 objective: Get closer to the work early on. When you help shape the story before it comes out, everything becomes easier: the message, the tone, the reaction, the follow-through. If you’ve found yourself getting comms at the last minute, this is the year to nudge that habit into something healthier.
2. Help your organisation build a calm, credible AI narrative
AI is no longer new and shiny - it’s woven into processes, decisions, tools, customer journeys and employee workflows. And if it isn’t, it should be. What is new, though, is the level of uncertainty AI creates for people. Questions about impact, fairness, skills, jobs and trust are all communication questions - human questions - that need careful consideration. This is where IC comes in.
Your 2026 objective: Support your organisation to explain the “why”, “how” and “what now” of AI in a way that reassures rather than overwhelms. And yes, make use of AI in your own workflow too, with care, judgement and transparency. There’s credibility in practising what you ask others to embrace.
3. Reposition IC as a strategic function, not a delivery service
One of the most important shifts for IC in 2026 will be confidence - in the work, in the value it creates, and in the boundaries that support that value.
If IC is still seen as the team that formats messages or fires out updates, the strategic impact gets lost. Yet the truth is simple: internal comms influences culture, behaviour, trust, performance and alignment in ways few other functions can.
Your 2026 objective: Be deliberate about what you take on. Prioritise the work that moves people, teams and leaders forward, and gently redirect the work that doesn’t. When you protect your time, you protect your impact.
4. Shift from reach to relevance
Employees expect the same clarity and personalisation at work that they experience everywhere else, from their playlists to their shopping to their banking. And while IC teams aren’t going to produce dozens of versions of every message, the principle remains: relevance matters more than volume. Thoughtful segmentation, better targeting, and stronger audience insight will go a long way toward improving engagement without increasing workload.
Your 2026 objective: Create fewer things that are received better. Focus on what people genuinely need to know - and what will help them act with confidence.
5. Strengthen the line-manager layer
You can have the clearest comms in the world, but if managers aren’t equipped to reinforce, explain and contextualise it, the message weakens immediately. Managers remain one of the most influential communication channels in any organisation, yet many still feel under-prepared for that responsibility.
Your 2026 objective: Give managers the kind of support that genuinely helps: one-page guides, briefing packs, simple scripts, nudges, coaching moments, and opportunities to learn by doing. When managers communicate well, everything else flows more easily.
Bonus: Work with constraints, not against them
Budgets and resources are unlikely to expand dramatically in 2026, but constraints can sharpen focus. They force us to be clear about where our time matters most.
Your 2026 objective: Get specific about what creates value, where AI can lighten the load, and where your judgement and relationships matter too much to delegate or automate.
So what does this all add up to?
2026 is a year where internal comms has the chance to operate with more intention and influence than ever before.
A year where communicators:
help people navigate complexity
humanise technology
anchor teams through change
support leaders and managers
build confidence, not just clarity
strengthen culture from the inside out
Internal comms has always mattered, but in 2026, we think it will matter more visibly and more strategically - and that’s an energising place to be.
Need help clarifying your IC priorities for the year ahead?
We help communicators strengthen their skills, sharpen their influence and build IC functions that last. If you’d like a partner to sense-check your 2026 priorities, we’d love to chat.
