What’s Coming for Internal Comms in 2026

Trends, tech and the stuff that will keep comms teams awake at night.

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A new year has arrived. The inbox is quieter (for now). The calendar feels full of promise. And internal comms teams everywhere are wondering the same thing: “What fresh chaos will this year bring?”

Good news: 2026 isn’t about ripping everything up and starting again.
Bad news: you also can’t just keep doing what you did in 2022 and hope no-one notices.

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Internal comms in 2026 is about clarity, credibility and connection. It’s delivered faster, smarter, and to an audience with far less tolerance for waffle. Here’s a Guru guide to what’s coming, what’s sticking around, and what needs to quietly retire.

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The Big Shift: From Broadcasting to Enabling

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If there’s one theme that underpins everything this year, it’s this:

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          Internal comms is no longer about pushing information out.
          It’s about helping people get their work done.

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Employees don’t want more updates. They want fewer, better ones.
They don’t want to “be informed”. They want to understand what’s changing, why it matters, and what they need to do differently on Tuesday morning.

In 2026, the best internal comms teams will be judged less on output and more on impact.

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Trend 1: Personalisation stops being a “nice to have”

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One-size-fits-all comms has been on borrowed time for years. In 2026, it officially runs out.

Employees now expect internal comms to feel relevant to them, not vaguely applicable if you squint. That means:

• Segmenting audiences properly (not just “all staff” and “managers”)
• Tailoring tone, format and channel to different roles
• Accepting that frontline, deskless and hybrid workers consume comms very differently
• Letting go of the idea that everyone needs everything

The uncomfortable truth? If your message is for everyone, it’s probably for no one. And if you’re not sure you’re set up to deliver that level of personalisation, we strongly recommend running a thorough diagnostic. And fast.

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Trend 2: Video becomes the default, not the special treat

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In 2026, video isn’t the shiny extra you add when you’ve got time or budget. It’s the starting point. Why? Because video does what text struggles to do at scale:

• It conveys tone and intent
• It humanises leadership
• It simplifies complexity
• It works across mobile, deskless and hybrid workforces

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But there’s a catch. The era of overly-long, overly-polished, overly-corporate videos is well and truly over.

The internal videos that work in 2026 are:

• Short
• Captioned
• Mobile-first
• Human
• Focused on “what this means for you”

If your video needs a preamble to explain why people should watch it, you’ve already lost them.

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Trend 3: Trust becomes the real KPI

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After years of change, uncertainty and “strategic transformation”, employees are tired. Not lazy. Not resistant. Just tired.

In 2026, internal comms teams will increasingly be measured on something harder to quantify but impossible to ignore: trust.

That shows up in things like:

• How honestly leaders communicate when things aren’t going well
• Whether employees feel listened to, not just surveyed
• How consistently messages match reality on the ground
• Whether comms explains the “why”, not just the “what”

Spin is out. Plain speaking is in.

If employees feel they’re being managed through messaging rather than supported through it, disengagement won’t be far behind.

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Trend 4: Managers become the make-or-break channel

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This one is far from new, but it becomes impossible to ignore in 2026.

Employees usually trust their direct manager more than any platform, campaign or corporate channel. Which means internal comms teams will spend more time enabling managers to communicate well, rather than trying to bypass them.

That looks like:

• Clear, usable manager toolkits
• Talking points instead of scripts
• Short videos managers can share
• Fewer "cascade this" emails and more genuine conversation-starters

The organisations that get this right will see stronger engagement.
The ones that don’t will keep wondering why their beautifully crafted messages never land.

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Trend 5: Measurement gets smarter (and less obsessive)

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Open rates alone won’t cut it anymore.

In 2026, internal comms measurement shifts away from vanity metrics and towards meaning. Teams will focus more on:

• Understanding, not just reach
• Behaviour change, not just clicks
• Sentiment, not just volume
• Qualitative feedback alongside quantitative data

The goal isn’t to prove comms happened. It’s to prove comms helped.

And mercifully (for me at least!), this also means fewer soul-destroying spreadsheets and more grown-up conversations about impact.

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The Tech: Helpful, but not the Hero

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Yes, AI will continue to play a role in internal comms in 2026. No, it will not replace comms professionals (despite what some on LinkedIn might suggest).

Used well, tech will help teams:

• Draft faster
• Repurpose content
• Translate messages
• Analyse patterns
• Reduce admin (yay!!)

Used badly, it will churn out content that sounds vaguely correct, deeply soulless, and instantly untrustworthy.

The differentiator in 2026 won’t be who uses AI. It will be who knows when not to.

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The Issues That Aren’t Going Away

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Sorry, but some challenges aren’t trends. They’re constants. 2026 will still wrestle with:

• Change fatigue
• Information overload
• Hybrid and deskless inclusion
• Burnout and disengagement
• Productivity paranoia
• Distrust of corporate messaging

Internal comms won’t fix all of these. It can’t, but it can help. It can also make them worse if it ignores them.

The teams that succeed this year will be the ones who acknowledge reality, not gloss over it.

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What This Means for Internal Comms Teams in 2026

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If you’re wondering where to focus your energy this year, start here:

• Fewer messages, better messages
• Clear priorities, not constant updates
• Human tone over corporate polish
• Video where it adds value, not because it’s on-trend
• Two-way communication that actually goes somewhere
• Managers treated as partners, not postboxes

Internal comms in 2026 is less about being louder and more about being useful.

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Final Thought: Be the Calm, Not the Noise

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This year, your people don’t need more enthusiasm.
They don’t need buzzwords.
They don’t need another “exciting year ahead” message.

They need clarity. They need honesty. They need to know what matters, what’s changing, and how to navigate it.

If internal comms can provide that, it won’t just survive 2026.
It’ll be one of the most valuable functions in the organisation.

And honestly? We think that’s a trend worth getting behind. And please don’t think you have to face any of it alone.

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