Monthly Archives

May 2026

Be a clever communicator!

By Coaching

Do you have find yourself getting frustrated because you’re trying to get someone on board with an idea or new project and they are just not getting it. In fact it feels like you’re speaking a totally different language.

It could be with a stakeholder at work but equally it could be with your partner at home, your children, a group of friends. Something isn’t clicking and it can be incredibly frustrating.

Conversely, there are other people when communication is effortless – something just clicks and you are in sync. This is because you have natural rapport with them, yet with others you’re going to have to work at it. In this post I’m going to share how you can reduce the friction helping you to build rapport with anyone, this is the key to being a clever communicator.

So what is rapport and why is it important? 

Rapport is the essence of good communication – it’s when people understand each other and communicate well and you have a connection. I like to think of it as ‘being in sync’ or on the same page with another person or a group of people.

It’s important because our brains have to process so much information every second of every day that we unconsciously cut corners and look for quick cues that essentially tell us that we ‘like’ this person.

When you don’t have natural rapport, you do need to work at it.

How do you create rapport?

Remember this ‘you don’t have to like someone to be like someone’ this is the key!

Only 7% of communication comes from our words (Research by Ray Birdwhistle,1970). Tonality and physiology make up the lion share and you can create those quick visual cues to help create connection and put someone’s unconscious mind at ease. The fastest way to do this is to match and mirror the body language of the person you are trying to connect with.

Observe their body language – how are they sitting – arms crossed? legs crossed? Leaning forward? Leaning back? And slowly match your body language to theirs. This synchronicity will help them to relax. This is subtle and discreet – but it will help that person feel naturally comfortable with you and at ease, you’re investing in your natural connection with them.

When you get into rapport you will know because any tension will ease and is at this point you launch into meaningful conversation – not a minute before!

The other thing to be mindful of that helps us communicate more effectively is understanding the language they are using. Language is unconscious – we don’t think about our words before we speak they just happen but one way to strengthen connection is to use similar words.

Speaking the same language

Everyone has one of four preferred representational systems – a choice of auditory (listening), visual (sight), kinaesthetic (feeling), auditory digital (data). You can identify someone’s preference by listening out for their verbal cues. Someone whose preference is auditory might use words like sound, hear, discuss, listen, loud, tune in and phrases like clear as a bell, sounds like, tune into when they talk. If you are struggling in a conversation to do this examine an email from a stakeholder, you will spot the language patterns and then match these in your own response. Even better why not use AI to do it for you!

Our minds work so hard all day filtering information, identifying from the volumes of information we are taking in what is relevant and what we want to listen to. So rather than ploughing into a conversation with little planning take the time to understand your audience and then tailor your communication style to theirs. If you want more impact you need to do the heavy lifting.

If you work in a job that requires you to write speeches or presentations, or you have a website for a business – making sure you cover descriptive words from each of the four systems – it will increase your connection with a larger group of people.

If you want to read more I recommend ‘NLP at work’ by Sue Knight.

Trust me this is a smarter way to communicate and it will help you have more impact in all your conversations!

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Perfection is the enemy of greatness

By Coaching

I am a perfectionist at heart – it’s something I battle with every day, and I’m the first person to hold my hand up and acknowledge it holds me back! I tell myself it’s pride which fits with my values but excellence does not require perfection – and letting go of that mindset is hard. It’s something I know many comms professionals battle with.

Accepting that sometimes good is good enough was the best feedback I ever received in a 360 review about ten years ago. It made me realise for the first time I was making things harder for myself and it was in fact my own confidence, anxieties and fears that were driving this relentless pursuit of perfection.

Looking back I was putting in really long hours, agonising over first draft copy, fiddling with news articles and strategies and plans spending hours overthinking, writing and rewriting. That voice and internal dialogue telling me it could be better.

10 years on – I’m better – not always but I work at it daily!

Perfectionism is not uncommon – and in fact many people I’ve coached or mentored grapple with it every day. So if you are one of them – you are not alone. When you think about the role we play in communication it’s only natural we’ve adopted this mindset –  helping organisations tell their story, profiling CEO’s and leaders, it’s about showcasing the best, it’s about articulating a vision, it’s about sharing key business updates and information that need to be accessible, coherent, relatable. It’s about managing reputations delicately and sensitively and having the eyes of our stakeholders, employees, leadership teams pouring over our work. And our work is often so subjective – we hold the pen and that’s a lot of pressure.

I remember in one early comms role I was working on the annual report and discovered that every year the finance team ran a competition to see who could spot errors in the final published glossy report. We’re talking stray commas and the like! I will never forget that feeling of being judged, of being scrutinised, it made me break out in a cold sweat.

I speak to a lot of people who feel stuck in this way, paralysed by perfectionism that’s holding them back, it’s causing them to miss deadlines, and agonise over copy, and become so inwardly focused that they are not moving forward.

Do you want to know what I did with the finance team? I realised if I did nothing it would eat away at me, I would get more and more stressed over the report and the editing that I took things into my own hands. I said if you’re being shadow editors you do it as part of the process. And guess what, the report was published and they had missed things! Nobody is perfect – but sometimes it can feel we have all eyes on us!

This year don’t let perfectionism hold you back – consider this:

  • A first draft – is just a first draft.
  • Embrace the fact that everyone has a different model of the world, this diversity of perspective and experience will make your work richer, and better and the earlier you get others involved the better.
  • Feedback will feel less personal if you haven’t invested hours into an early first draft.
  • The moment and the timing to send it out will never be perfect.

Vulnerability is hard when we are invested in something, don’t struggle alone drop me a message, connect on LinkedIn or Instagram and let’s have a chat. There are simple things you can do to help you build your confidence.

You are not alone on this one!

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Comparison is the thief of joy – don’t do it to yourself.

By Strategic Comms

I don’t know about you but it’s definitely been a busy start to the year already! Which, whilst exciting, is a reminder of how important it is to pace ourselves and be kind to our minds and our bodies.

Social feeds full of people sharing their achievements can, if we let it, quite quickly feel overwhelming and demoralising if we spend too long looking at everyone else.

Seeing other people shouting about achievements – can often make us feel like we should be doing more, pushing harder, pursing other things. It can make us feel inferior or envious that others appear to be doing more or having more success than us.

Appear is the key word here because it’s important to remember that we all have our own model of the world. What is important to us, is not to others and vice versa, and therefore our goals and measures of success are all very different. Similarly, we all see things, interpret things and internalise things in very different ways based on our individual lives and experience.

This goes to reinforce how comparing your achievements to others is a pointless activity that can lead to the creation of a negative inner dialogue that becomes demotivating. What you believe about other people (based on what you see, read and hear) becomes your reality. In some cases convincing yourself that everyone is doing more or doing better  – this story you are telling yourself, is not the truth – it’s your interpretation based on your model of the world!

The important bit is that you are following your path, so spend some time getting really clear on your goals and what it is that you are chasing. Not someone else’s. And remember that comparison is the thief of joy and is self-sabotaging, doing it will only serve to detract you from what you want to achieve. No more doomscrolling – it’s not helping.

If you can shut out the noise, if you need to delete social apps from your phone take a break for a few weeks. The feed will still be there but the algorithm will also have changed and you will see different content. Mute the prolific posters that you find evoke frustration or anxiety.

I always think spring is a good time to refocus and make a fresh start, make the decision to put your goals and happiness first and spend some time getting really clear on what success looks like for you in the coming weeks and months.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Getting Back to Basics

By Strategic Comms

Strategy, Structure and Governance – three key elements to help you become a more strategic communicator and build a more strategic comms function.  

What do I mean?

I’m talking about how well do you know the organisation you work for, what it’s trying to achieve and how it will get there. Making the time to do this is one of the biggest challenges facing a lot of the teams I’ve worked with but it is the game changer to becoming a more strategic function.

The most common challenges I’ve seen is an under resourced team, that has been under invested in over the years. Or a function that has grown organically in an unplanned way, possibly in response to a business critical need, and never had the time to recalibrate.

When you’re in the daily grind it’s so hard to take the much needed pause and step back for a moment. But if we want internal comms to be seen as, and used as, the strategic business function that it is then this is a pause worth making the case for.

So how can you get ahead?

Read the business strategy, and get a good understanding of what the business is trying to achieve and by when. Make sure your team has also read the strategy!

  • Where is the business heading? 
  • How will it get there? 
  • How is it measuring success? 

Focus on getting enough knowledge to answer these three key questions.

Then – and this is the most important but often complex bit of the puzzle – get a solid understanding of how the business is set up to deliver the strategy and where decisions are made.

  1. Get your hands on structure charts and reporting structures.
  2. Understand the governance.

Why is structure important? 

The business will have been structured in a way that will help it operate most effectively to deliver the strategy, or if it’s a new strategy may well be in the process of moving to a new structure. If you’re supporting on a change programme then understanding the ‘as is’ and the desired ‘to be’ and why is critical.

The structure dictates how the communication should flow and the different layers of the organisation.

Then get to grips with the governance. 

  • Where are decisions made? 
  • Who is making the decisions?
  • When and how are these decisions being shared?

If you can really understand the operational drumbeat and flow of decision making you will be setting yourself up for success.

It’s no secret that line managers are the key, and biggest challenge, in successful organisational comms. Investing the time in getting to grips with the strategy, structure and governance will help you make sure that managers have the information they need to support their teams to deliver their part in the strategy.

Armed with the above insight and confidence in the business you will have a really solid framework to plan your communication. It will enable you to provide really solid advice to your leadership team and understand where to invest your time and effort.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Let’s talk about change

By Strategic Comms

Let’s be honest talking about change is something organisations don’t generally do very well! We’ve all been on the receiving end of poor change communication and if you work in comms you’ve had that frustration of trying to influence leaders to be more open about change.

70% of change initiatives fail to deliver their intended outcomes. We are working in a time of unprecedented change, when leadership visibility, clear communication and connection are required more than ever. I’ve pulled together a few tips to help get your thinking focused.

As communications professionals we play a key role in supporting businesses and leaders through change. It’s one of the areas of my work that I enjoy the most, but it is also the most challenging.

So how can we help organisations deliver successful programmes of change?

  1. Understand the why before writing your narrative. 

Ask lots of questions to make sure you really understand the reason for change and what the change is. Then work with your leaders to make sure they are aligned and agreed on the why before writing your narrative.

This narrative sits at the heart of all communication, it will be the framework to ensure consistency, repetition of messages, and familiarity in the way change is talked about. The word is a little overused now (in my humble opinion) and it can give a sense of ‘the story’ which has connotations of being made up.

However, consistency is what you are aiming for. It takes someone to hear a message at least 7 times for it to land. If there is inconsistency in this it creates mistrust. The purpose of aligning leaders on key messaging is to build a shared understanding and trust with employees wherever they are based and whoever they are hearing the message from. It demonstrates alignment and agreement from the top.

If you don’t own the story people will make it up, and trying to correct mis-information is much harder than getting your ducks in a row at the start.

  1. Create one central source of truth and make sure it is easily accessible 

This is a hosting area for all the information relating to the change so that people can quickly and easily find it at their leisure. Two clicks is all it should take, information should be regularly reviewed, refreshed and checked for accuracy.

  1. Brief regularly

Even when there is nothing new to say, tell people, because silence fuels anxiety, and depending on your culture and levels of trust silence may be construed as things being done behind closed doors. You will be judged against the success of your last programme of change – it’s important to do your homework and understand how other programmes of change have been delivered – what worked well and what do you need to avoid.

  1. Be open and honest

Let your managers and team leaders know it’s OK to be honest if they don’t know the answer to a question. But make sure managers know how to raise this with the programme team or leaders to get an answer – again you don’t want voids of information. Managers are vital in change – they are trusted by their teams so its important at the outset that you build these relationships and you check in regularly with them.

  1. Use your influencers 

Every organisation has them. These are the people that everyone listens to, who have an opinion on everything that is happening. Tap into these people, build rapport and bring them on the journey. They will be able to help you get the message out. Influencers are trusted by their peers and if they have the right information can be an asset in your communication.

Change can be tricky – it’s complex, it’s emotive but in summary;

Tip 1: Understand the why, own the story and lock down the narrative, consistency is key here and builds trust and understanding.

Tip 2: Create a central source of truth, make sure it’s always up to date

Tip 3: Brief regularly – if there is no new information say so.

Tip 4: Be open and honest and let managers know it’s OK to say you don’t gave all the answers and if you don’t know don’t make it up.

Tip 5: Use your influencer to help get your message out.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Putting your professional wellbeing front & centre

By Coaching

We all know that wellbeing is not just a nice thing to do but often we don’t make it a priority. 

Your health is the single most important thing you have. Yet so many of us sacrifice it to our employers, to our family, our friends. Left too late and inevitably you will get a health warning in some form or another to let you know you need to focus on self-care.

Every year, and at several points during the year, I make a renewed commitment to do better and bring wellbeing into focus to get better balance but it’s often short lived! I recharge I feel stronger and I throw myself back in – so I am not about to tell you the key to success because I’ve definitely not cracked it.

One thing that has helped over the year though is creating healthier, more sustainable work habits.

I’ve read too many stories of people struggling at work with professional life encroaching on personal, and feeling overwhelmed and deeply unsatisfied. We have an ‘always on’ work culture that is very unhealthy, and ultimately it makes it hard to completely switch off even when we want to. Burnout is not a badge of honour. And as much as Employee Assistance programmes, or a lunchtime yoga class is a nice thing to have this is about fundamentally re-contracting our relationship with work – and that isn’t easy.

Over the years I’ve come to realise that fundamentally work life balance, and professional wellbeing, is all about boundaries. Our personal wellbeing becomes an issue when our professional boundaries blur, suddenly it feels like work is in control and that is not a good place to be.

So, if boundaries are the discipline we need – do you know what yours are?

Here are a few tips to help you on your journey … they helped me, and if they help others that’s a win in my book!

  1. What brings you joy? – This is about getting to know your professional boundaries:  These are your non-negotiables – often when these are compromised you feel resentful or a sense of failure and disappointment. It could be missing dinner with your family, or not being able to do school picks ups or regularly skipping a much loved gym class. Even taking your dog for a walk during day light hours – which during winter means flexing your schedule to give you that much needed fresh air. Whatever your non-negotiables are you need to ring fence and commit to protecting these activities. Whilst sometimes there will be compromise upholding these will help you feel more balanced.
  2. Now write them down  There is nothing quite like putting pen to paper to hold yourself accountable.  Tell people in your team or discuss them with your line manager. Own them. And make a note to review them every six months or so.
  3. Take control of your calendar  Whilst so much is not in our control in a busy work environment, make sure you block out deep thinking time every week. If you don’t set aside time to focus on what you need to deliver you will always feel like you are chasing your tail. Protect that time – it’s also a non-negotiable. And with AI it is even easier now to get regular time blocking.
  4. Question unexpected meetings  I appreciate this might feel uncomfortable but it’s only natural to question your requested attendance at a meeting so you can prepare accordingly and understand your contribution. This is about getting into the habit of respecting your own time and politely being able to decline if you’re not the right person. If you sit in a meeting for an hour feeling like it was a waste of time you will leave feeling resentful and annoyed and will be playing catch-up on other priorities.
  5. Be clear on your objectives  A lack of clarity will leave you feeling overwhelmed, particularly when you have a busy workload. Knowing where you need to focus will give you much more structure. It’s understandably the biggest challenge in comms with so many competing priorities and demands, don’t forget to use 121s with your line manager to help. And taking 15 minutes at the start of each day to plan your day is a great healthy habit to keep focus.
  6. Shut down the laptop – every night! It’s healthy for the laptop and healthy for you, helping mentally switch off from the day. This is still my biggest fail with the promise of shutting down once my daughter is asleep – it’s a guaranteed extra hour of work that I shouldn’t be doing.
  7. Rome wasn’t built in a day … Reflect on your achievements daily, weekly, monthly and reward yourself as you move closer to your goal. This is one of the best healthy habits you can practice and it’s important to acknowledge your progress towards a big goal that feels unachievable.
  8. Be kind, be kind, be kind– I can’t say it enough. Being kind to yourself is so important. Sometimes just getting to the end of a really crazy day deserves a big pat on the back so do something that makes you feel good. That kindness will go a long way to nurturing your own self-care.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Under Pressure

By Coaching

We spend our careers helping organisations find their voice in difficult moments.
But when the pressure builds, many of us lose our own.

Speaking up on mental health takes real courage. In the workplace it requires a culture of psychological safety and that does not happen overnight.

Often we are the ones caught in the thick of it, communicating the organisational policy, approach, or activities to the business but we forget to take care of ourselves.

Over the years we’ve lurched from one crisis to another, and the pace is just getting quicker. We end up figuring it out as we go along, juggling what we can, advising leadership teams on what to say and how to say it. Often with finite resources, trying not to drop a ball as the workload stacks up. Recent industry data shows workload and pace remain the primary drivers of stress in communications roles (PRCA, 2025).

Let’s not forget – all the situations that impact our colleagues also impact us. It’s no wonder comms professionals are finding it tough. I was shocked to read a statistic in the PRCA’s research into the state of mental health in PR that 91% of PR professionals reported poor mental health in the past year and nearly two-thirds (64%) of comms professionals reported severe stress or burnout in the past 12 months. (Public Relations and Communications Association / Chartered Institute of Public Relations research, 2025)

Sadly pressure is not getting easier, or even stabilising, it’s intensifying.

Taking action on mental health is absolutely needed – but this isn’t a new conversation. The stats speak for themselves and there is a clear call to action for organisations to do more, particularly when only around a third of PR professionals say they feel fully supported by their employer despite widespread wellbeing initiatives (PRCA, 2025). This is more than investing in a corporate HeadSpace subscription, or a network of Mental Health First Aiders – yes this is nice but it won’t solve anything if we don’t address the cultural issues.

To create lasting change, we need to invest in cultivating environments where our teams can thrive. Where people feel comfortable to speak honestly about the daily challenges they face in the workplace, and the workload pressures! We should be able to openly ask for help without it going against us or feeling like we are failing by doing so.

Often, it’s the challenges of competing deadlines, growing workloads and managing the many different personalities that can create anxiety, concern and fear of failure. If we don’t have an outlet for that, it can very quickly overwhelm us.

So how can we create a safe environment to encourage people to speak up and what role can we play?

Firstly, we need to listen, we need to check-in, and we need to be present. Consistent manager check-ins are linked to significantly higher employee wellbeing and engagement (Gallup research).

This is something we can all do, whether we are a people manager or not. We can all step up to be advocates and champions for our peers. For example, if someone is quieter than usual, declines team check-ins and appears withdrawn – give them a call to ask ‘are you OK’? It could be the most valuable call you make that day.

Here are a few practical things that could make a big difference.

Create safe spaces and build trust

  • Take the time to build relationships with your team and colleagues. Personal life, commitments and external interests often have an impact on how we show up at work.
  • Show vulnerability, be open with your team and colleagues, and actively contribute how you are feeling. Demonstrate that it is safe to speak up.

Be observant 

  • If people are sending emails out of hours or are online late in the evening, check-in to find out why and help them put in place mitigations to prevent that.
  • If someone looks tired then check-in, ask if they are OK.
  • If you are the team leader, you may need to step in if stakeholders are proving challenging. But you can also empower that person by sharing tools and techniques to help them put boundaries in place.

Prioritise 121s and check point meetings

  • When teams are flat out, this is often the first thing to move in the diary but it’s the most important investment of your time. This should be your absolutely priority.   
  • Take time to map your non-negotiables – working past a certain time/ meetings over lunch / a regular daily walk during daylight hours.
  • Then map your negotiables – are there things you don’t mind being flexible with? For example, the occasional late or early morning call.

On the flip side, we also need to put in place mitigations to protect ourselves. Here are a few things I’ve learnt along the way. 

I learnt this through my own mentoring journey and it has been invaluable, and should be repeated quarterly to adjust your priorities based on the seasons. For example, getting a walk in might need to happen during the day but the trade-off is working a little later that day.

Prioritise 121s with your line manager or any dotted line managers you work with

  • Make sure these are regular and are upheld.
  • Take time to talk through your workplan, highlight pressure points and be really clear on your ask of them and where you need support.

Invest in your own development and network 

  • Peer to Peer support and developing your own knowledge will bolster your confidence and helps with resilience.
  • Lean into the wider comms community because I guarantee others feel the same. CIPR Inside have a great network of support and have discussion threads on Wellbeing and Internal Comms on the CIPR Connect App and Guild is another highly recommended forum.

Recognising the incredible pressure and intensity of the profession we work in, carving out the time to set boundaries, checking in on each other and providing air cover for those we lead are some of the small steps that will make a big difference.

If you are struggling, I encourage you to confide in someone. It doesn’t have to be someone in your team, there’s a lot of support out there. The CIPR provide a fantastic mentoring scheme which I’ve personally benefited from and would recommend. Mentoring Mums helps mums returning to the workplace after maternity leave. And, Iprovision, the CIPR benevolent fund, provides support to CIPR members during hard times.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026

Reflections & advice on a career in internal comms

By Coaching

Dan Holden speaks to internal and change communications consultant Rebecca Williams

Published by Influence PR magazine via All Things IC Candid Conversations

Rebecca has worked in public relations and communications since graduating from university and has recently worked within the NHS before moving into consultancy. She’s also a member of the CIPR sub-group Inside, helping to support other internal communicators.

How did you discover internal communication as a profession?
I’ve always had a love of language, reading and writing. A few years after I left school, I ran my own business – a coffee shop and events company. Don’t ask, it’s a story for another time. That was my first grounding in the importance of the employee-to-organisation relationship and how pivotal loyalty and buy-in to the brand is, no matter how big or small it may be! I needed to create a culture where people enjoyed being at work, wanted to deliver the best customer service and believed in the business.

I went to university and pursued a career in PR and external comms. Roll on a few more years, and I was working in the NHS on a public and staff engagement around proposed changes to local health services. It was the impact of this work – and some of the real challenges and frank conversations – that made me re-evaluate where I felt I could add value as a communicator. Those learnings and beliefs from my early entrepreneurial days, coupled with my love of comms, suddenly made sense and shortly after, I jumped ship.

What do you love most about working in the internal comms profession?
Making a difference to people – those doing the do, every day in their jobs. Connecting them to their organisation’s purpose and helping to create cultures that enable people to thrive. Making sure people feel valued for the contribution they make really spurs me on.

I also love the internal communications professional network, there is a strong, supportive and really collaborative community.

Do you have a memorable moment to share about when an IC project didn’t quite go to plan?
It’s not entirely IC project-focused, but it was a seminal moment in my early comms career when I sent an invitation to a long list of internal and external stakeholders, inviting them to a research launch at 2:30am GMT. I didn’t even twig until the CEO walked past my desk and casually said I was expecting him to be up very early that day! I was new in the role and mortified. I don’t think the fear of sending a mass invitation or email ever goes away.

What’s been a highlight of your internal comms career so far?
Without a doubt, supporting staff to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. I was two weeks back from maternity leave in a senior leadership role for an NHS clinical commissioning group. We needed a seamless transition for staff during a time of real uncertainty and to ensure everyone was supported and enabled to do their jobs remotely.

I sat the team down and agreed that the two most important objectives were to make sure staff were connected to the business and supported in their work, and that everything we were communicating should be in service of that. Then I enlisted our insights team and we worked on a regular pulse survey to start listening. The responses informed our content and areas of focus, and issues and concerns were presented regularly to the executive team.

Being able to respond in real-time to staff concerns, understand barriers to homeworking, or where there was an organisational disconnect, or gaps in information helped us keep staff connected and supported.

And over time, we could track if the mitigations were making a difference. As people saw action being taken and realised they were being listened to, we built trust and the response rate grew.

It was really powerful – and supports my view that annual staff surveys are a thing of the past if organisations want to create meaningful change based on the challenges people are feeling in the present. But organisations need to act on what their people are saying.

What do you feel has been the biggest change to our profession you’ve seen or experienced in your career?

The role of IC has grown in professional status, and there is a greater understanding of the huge value it can add. I’ve also seen a slow shift away from IC being a broadcast function; there is much more of an appetite for engagement and dialogue and a focus on people and their experience at work – for example, topics like wellbeing and inclusion and belonging being high on the agenda.

How would you define internal communication to someone who didn’t know about it?
It’s about connecting people to their organisation’s purpose and culture, to give meaning to what they do every day.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting out in internal comms?
Be curious, ask questions, say yes to opportunities, and invest in building your professional network. You can learn so much from others and alternative perspectives from those not in your organisation can make a big difference.

What are your top tips when it comes to continued professional development to stay up to date on everything internal comms related?
I recently wrote a blog for CIPR Inside on making CPD count but in summary: take time to understand the areas of development important for you, it’s your development and you need to enjoy it. Think about how you like to learn: podcasts, reading books or blogs, conferences… And then be selective. It needs to be relevant to you and be kind to yourself. There is so much out there that it can be overwhelming, and we have busy demanding jobs so it really is about finding balance.

If you could go back in time to the start of your IC career, what advice would you give?
It’s not all for IC to fix, though you will find many in your organisation that believe it is! You can’t be all things to all people, so trust your instincts as they are usually right. And prioritise time to invest in your own development.

Dan Holden is a communication consultant at internal communications specialists All Things IC. He spoke to Rebecca as part of All Thing IC’s Candid Conversation series. Read the original post.

Helping organisations and leaders connect the dots, navigate change, and communicate with clarity and confidence.

Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Strategic Comms

Coaching

Resources

© 2026 StratComms. All rights reserved.

May 18, 2026