5 ways internal communicators can take the bull by the horns in 2022

At this time of year, it’s commonplace to read about the upcoming year’s top trends and likely changes.

But having been writing about and working in internal communication since the late ’90s, the annual ritual of forecasting the trends for the upcoming year has become a bit hackneyed. Partly, this is because annual trends are largely beyond the control of internal communicators. More to the point, this has been because IC folks have resisted taking matters into their own hands.

So, this year, I’m proposing something new: five things that would make a difference if internal communication leaders were to actually step up, take matters into their own hands, and share their experiences once having done so.

1. Bust the hybrid hype, and grab hold of the remote revolution.

There’s been a ridiculous amount of talk about “hybrid,” “hybrid working” and even “hybrid business models.” In reality, “hybrid” is a shade of gray between two very black-and-white approaches – having people based in physical locations (“office-based”) and having people based outside of one’s own physical premises (“remote”).