Communication is integral in society and for our experiences. And yet, we still struggle with it. Despite the advances and evolution of communication technology, failures in communication is still a major challenge in the workplace. Preventing organizations, employees, and candidates from reaching their full potential.
After all, communication is a fact of life, even more so in the workplace where the dynamic has changed and shifted so drastically in the last two years.
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw
Teamwork, technology, and remote work are increasingly common. And for a business to thrive, meet deadlines and exceed goals, solid communication, infrastructure, and relationships must be in integral and clearly defined.
But when stress, failed expectations, lack of transparency, incoherent company narratives, relationship breakdowns, burnt bridges, low morale, dissatisfied clients, family problems, health concerns and a smaller bottom line become chronic workplace issues, then poor communication could be at the root of the problem.
Communication is key when we need to be on the same page and working towards the same goals, or the big picture, or tapping into our company’s vision or mission statement. But, often, we face a lack of communication that can lead to several issues as mentioned above that can escalate into problems that ultimately costs individuals and enterprises ideas, innovation, the bottom line, talent, resources, and opportunities that might have positively transformed their circumstances or market share.
Here are some examples that occur from a lack of or poor communication in the workplace.
Misunderstandings and Misconstrued Situations
Misunderstandings occur frequently — especially when communication is not clear. And can lead to some serious issues for an individual or in the workplace. For example, an employee might misunderstand what their responsibilities are if they’re not clearly outlined or presented as well-defined objectives or without the right guidance and leadership. They might then not do their job as well as they could be if they fully understood the role.
Equally, a candidate might also misunderstand the job role if it’s not clearly described in the job advertisement. Then, the interview might be a waste of both their time and the company’s time. Likewise, if a new-hire isn’t properly boarded, they might misunderstand their place in the company and, as such, have a difficult time assimilating into their new position.
Conflict
Conflict can certainly arise from a lack of communication. For example, it might cause two colleagues to end up doing more work for a team project than necessary. Perhaps they thought the other person wasn’t doing a certain task, so they took it on for themselves only later to find out that the other person already did it. This can cause tension on the team. Or vice versa, they are engaged in a particular project, and it was expected that their regular workflows were managed by their colleagues. Only to find their workflows backlogged upon completion of the project.
Other conflicts that can arise may happen if through company infrastructure, directors or senior management downsize departments, or the whole company, across the board without communicating to the rest of the team the reasoning for the changes. This can cause conflict in the office if the remaining employees feel like they’ve been blindsided and can no longer feel safe and secure in their jobs, therefore greatly affecting high turnover of employees, and the possibility of losing talented key players, who go elsewhere as a result of the insecurity.
Missed Opportunities and Potential
A lack of or poor communication can often lead to missed opportunities, and stunted potential, especially at work and in the recruitment process. This can happen because an employee does not clearly communicate their interest in an opening for a promotion, for example, or because they don’t effectively communicate their interest and/or willingness to take on more responsibilities. As such, they may be passed up for the promotion.
Similarly, recruitment, management or human resourcing might have an opening or an opportunity for an employee or a new candidate that they don’t communicate well. And, as such, there might not be as much interest in that opportunity, the potential therefore cannot grow. Even if it was an incredible venture, project or career defining opportunity, in the end, it didn’t sound so great because the management or human resourcing didn’t communicate all of the benefits of it.
The “Grapevine” Effect
Grapevine communication happens in every organisation, no matter the company size or industry. This informal type of communication may have a significant impact on the employee experience you deliver as well as your business performance and your ability to build trust with your employees. Of course, the dissemination of misinformation can lead to disarray, panic, and overall disaster in the workplace.
As grapevine communication is mostly based on the spoken word such as the “water cooler talks”, it can be impossible for employers to track it and understand the negative consequences grapevine communication can have on their workforce.
Trust and Transparency
A lack of communication can lead to mistrust in the workplace in an entire array of situations.
An example is if a manager knows of an opening for a promotion but doesn’t communicate it to their team, they might not trust that the manager has their best interest and career development in mind.
If the company keeps issues secret and brushes them under the rug (like sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace, for example), its employees might not trust that the company is handling them responsibly. Likewise, they might not trust that they can turn to their human resources departments to take care of any personal issues, either.
Besides, poor communication amongst employees also limits the closeness of their relationships and changes in how employees engage with one another.
Lack of trust also reduces transparency in communication. Reduced transparency in communication leads to low innovation and lack of agility and responsiveness to changing conditions.
When employees lack trust in leadership, they often avoid communicating with them out of fear of retaliation – or simply because they feel that they can’t trust leadership to be transparent with them so why bother returning the favour? To achieve maximum employee performance, employees need to communicate any potential problems or concerns promptly and transparently to leadership. Without trust, this is not likely. Problems can go unaddressed and impact bottom line, and opportunities for the bigger picture.
Low Morale
A lack of communication can ultimately lead to low morale. Because ineffective communication can create misunderstandings, missed opportunities, conflict, the dissemination of misinformation and mistrust, employees might just feel overall defeated. They might not be motivated to work for such a company or for such a manager who cannot communicate important matters well.
Keeping employees up to speed may be the best way to boost their moods during hard times, according to a recent survey.
In a poll of 150 senior executives from the nation’s 1,000 largest companies, nearly half said better company-wide communication is the best remedy for low morale. Despite the tough economy, just 13 percent of respondents said monetary awards were the best fix.
33 percent of respondents said a lack of open, honest communication in the workplace had the most negative effect on workers’ attitudes. Micromanaging, excessive work, and failure to recognize achievements were also cited as practices that can damage employee morale.
The study said companies can create more positive and productive working environments by ensuring managers are available, willing to listen, and dedicated to getting workers involved.
And we all know that stress, of course, can lead to low morale, which eventually leads to burnout. Burnout is no good for anyone and can cost individuals and companies their essential hard-earned profits.
Broken Company Culture and Values
A lack of communication can seriously hurt company culture. Company culture relies on communication. If not everyone in the company is on the same page about what’s expected of them, the values the company and its members shares or the longer-term and big picture goals, then how can everyone work seamlessly together?
Likewise, with no guidance or direction, and with no simple explanation of the roles and responsibilities of departments and individual workers, employees might be at a loss how to operate together.
When employees feel confused, unheard, or unwelcome to speak up, it leads to unhappiness and high turnover rates – two problems in which companies across various industries are scrambling to solve. According to a 2013 Harvard Business Review study, 70% of the surveyed employees felt most engaged at work when they felt that their employers attempted to communicate and update the company consistently. What’s interesting is that within the organizations that struggle to facilitate comprehensive internal communications practices, the external communications endeavours are deftly executed.
Employees should be valued as much, if not more, than consumers; consumer loyalty is fleeting, and employees are the resources that fuel a company.
“Communication is defined not by what is being said but by what is being heard. For this reason, it is vital that you gain a good appreciation of how other people will listen — interpret, process, and assign meaning — to what you have to say before you can influence them effectively.”
Margie Warrell
So, if communication is the key, how can we define it to ensure it has a positive impact, help towards growth and lead to a positive culture in the workplace or fantastic opportunities for employees or candidates looking to get their foot in the door.
The Seven Cs
The seven C’s of communication is a list of principles that you should ensure all of your communications adhere to. Their purpose is to help ensure that the person you’re communicating with hears what you’re trying to say. The seven C’s are: clear, correct, complete, concrete, concise, considered, and courteous.
Be Clear
There are several stages to clarity.
Firstly, it’s important to be clear about the purpose of the message you’re delivering. The recipient should notice why they are receiving the message and what you’re trying to achieve by delivering it. If there are multiple goals, each should be laid out separately.
Secondly, it’s essential that the content of the communication is itself clear. You should avoid jargon, use simple language, use simple structures, and focus on the core points of your message.
Be Correct
It’s essential that both the factual information and the language and grammar you use are correct. If your audience spots errors in either, they will be distracted, and your credibility will be reduced. This will reduce the effectiveness of your communication.
Be Complete
Completeness is often one of the most important of the 7 Cs of communication.
When creating a message, it’s important to give the recipient all of the information they need to follow your line of reasoning and to reach the same conclusions you have. This level of detail will be different in different situations, and you should adjust your communications accordingly.
In addition, you should make things as easy as possible for the recipient. For example, if you are issuing a “call to action”, provide explicit guidance on that action. Increasingly it’s common to include things like hyperlinks in written communications or to attach FAQs, both of which help audiences access a complete set of information while also ensuring that core communications focus on core messages.
Be Concrete
When shaping your communication, you must ensure that you are specific and that the logic and messages that you’re using fit together, build on each other and support each other. Your arguments should be based on solid facts and opinions from credible sources, and you should share irrefutable data to support your argument.
It may be important to help bring the solid nature of what you’ve created to life for your audience through examples that show the relevance of your messages for them as individuals.
Be Concise
When communicating messages of this nature, it’s important to stick to the point and keep your messages short and simple. Don’t use 10 words if you can use five. Don’t repeat your messages.
The more you say, the more risk there is of confusion. Avoid that risk by focusing solely on the key points you need to deliver.
Be Courteous
You can increase the effectiveness of your communications by being polite and showing your audience that you respect them. Your messages should be friendly, professional, considerate, respectful, open, and honest.
To help ensure you are courteous, you should always use some empathy and consider your messages from the point of view of the audience.
Be Coherent
The last of the 7 Cs of communication is coherence. If your communications are not coherent, they will not be effective. To help make sure your communications are coherent, you should have a logical flow and your style, tone and language should be consistent throughout.
Besides making sure that each communication you issue is coherent within itself, you should also ensure consistency of message when delivering multiple communications.
But maybe there is one more C… If poor communication can impact stress levels, deadlines, morale, health, and the bottom line negatively, then good communication can have a positive and healing effect. Write out job and project descriptions clearly and check in to ask how things are going. Make use of emails and messaging apps wisely. Treat others with the kindness you hope for in return. Create a written list of priorities for times when there is more work than time, and perhaps set aside time each week, directly address workplace concerns and brainstorm solutions.
Be Company Cultured
Communications policies have to start from the top down. Whether an organisation comprises 5 or 5,000 people, founders and senior leadership have to take on the responsibility of sparking dialogue around company progress, updates, and change. When individuals see CEOs and CMOs attempting to take part in ongoing internal dialogue, it sparks increased comfortability at the workplace. Holding quarterly company town halls in which employees have the chance to speak up and interact with leaders from outside their team is an effective way to demonstrate employee appreciation.
Practice active listening skills with co-workers and assume the best of client intentions. Create a culture of celebrating accomplishments and progress. When appropriate, seek support from a corporate psychologist or communications consultant who can teach your team communication, self-care, active listening, and emotional management skills. Remember that none of us have perfect communication skills, but by adopting a growth mindset and moving in a positive direction, improvements can occur quickly.
Remember Communication is a two-way street; just as leaders must attempt to speak to their teams, workers must also feel empowered to speak up. Offering ongoing employee communications training that covers everything from internal communication, public speaking to presentation design will not only help individuals feel more engaged within the company, but it will also give them the confidence to ask questions, voice feedback, and share exciting updates. Communication is a soft-skill, which means it often gets overlooked. Not every employee is comfortable with the idea of open communication or client presentations, and it’s up to organizations to provide opportunities for every employee to grow and develop confidence in their voices.
Employees are the most valuable resource within every company and initiating company-wide transparent communication practices is the only way to ensure their engagement and happiness, and a welcoming environment for potential with new employees and candidates.
Internal Communication is important because it:
Enhances relationships: productive internal communication enhances the interaction between parties as they grasp the prospects and goals of the other party.
Establishes regulations: your company will not be able to establish rules without effective communication – as internal company members will not comprehend company needs and expectations nor how to implement them.
Inspires innovation: good communication is a motivator and will inspire in-house workers to communicate constructive opinions, feedback, and new ideas.
Deters disputes: when communication is healthy, everyone communicates issues and concerns, which makes it easier to prevent clashes in the workplace.
Improves employee morale: team spirit is important, and communication is the vessel that helps to create a productive work environment while also motivating staff to perform more efficiently.
Creates a collective harmony: effective internal communication puts everyone on the same page with your company’s goals and aspirations.
Consider this, that most communication involves being a good listener and being able to understand the current trends incorporated into today’s climate. Adapting solid communication skills gives you and your enterprise respectability, which in turn taps into the limitless potential of your colleagues and employees.