The classic advice on communication is that it’s a two way street. In the workplace, that street is more like a spaghetti junction. With so much going on, there are many ways that workplace communication can break down. The first step in repairing it is identifying the problem.
Are any of these issues affecting your company? It could be a sign that you have an issue with workplace communication.
Key Highlights:
- Identify Communication Issues: Recognizing signs of communication breakdown is the first step towards resolution.
- Clarify Goals and Objectives: Ensure everyone understands the company’s mission and their individual objectives to prevent conflicting goals.
- Improve Time Management: Address poor planning and missed deadlines by fostering better communication around schedules and due dates.
- Encourage Teamwork: Break down silos and promote collaboration to avoid the pitfalls of disjointed efforts and “us vs. them” attitudes.
- Boost Morale: Regularly communicate successes and encourage idea exchange to maintain high levels of enthusiasm and commitment.
- Address Negative Attitudes: Tackle the root causes of negativity by improving channels of communication and cooperation among team members.
- Mitigate Financial Losses: Recognize that communication failures can lead to project failures, customer loss, and increased turnover, impacting the bottom line.
Conflicting Goals and Objectives
When assignments are ambiguous, managers are failing to explain tasks properly, or employees aren’t communicating with each other, goals can end up moving in two different directions.
This leads to a lack of shared purpose and a situation where the overall objectives of the company will not be met. Ensure mission statements and goals are clear, direct, and communicated with everyone.
Poor Time Management
Conflicting schedules, poor planning, work overload, late projects and missed deadlines, arriving late to meetings, delayed responses, and no respect for due dates.
These are all signs that lack of communication is negatively impacting time management in your company. People are not able to properly manage their calendars and deadlines are missed.
Teamwork Doesn’t Exist
When departments or individuals are building silos, you’ll quickly find your company suffering from left-hand, right-hand blindness and a lack of teamwork. People who need to collaborate in order to do their jobs stop communicating, and you run the risk of employees developing “us against them” attitudes. When teams suffer from poor chemistry and people aren’t willing or able to work together, tasks will not be completed and your business can quickly fall apart.
Low Morale and Lack of Enthusiasm
When communication fails, employees will do the bare minimum necessary to get by. Levels of innovation drop when there is no exchange of ideas and people quickly lose enthusiasm for their jobs when the successes aren’t regularly communicated. Which leads to low morale and little commitment to the success of the company.
Negative Attitudes
A lack of workplace communication leads to negative attitudes and unwillingness to listen. People who can’t communicate with each other become difficult and unwilling to cooperate or compromise.
Negative attitudes will not only have an affect on the overall atmosphere within the company; they will also result in decreased productivity levels and poor customer service.
Measurable Financial Loss
If communication fails during a project it can result in failure of the project altogether.
This can have serious consequences, ranging from actual financial loss, customers lost due to low levels of customer service, and increased levels of turnover. Customers and employees will leave your company when communication breaks down and they feel like they aren’t being heard.
If you recognise these issues within your organisation, read our article, Hey HR, Don’t Forget About Workplace Communication, for advice on getting your workplace communication back on the right road.
Are you interested in changing the flow of communication in your company as part of your performance management process? Download our white paper Great Management Guidelines to learn about maximizing feedback and boosting your organisational performance.