Lack of internal communication isn’t always apparent. It often creeps up slowly without employees or organizations even realizing it. Here are some not-so-obvious signs and how to improve them in your workplace.
Most employees wake up to a flurry of workplace messages. New emails, work or personal text messages, intranet notifications, etc.
That’s a lot of places to check.
So, we must all be great at communication, right?
Matter of fact, that’s not the case. Despite all the collaboration tools and platforms at our disposal, we still haven’t mastered effective communication in the workplace.
Why? Because as great as these tools are, they aren’t a magic bullet. Especially if we don’t understand the core challenges we are trying to address in the first place.
Or, we mistakenly conclude that because we hold town halls, and meetings, launch an intranet, send out newsletters and invites, and host team-building events, that surely we must be doing everything right.
However, solid communication is much more complex than making a list of communication best practices.
It’s about quality, not quantity that matters. It’s about choosing the right communications channels, sharing the right content with the right people at the right time, and creating real opportunities for feedback and idea sharing.
Before we get into how to fix a lack of communication in the workspace, let’s first look at some of the most common signs.
Signs of lack of communication
Lack of communication is defined as a lack of trust among colleagues, managers, and top-level administration; information and knowledge are either late shared or not shared at all and passed along as they should be.
There are a lot of obvious signs of lack of communication, like: low email open-rates, weak usage of the intranet, disinterest, lack of motivation, or scattered internal knowledge. One effective way to address these issues is by using reliable team collaboration software that centralizes communication, improves transparency, and ensures everyone stays aligned.
However, poor communication isn’t always loud and obvious. It often creeps up silently and slowly without us even realizing it. You might be dealing with a lack of communication and not even know it. Here are some not-so-obvious signs:
Low trust
Lack of trust reduces transparency and communication which leads to behaviors such as diminished innovation and lack of agility and responsiveness to changing conditions. While every organization has unique factors that contribute to trust and engagement, open communication plays an important role. When organizations fail to set and meet expectations around open and candid communication, trust slowly crumbles.
Workplace silos
Workplace silos are like walls that separate different groups in a workplace, making it hard for people to share information and collaborate effectively. This leads to mistakes, wasted time, and missed opportunities for new ideas to take place.
Low survey response rates
Most internal communications and professionals rely on employee surveys to measure the effectiveness of both communications and employee engagement. But if you continuously find these results less than satisfying, it might indicate that you have a communication problem and it is time that the fundamentals be thoroughly checked.
Duplicated work
If your employees don’t know where their role ends and their colleagues begin, be prepared for crossed wires, confusing email chains, duplicated work, and a lot of lost time for everyone involved. Employees at organizations with healthy communication can distinguish and understand their individual and team goals. They also comprehend the organization’s core values, mission and vision, and how their work individually relates to these.
Frustrated employees
When employees feel left out of the loop on employee communication, it’s easy for them to become disgruntled and unsatisfied with their jobs. The trickle-down effect not only increases employee turnover but also creates frustrated customers. It’s a conundrum that many organizations and individuals pay a hefty price for.
How to fix a lack of communication in the workplace
Now that we have established the pain points and subtle signs of poor communication, let’s explore how to fix them:
Set communication standards
Navigating both synchronous (instant texting apps like Melp) and asynchronous communication (email and intranet) can be a challenging and arduous process. For example, if you are expecting an immediate reply to an email, you will most likely be disappointed.
While responding to internal communication may feel like common sense, what seems logical to one person may not feel that way to another. This is why it’s worth establishing communication standards. One possible tactic is to require that synchronous messages are replied to instantly or acknowledged within 24 hours, and asynchronous communication is responded to within five days (maximum).
Keep communications targeted
An announcement of the latest bugs to be squashed by your developers may be of interest to some departments, but are they of interest to every single department? Most probably not.
No one wants to be burdened with communication unrelated to them, as it becomes overwhelming. So ensure that communications are targeted to the right teams, groups, departments, or locations. Targeting communications messages ensures you adapt the content to ensure it is reaching the right set of people and is relevant to the people you are communicating with.
Make communication mobile-friendly
As organizations continue to rely on and adopt more & more tools to communicate with and engage employees, there’s a growing responsibility to reach them no matter where they work (virtual or non-virtual). This is why it is essential that employee communication is mobile-accessible. But refrain from assuming that mobile communication is just for remote employees. According to a recent study, 80% of workers keep a smartphone in view throughout the workday, with two in three acknowledging that they use it at least several times while at work.
Modern workplace
Instant messaging & collaboration applications have become the trend today. Platforms like Melp are great for quick and critical communication, ensuring that your employees have received communication, and are connected all the time.
Don’t neglect hybrid or remote employees
A hybrid environment may additionally put employees who cannot work in the office at a disadvantage to those who come regularly. For example, consider a scenario where one employee is unable to attend an in-person meeting. Even if they join via video, there are potential side conversations they may potentially miss out on. With two different experiences to manage, there is an increased risk that one group may feel excluded in crucial conversations.
If you have a remote or dispersed workforce it becomes pertinent that there are equal opportunities for communication no matter what.
Conclusion
Your employees are the building blocks that move your organization forward. If there is a lack of communication, they won’t reach their fullest potential, resulting in a fragmented edifice.
Melp can help, as it helps foster effective communication and break any silos that your organization and employees might face. It’s a given when communication is strong, employees adopt the vision, values, and purpose of the organization they work for; they become enthusiastic contributors, innovating problem solvers, and collaborative colleagues.
With Melp as a comprehensive collaboration and connectivity platform, trust that all your communication woes are taken care of.