Effective communication is the engine of an organization – it drives process and is necessary to its efficient operation. It’s also vital to creating a productive company culture. Despite its importance, many organizations suffer from communication woes that lead to a myriad of other issues. Often, executive leaders devote significant amounts of time, energy and money in the production of savvy communications plans aimed at defining and delivering key messages or building out a technology-based infrastructure designed to aid in efforts of efficiency and effectiveness.
However, these attempts are often external-facing and fall short of enhancing communication to the audience key to the organization’s success – its employees. Why is this? While failing to spend adequate attention on internal communication is undoubtedly problematic, the misalignment may be more complicated than just a lack of attention. Leaders often rely on emails, memos and meetings to communicate with staff. While these are helpful communication tools, the root of the issue may lie in “how” executive leaders communicate – not necessarily the tools through which they do so. More specifically the problem may be how leaders think about what should be communicated, who should be communicating and what is considered effective communication.
Consider these five leadership communication errors that negatively impact a company’s culture:
Mistake #1: Deceit or withholding information. Leaders are often tasked with the difficult duty of sharing “hard to share” information. In many instances, disclosure and discretion are often at odds. Yet, executives must make the tough call to ensure that in its quest to protect competing interests – be it profit or personal – they must not engage in deceptive practices, such as withholding information from employees. Discretion on how much to share is a necessary evil in business, but this is much different from a general culture of secrecy. When information is withheld from employees or only provided to a select few, it erodes trust. Failing to share information, even when done with the best of intentions, almost always backfires. It may create a situation in which employees may feel their voice is not heard or worse, unimportant. This also leaves employees, who may have potential ideas for a solution, in the dark – it is hard to fix a problem employees are unaware exists. Including all involved in the process as soon as possible may jumpstart brainstorming towards collective resolution.
Mistake #2: Relying only on a top-down communications approach. Top-down communication is necessary, but cannot operate in isolation of other forms of communication. Managers who employ this strategy run the risk of undermining and undervaluing employee input. While organizational leaders must provide direction, they must also allow employees to engage in the decision-making process. This can prove beneficial to leaders who are often much farther removed from the needs of clients or customers than the front-line employees that interact with them on a daily basis. If information only flows from the top down, executives may lose touch with the current realities of the organization’s needs. This type of communication, in isolation, leads to ineffectiveness and broken processes. Decisions may be made that affect not only employees, but consumers or clients, and ultimately profit.
Mistake #3: Assuming that shared information was understood. Another detrimental communication error leaders make is assuming that the receiver has understood the information shared. When employees do not have a clear understanding of what is expected of them or what is going on, it can slow down productivity as they attempt to figure things out themselves. This eventually results in a lack of cohesiveness in how work is achieved. This is especially problematic in organizations where process and uniformity are critical to quality control, such as automotive companies. Delayed outputs and project completions affect employee productivity. Quality suffers, as does engagement with customers or clients. Assuming that information has been understood can lead to rifts within the organization. Executives may believe that an issue has been fixed, or that it is a non-issue when in reality a problem exists and has time to fester and affect other areas of the work.
Mistake #4: Failing to acknowledge progress as success. Another major leadership communication flaw is failing to acknowledge progress as success. It is proven that employees respond well to praise and that it is an effective method for motivating staff. Often leaders underestimate or are unaware of what is involved in moving a concept from idea to completion. This lack of understanding results in leaders overlooking small achievements in route to the finished product. If this happens continually, employee morale will suffer. Employees may begin to believe that their skills and work are not valued unless there is a big win that brings the company recognition. This type of thinking leads to a negative work environment where employees grow weary with day-to-day work and tasks. Another issue is that of relationship management. Failure to acknowledge progress will eventually cause a disconnect between employer and employee. Distance of this nature perpetually adds to the issue as they may not share progress and, as such, leaders will continue to underestimate and appreciate the work that goes into producing a final product. This also causes leaders to have unrealistic expectations from their teams, causing tension in an environment that will be known for seeing failure instead of progress and success
Mistake #5: Allowing outcome goals to serve as expectations. Also damaging to the overall productivity and morale of an organization is leadership that allows projects outcome goals to serve or stand in as expectations. This occurs when a project or deadline is given, but no clear communication about the way employees should go about completing the project is provided. Depending on the audience, something as simple as document presentation should have clear expectations. For example, an internal document will look different from that should be shared externally. Although both documents may convey similar, if not the same information, they should be written and presented differently. If leaders fail to inform employees of what is expected, it is highly likely that they may not perform within the required standards. Not only will employee work quality suffer, executives may also may the price for this error if it results in a lackluster product. Subsequently, the organization’s brand may be perceived poorly by customers and profit will reflect this new perception.
Communication is a large, unwieldy piece of any organization. With so many moving pieces, it’s fairly easy to botch the process along the way. However, by recognizing these common mistakes, leaders can avoid several related cultural issues caused by miscommunication: the result – a more productive and effective workplace.
Additional reading: 5 Communication Techniques for Creating Healthy Company Culture
