MANAGEMENT

Top Ten Communication Problems in the

Workplace

By: Shelley Frost

Reviewed by: Jayne Thompson, LLB, LLM
Updated December 10, 2018

Workplace communication is essential to teamwork. Not only does it build and

maintain relationships, but workplace communication also facilitates innovation.
Employees who feel comfortable about communicating tend to have ideas accepted at
an exceptional rate. Without workplace communication, there will be several problems.

Problem One: Lack of Standards

When communication problems in the workplace lower standards, it's usually because
you lack consistency on how and when employees communicate. It's a good idea to
establish a communication policy to standardize the methods used for communicating
with both colleagues and customers. Avoid relying too heavily on one type of
communication. For example, using only verbal communication makes tracking
conversations and information difficult.

Problem Two: Communication Barriers

Differences in background or experience cause barriers between some employees.
Without some common ground, employees may find relating to or understand what
other staff members are talking about difficult. Cultural differences may also cause
difficulties in non-verbal communications, causing mixed messages.

Problem Three: Mixing Work and Personal

Communications
Some employees tend to mix personal lives into the workplace communications.
Personal communications detract from the professionalism in the office, which
sometimes leads to gossip in the workplace, leading to decreased morale or even
accusations of harassment.

Problem Four: Misinterpretations and Assumptions

Communication is open to interpretation and is sometimes interpreted incorrectly.
People often make assumptions based on the information they hear or read, whether
or not they hear or read it correctly. Nonverbal cues also lead people to make
assumptions that can impede communication. For example, an employee who avoids
eye contact may cause others to assume she is hiding something when she may
simply feel inferior or shy.

Problem Five: Poor Listening Skills

Sharing information is only part of the communication process. Strong listening skills
are essential to effectively communicating and understanding the message being
shared. Employees who fail to listen or who don't know how to actively listen to their
colleagues are likely to miss information or not know what is going on.

Problem Six: Lack of Factual Communication

Factually-based communication is essential to effective communication in the
workplace. If employees communicate false information or share information they
aren't sure about, they are likely to cause delays in task completion. Managers who
share false information or share information without verifying it first are likely to upset
the employees.

Problem Seven: Failure to Disperse Communications

Dispersing workplace communications often relies on a chain of employees sharing
the information with others. In some cases, the relay of information is interrupted,
leaving certain employees out of the loop. The breakdown in communication may lead
to wasted time, missed meetings, duplication of work, or other disruptions of the
workflow.

Problem Eight: Privacy Concerns

Very little communication is actually private, especially in a workplace environment.
Verbal communication is easily overheard by others in the office. Email messages and
instant messaging on the computer are susceptible to hacking. Other employees may
read over your shoulder and see confidential communications. Leaked confidential
information creates a liability issue and may hurt business.
Problem Nine: Negative Attitudes
Negative attitudes interfere with the communication process in the workplace. In some
cases, two employees may dislike one another or distrust each other, creating a wall
between the two when they try to communicate. Other employees simply take an
indifferent attitude toward work in general, causing them to not care about what is said
during normal workplace communication.

Problem Ten: Lack of Follow Through

Once information is dispersed in the office environment, specific actions take place
based on the communications. For example, after a meeting to discuss the direction of
a project, the attendees likely need to complete tasks based on what you discussed in
the meeting. If the communication doesn't leave employees with a clear sense of how
to follow through with actions, you are likely to see a breakdown and unfinished work.

REFERENCES

SOURCE: BIZFLUENT.COM

op 7 Communication Problems in the

Workplace
Marcin Nowak, MCX Group

Communication becomes more complex with each day, and especially in the workplace. What
problems may occur in the workplace, how to identify and solve them? Here you will find the
answers to these questions. 

Most common communication challenges in

the workplace
As business grows and we start to engage with more and more people, we create
multiple connections, communication links. Every communication involves (at least) one
sender, a message and a recipient. This might sound simple, but communication is truly
an awfully complex subject.

When we multiply all communication by possible channels of communication we get a

complicated network of possibilities and options with a number of typical communication
problems / challenges. Below are samples of communication problems within the
workplace:

1. Heave use of jargon

Over-complicated, unfamiliar and/or technical terms. Most departments and companies

have their own jargon, used daily while creating a false feeling that everyone uses our
“language.” It gets even deeper about specific associations and differences in language
and “field of experience.” Fields of experience include people’s backgrounds,
perceptions, values, biases, needs, and expectations. Our audience can decode messages
only within the context of their fields of experience. When our field of experience overlaps
only a little, communication becomes difficult.

2. The opening

There’s a golden rule about discussion and furthermore communication – before we

start, let us set up ground, avoid introducing abbreviation without definition and
references to any local, not well-known term. Specify the target of meeting, what we would
like to speak about and agree on.

3. Emotional barriers and taboos

Some people may find it difficult to specify their emotions and a few topics could also be
completely ‘off-limits’ or taboo. Taboo or difficult topics may include, but are not limited
to, politics, religion, disabilities (mental and physical), sexuality and sex, racism and any
opinion which will be seen as unpopular.

4. Physical barriers to non-verbal communication

Not having the ability to determine the non-verbal cues, gestures, posture and general
visual communication can make communication less effective. Phone calls, text messages
and other communication methods that depend upon technology are often less effective than
face-to-face communication.

5. Expectations and prejudices

That can cause false assumptions or stereotyping. People often hear what they expect
to listen to instead of what is said, and they jump to incorrect conclusions.

6. Cultural differences

The norms of social interaction vary greatly in several cultures, as do the way emotions
are expressed. As an example, the concept of private space varies between cultures
and between different social settings.

7. Information overload

Additionally to phone calls, video conferences, text messages, group chats, social
networks, and internal meetings a typical person can receive as many as 110 emails a
day. Email overload is bad for communication, often ends up in important information
being lost, deleted, forgotten or ignored. Employees are easily frustrated by an excessive
amount of data, we want effective process information so pushing us to limit with constant
streaming is counterproductive.
How to fix communication issues?
If you wish to enhance communication within the workplace, start by identifying
communication barriers. This could include working in an exceedingly working
environment with many various people, different cultures and different levels of
communication. Open, honest and transparent channels of communication are crucial to doing
business in today’s world.

When we speak about barriers of communication within the workplace, the challenge of
effective communication is more evident than ever. Let us take a glance at a few of the
foremost common communication barriers employers face today. 

Communication barriers
There are three main categories of communication barriers that may challenge effective
communication. Communication barriers can include anything that impedes or hinders
the communicator’s ability to deliver the proper message to the “right” person at the
“right” time, or the recipient’s inability to deliver it at the “right” time. A number of
reasons why employees are unhappy with their work are caused by leaders who don’t
provide enough information, by constant changes that don’t seem to be communicated
to employees, or by individuals in several roles focus exclusively on their own goals and
ignore general priorities, lacking communication skills.

Clear goals and priorities should be communicated through broad channels that may prevent
feelings of teamwork and shared goals from forming, instead supporting a creation of
communication silos. Complex and rigid organizational structures are the biggest
culprits for inefficient communication, which makes it a serious problem in many
organizations. Such organizations often have inefficient information and communication
systems, often leading to frustration and an absence of engagement and lowered
productivity among employees. 

If a corporation is very hierarchical, information is often silenced, lost, or distorted along

its way through hierarchical layers. Deficient information is not good for the organisation
and an excessive amount of it can cause problems for workers.

Feedback
If managers do not offer their employees positive and productive opportunities for
constructive criticism, resentment can build up. The device is not an area for personal
gossip, the doors of the meeting rooms do not seem to be as soundproof as you may
think, managers can read emails and lax messages, and this contributes to resentment.

Once you have identified the signs and causes of poor communication within the
workplace, it is time for actionable solutions. 

In this article, we discuss the foremost common communication problems that occur
within the workplace and suggest ways to unravel them. Employers should invest time and
energy in creating clear communication methods for their employees, not just for themselves,
but also for other employees.
Solution to communication problems
If you are a manager, you will be able to help your team work more efficiently and as a
team by being more transparent with your employees. If you are working in the chain of
command and a member of staff needs you to deal with an issue, send a right way
message to the party concerned to induce a faster response.

Make sure to actively hear employees, especially before you begin a gathering or a
discussion. Passive listening can prevent employees from experiencing other views and
concepts that are present within the workplace. Even today in pandemic time it is
feasible and important to fulfil directly and with all restrictions of social distancing we
would like to possess such personal interaction.

If people do not seem to be inquisitive about what is being discussed, or do not have
the motivation to figure hard, they are more likely to ignore you or ignore your message.
A poorly written message can cause confusion, especially if they are unaware of
context. To create clear and coherent statements in your internal communications, use social
media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn which can facilitate your reach and make
your employees feel involved in their work and organization. The tips above facilitate building
a positive relationship between your employees and their employer, similarly because
the company is an entity.

Best practices of communication

If you are employed by a corporation that values, listens and respects you, you will see
how you will improve your internal communication by applying best practices,
techniques and employing a form of internal communication channels to create your
own brand into your work. For folks that have to approach your company with
messages, there are significant barriers working against effective today communication.
These are the highest barriers you would like to conquer to speak effectively through
digital channels. These digital barriers to communication can affect your ability to
present your point of view, furthermore because of the quality of your message. If you
use technology to speak with peers and colleagues, you should like to seek out ways to
use it, or maybe remove existing communication barriers. Technology helps to reduce
and overcome distance by enabling people to share information without having to meet
in the real world. It is vital to decide on right, intuitive and safe tools of communication and
implement them properly, as we want to simplify our duties in the long run. 

Especially today as we look for company as a whole, we need to adapt. It is not enough
to have tools like video conferencing, UC, remote access, and other software bridges to help us
work together. We need to understand people behind screens and bring them well
designed and adequate environment to cooperate and communicate effectively. Do not
get me wrong, choosing right tools is key for success, but it still needs to introduce and
maintain solutions properly. 

There is no final innovation in the area of communication, we still look for a more
professional, easy, and human supporting system to help us work, play and
communicate effortlessly. All existing tools need to be properly orchestrated and
deployed in an organization for best results. We all need to communicate in society, so
there is no more important topic. Information flow is key for right decision making.

Main mistake is to buy a solution and not implement it in the organisation. Even if all
have access to it, it does not mean that everybody can use software in the best possible
way. It is our responsibility to understand principles of communication, select targets
and properly introduce our organization to new way of working, adapting changes and
conducting our journey to internal and external communication. So, we use technology to
help humans create a safe, responsible, and effective environment to cooperate.

MCX is a partner of MIT EF CEE Spring 2021 acceleration program. Want to work with
them – explore what MCX is looking for.

SOURCE: MITEFCEE.ORG

11 Writing Strategies for Effective

Communication
By Indeed Editorial Team
February 23, 2021

Written communication skills are important in almost every job. Whether

you need to submit reports, correspond with clients via email, create
presentation slides, compose articles for your website or write something
longer and more in-depth, knowing how to communicate clearly and
effectively in writing can help you to perform well and advance in your
career. In this article, we explain 11 strategies you can use to write clear,
effective material regardless of the situation.

Related: Communication Skills: Definitions and Examples

Strategies for effective writing

If you want to improve your written communication skills, consider these
strategies to help you write clear and engaging material:

1. Read
2. Target your audience
 3. Use an outline
4. Open strong
5. Answer the 5 Ws & H
6. Be simple and direct
7. Choose strong verbs
8. Limit your adjectives and adverbs
9. Understand the three appeals
10. Consider using literary devices
11. Revise, edit and proofread

1. Read

One of the best ways to become a good writer is to become a good

reader. Frequent reading increases your vocabulary, exposes you to
examples of good writing and can teach you spelling, grammar,
punctuation and common writing techniques through repetition. The
habit of reading can help you consider what writing styles are effective,
what topics you might want to write about and how you can engage
effectively with an audience.

2. Target your audience

Perhaps the most important key to effective writing is to consider who

you are writing to before you begin. Spend some time identifying who
you want to reach through your writing. Your audience's opinion about
your subject matter, as well as their interests, age, personality, location
and education level will all affect how they think and feel about what you
communicate to them. Choose a writing style that will resonate with your
audience.

Related: The Key to Successful Speech Writing

3. Use an outline

Good writing has a clear purpose that is achieved through its beginning,
middle and end. Before you write out a full draft, make an outline of what
you want to communicate and the order you will discuss your points in so
that your writing will have a clear and easy-to-follow structure. Using this
outline as you write will help you to stay focused on your purpose and
communicate clearly.

To write a good outline, begin by brainstorming a list of everything you

might want to say in your writing. Then, look at the list and cross out
what might be unnecessary, irrelevant or not appropriate for your
audience. Take the items you have left and arrange them in a logical
order. This might be chronological, reverse chronological or in an
ascending order of importance.

Spending time composing an outline also helps you to identify how

strong your argument is and whether you need to research more support
for your topic or if you have enough information to present your idea
convincingly.

Related: 5 Steps for Great Business Writing (with Tips)

4. Open strong

The first sentence and first few paragraphs of any writing is the author's
opportunity to interest and engage the reader. An effective opening is
one that persuades the reader to keep reading. It is often helpful to write
the rest of your piece first, then go back to the beginning and write or
rewrite your introduction. Knowing how you expressed the body of your
message and the ending can it make easier to see how you should begin
or how you can create an interesting lead-in to the most important
information.

Some interesting openings include a surprising fact, an engaging

anecdote, establishing a personal connection or just a very well-written
sentence. What the best opening is for your writing depends on your
topic and the style of what you are writing, such as whether it is an
article, presentation, pitch, email or report.
5. Answer the 5 Ws and H

The five Ws and H are Who, What, Where, When, Why and How. Double-
checking that you answered all of these questions about your topic
throughout your writing helps to ensure that you have communicated
your subject fully and clearly. This is a strategy used by reporters and
journalists to give an audience the full details of a story.

6. Be simple and direct

One mistake that ineffective writers often make is trying to make their
language too flowery or worrying about using bigger words when a
smaller one works well. Aim for a style and diction that is simple, direct,
clear and concise in order to communicate your purpose well. Every word
and sentence in effective writing adds value to the whole piece.

It can be helpful to let your ideas flow and write everything that comes to
you as you compose a first draft, but then revise your piece by cutting
down your content to only the material that is necessary. Eliminate any
words and sentences that are repetitive, redundant or don't further the
purpose of the whole.

It's usually best to use a polite and conversational tone, avoiding any
jargon, cliches, idioms or slang.

7. Choose strong verbs

Since verbs are the actions in writing, they are arguably the most
important words to choose. Clear, effective writing uses clear, strong
verbs. As you write, consider what verbs you can use that present a vivid
image to the reader.

One element of using strong verbs is to write in active voice. In passive

voice, the subject receives the action, such as "The ball was thrown by
Jake," but in active voice, the subject performs the action, such as "Jake
threw the ball." Using active voice prevents wordiness and makes the
action of the sentence clear.
Related: 6 Universal Rules for Resume Writing

8. Limit your adjectives and adverbs

Adjectives and adverbs are the parts of speech that describe or modify
nouns and verbs, respectively. While these descriptive words can be
important and clarifying sometimes, a sentence that is cluttered with too
many modifiers distracts a reader from its main purpose. When editing
your writing, watch out for frequent adjectives and adverbs and consider
if your point might be clearer without them.

9. Understand the three appeals

Any serious consideration of how to write well involves studying the three
rhetorical appeals. Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and since most
writing seeks to persuade the reader of the truth of its subject,
considering how you can convince your reader is an important part of
effective writing. The three rhetorical appeals are:

 Ethos: This is the appeal to character. Writing that has strong ethos

is convincing because the author presents themselves as
trustworthy and credible. Using ethos includes showing your
expertise on the subject, communicating in a language and
structure that shows your knowledge and connecting with the
values of your audience.
 Logos: This is the appeal to logic or reason. When you use facts,
statistics, specific examples or other clear evidence to support your
topic, you use logos. Analyze whether the structure of your writing
—as well as the material you present—is reasonable and logical.
 Pathos: This is the appeal to emotion. An effective use of pathos
engages the emotions of the audience, causing them to feel that
they agree with you or want what you want. Pathos can be an
important tool in marketing.

Related: Guide to Submitting a Writing Sample

10. Consider using literary devices

Literary devices are techniques writers use to create a special effect. An

effective literary device can capture a reader's attention, be very
memorable or illustrate a point especially clearly. Similes, metaphors,
imagery, rhyming, repetition, alliteration, assonance and the inversion of
words or phrases are all literary devices that can enhance your writing
style.

11. Revise, edit and proofread

These steps are essential to good writing. Although sometimes used

interchangeably, revising, editing and proofreading are all individual
steps:

1. Revise: This is the next step after you write the first draft. Revising
is the process of looking at the macro view of your draft and
considering what substantial changes you need to make to improve
it. Substantial changes you should consider when revising include
adding material, removing material and rearranging the material as
well as determining whether your tone and details support your
overall purpose.
2. Edit: After revising, always edit your writing thoroughly. This is the
process of looking at the micro view by considering each sentence's
efficiency and identifying and correcting any errors in grammar,
punctuation and spelling.
3. Proofread: Proofreading is the final step before publishing or
submitting your work. It's similar to editing but involves going
through your work in even finer detail to ensure that it is
completely ready for an audience. Proofreading might involve
finding typos or adjusting formatting as well as double-checking for
any stylistic or grammatical errors.

Related Articles
SOURCE: INDEED.COM
11 Major Communication Problems in the
Workplace

Britt Velling
8 MI N R EA D
Share
Communication is a core leadership function. Besides giving and receiving information it
also creates a culture, allows employees to discuss and give feedback, boosts engagement,
lessens turnover, helps your employees to get an idea of the company vision and values,
supports change, manages crisis, and much more. Leave the communications without your
attention – and major problems in various fields are likely to arise.

This article will guide you through 11 key characteristics of poor communication, and give you a
solution for each problem. In addition to describing those serious communication concerns, we
will be going through some industry specific communication issues in this article, too.
Let’s have a look at eleven major internal communication concerns and why they matter so
much.

11 Communication Problems in the Workplace

1. Reactivity Instead of Proactivity

The need for proactive behavior usually rises during the times of changes, such as mergers,
acquisitions or crises. The word “reactive” in itself implies that the control of the events are in
someone else’s hands and you are already dealing with a communication emergency.

On the other hand, being proactive allows you to plan and make choices beforehand and adjust
your next messages based on the employee feedback. Lack of information leads to gossip, which
could add another crisis on top of the challenges you are already dealing with.

Effective communication means communicating before, during and after change, not just
updating staff members after everything has already happened. When you expect a change to
happen or see a crisis coming, ask your communication team to participate in the strategy or
project planning from the very first meeting.
2. Shadow Communications

Private messages and calls do have their time and place in business communication, however the
regular use of social media for business communication is a possible threat. If the company’s
management sets an example by sharing information via Facebook or WhatsApp chats, private
conversations between employees arise that are no longer controlled by the management. This
creates something called shadow communications.

However, conversations that happen in the shadow are ideal for the emergence of misinformation
and gossip. Sadly, information that is not accessible to HR or communications staff is also
extremely difficult to discredit.

Shadow communications can also rise when the tools given out to employees are unfit for the
job. Therefore, the solution here is very straightforward: establish official communication
channels and give out tools that actually cater for your employees’ needs.

3. Using the Wrong Tool

A large group email with no option for targeting, a notice board in the other side of the town that
needs to be manually updated, information screens with no option for two-way communication
and a non-anonymous suggestion box are just a few painful examples.
Right tools get you the result you want and do it in a timely manner. Use communication tools
that allow detailed targeting and create as little noise as possible. Choose modern solutions that
do not require physical presence. Enable two-way communication and guarantee everyone’s
privacy and security by providing anonymous ways to let you know of important problems.
Cater to the needs of those with no computer access, too.

4. Leaving Everything on Front Line Managers

Front line managers shouldn’t be responsible for being the sole messengers for their team
members, however, they often are. Rather, the company’s internal communication strategy
should support their already highly complicated role.

Instead of encouraging staff members to post their questions and worries through their direct
manager, provide them with a direct channel to reach the employee they need. Asking important
questions out in the public can help other employees, too, who might have had the same
questions, and will enable teamwork to get problems solved.

5. Not Listening Actively = Listening Passively

Some of put on background music for our workout sessions or play Netflix on the background
when hanging with friends. That’s passive listening, and it ain’t all bad in itself. But there is little
room for being passive in workplace communications.
Simply put: passive listening means hearing someone, not listening to them. Active listening
encompasses providing feedback on what you just heard and mirroring each other’s thoughts to
validate that you understood the other person correctly. It takes much more awareness of one’s
behavior and some actual listening skills.

Instead of preparing your argument in your head while the other person is talking, develop your
listening skills by being completely present and mirroring back. This way, you’ll remember the
content better, too.

6. Leaving Someone Out of the Loop

This often happens in front line and first line employee communication, where differences
between individual employees are huge, but are frequently looked past. Team members who
have no corporate emails or devices, who are situated in a remote location or happen to have a
toxic or passive manager become simply left out.

Although such employees might be just a phone call away, no internal communication manager
in a 500-strong company should ever waste their the time to inform the employees in such a
time-consuming manner.

How to invite every employee to the loop and avoid workplace communication problems?
Choose a mobile-first communication tool that provides access via both computers as well as
smartphones and tablets. Make sure that registering is possible via multiple ways: email, phone
number, QR code or PIN code. Only choose a provider that caters for all of your company
languages. Set up a few public tablet stands or allow people computer access. “Everyone” goes
further than “everyone in the office”.

7. Communicating One-Way Only

Workplace communication problems start with a naive assumption that employees understand
every piece of the information they are given and never have anything to ask. Nothing could be
further from the truth, and yet, some managers still go for a communication solution that offers
no option for questions, comments or feedback.

When choosing the right tools for communication in the workplace, go for solutions that boost
employee engagement. Give them a voice: via comments section, report form, suggestion box,
group discussions, post creation, feedback form, chat or pulse surveys. And leave some time for
questions at the end of the meetings, too.

8. Lacking Communication Standards

It’s okay not to have perfectly designed visuals with your communication. But try to avoid
sending out a big chunk of text and disregarding all the formatting options available. Same goes
for body language and eye contact: the main communicators in your work team should be
familiarized with the basics “Dos and Don’ts” at least.

If you notice that your CEO or another person might need some help with their email, written
communication skills or communication ideas, gently nudge them to the right direction – it’s
your unique skills that they have hired you for. Creating a standard for people in your business to
follow might be a good idea, but make it simple so it doesn’t kill someone’s initiative or put
them in a strict box.

9. Letting Positive Feedback Go Missing

Imagine a pastry factory worker who never receives the excellent feedback for the special order
he made. If there ain’t an easy way for the first line workers to share the positive customer
feedback with other employees ASAP, they won’t do it. Or the feedback will get lost in the many
emails between the multiple departments between those two people.

Create a channel in your internal communication channel that is meant for praise and good
feedback only. The benefits of that are threefold: the message will actually reach the person it is
intended to reach, all members in the team will get a boost of energy, and your business values
will clearly stand out.
10. Irregular or Seldom Communication

There is no such thing as not communicating. Staying silent or being inconsistent is

communication too, and it sends your people two clear messages: that you don’t know what you
are doing, and that your employees aren’t your priority.

If your schedule is tight, establish a strategic approach: plan internal communication ahead using
an Excel planner, schedule posts, engage other content creators and look into your IC analytics
for how your communication patterns affect those of your employees. If you keep your employee
relationships intact and active, chances are that when you really need to inform them ASAP, they
are there to listen.

11. Asking for Input & Not Following Up

Pulse surveys that ask employees to report on their well-being or satisfaction on a weekly basis
are great. But neither following back nor telling them what decisions their answers have
impacted leaves them wondering why you turned to them in the first hand. If you repeatedly ask
for employee input, but never provide feedback, expect their motivation to die out.

Rather, make sure to do a monthly overview of employee-raised issues and their impact and
provide overviews for eNPS, pulse or satisfaction survey results. This enhances business
transparency and boosts engagement.
Industry-Specific Communication Problems

When it comes to communication challenges in an organization, much depends on the specific

industry, too. For example, poor communication in a company with scattered workforce, such as
in logistics, vs in a company with a complicated reporting line, such as in retail, have its
differences. Let’s look at the main industries and its workplace communication challenges one
by one.

Logistics & Warehousing

Logistics companies face a great selection of communication challenges, as couriers or drivers

are on the road most of the time. Employees in such companies to be provided with mobile-first
solutions.

Back in the warehouse, different communication challenges arise, such as how to report urgent
safety concerns and getting feedback on how the fixing process is going.

Manufacturing

An average manufacturing company usually has several factories in various locations. And if
workplace communication means that news are distributed on leaflets or through front line
managers, it is safe to assume that different employees receive information at very different
times.

Another major issue that hinders productivity and employee engagement is knowing nothing
about the end-user of the product you make. Positive customer feedback is often published on
company social media or web page, but seldom sent back to its original creators.

Construction

Construction workers are scattered around various construction sites, meaning that they only see
their direct colleagues, but have no picture of the organization as a whole. Mobile internal
communication channels offer those employees an option to get to know the business as a whole,
whereas email or a written message on a printed leaflet simply enlarge the gap between them and
the organization.

Hospitality
Workplace communications in hospitality come with challenges encompassing both specific
units and day-to-day messages as well as bigger, company-wide troubles. First of all, issues
don’t reach the HQ or the senior management. Secondly, things are disorderly inside a hotel or
restaurant, too. Housekeeping and reception employees are out of sync and rooms that need to be
clean by 2 PM are untidy, whereas those of late arrivals are prepared first.

Retail & Wholesale

Mistakes in workplace communication often become evident in customer communications.

Stores might be missing information on discount deals or be not up do date with the rules of the
sales games launched by partners or brands. Or it could be prices or product info that are
missing.

Sadly, it’s vice versa, too: issues with clients or products reach HQ with huge delays, as emails
or static mobile-last intranets just won’t do the work for the hyper mobile retail employees.

Energy & Utilities

Scattered workforce in the energy and utilities sector makes developing working relationships
extremely difficult. Such employees might have never been to your office, and therefore, are
difficult to reach to brief on work tasks or hear back from. Information is delivered to them via
one-on-one conversations, so getting to know the staff never really happens.

How to Turn from Problems into Effective Communication?

As you probably already know by now, it all starts with the right tool: the one that’s inclusive,
mobile-first and affordable for a company with front line workers. The right tool will make it
much easier for you to avoid the aforementioned 11 problems, too.

There are a lot of different communication tools available to aid the HR and IC departments in
their pursuit of spreading and collecting information in the workplace. Dedicated HR tools such
as GuavaHR act as a springboard for information sharing, group initiatives, project discussion
and more to assist with lifted spirits and morale. Start communicating today!

Britt Velling
Customer Success Manager & Cofounder of GuavaHR

Britt is a psychology professional & communication fan with a background from journalism.


SOURCE: GUAVAHR.COM

10 Team Communication Problems and

Issues in the Workplace
2011-01-02
Resource Management
PAGE CONTENT
 Communication Problems and How to Fix Them
 Top Ten Communication Issues in the Workplace
 Reference & Resource
 This post is part of the series: Leadership Skills, Styles and
Tactics

Communication Problems and How to Fix Them

Leigh Branham, author of 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, says that
exit polls show people leave their jobs because there’s not enough
feedback or coaching. What’s another word for feedback?
Communication. “The root problems are managers' inattention to
people they supervise, irregular or nonexistent feedback, criticism
instead of praise, and other indicators that feedback isn’t valued or
valuable. Practices to improve coaching and feedback include
focusing it on new hires, setting up buddy or mentor programs with
experienced employees, and holding managers accountable for
feedback,” says Branham. Communication issues abound but can be
easily fixed.

Top Ten Communication Issues in the Workplace

There are many more than just ten problems with team
communication issues and the evils listed here may not make your
own list. But basically, these are the things that keep workforce
teams from operating efficiently or impact the team as a whole with
respect to morale. #1. Failure to Listen The inability to listen is a huge
problem. Often you will see co-workers interrupting speakers or
planning what they will say next instead of effectively listening. Other
distractions are when team members roll their eyes at comments or
just discount their worker’s premise; and still others just forget to pay
attention, they are too distracted or have a short attention span.
Obviously these all reflect on their failure to listen. Try This: Stress
the importance of listening before you begin a discussion. Talk about
how inattention keeps people from learning the different points of
view and that they wouldn’t like that happening to them. Suggest
that they focus on the person and the point they are making; to write
notes later; and to keep their own contributions brief and relevant.
Stress that they maintain eye contact with each speaker involved. Set
a great example. #2. Locale or Distance to Office Due to the high
incidence of globalization, distance learning, or freelance
contributions, many communications are conducted by email,
memo, or short video conferencing. When offices are located away
from its contributors, the detachment and inability to interact is a
huge communication barrier. Projects get stalled or are often
misunderstood. Try This: Conduct meetings on a regular schedule.
When the team assembles, touch base with all members to solicit
feedback. Try to schedule live interaction for important issues and do
not rely on emails or memos to do the job. When the conference call
or meeting is over, ask each participant to summarize the meeting’s
content and post it where all members can read it and agree. #3.
Culture Differences The office has become a melting pot stocked with
people of diverse backgrounds and cultural customs. People tend to
“hang” with others familiar to their culture or habits. When these
individual groups assemble, managers face the challenges of small
group dynamics and team communication issues. Try This: People
often cling to “like-minded” individuals or want to share space with
others in their culture. Try to mix them together or have assigned
seats to break them up. Make sure that during brainstorming
sessions, everyone is contributing—even if you have to walk the floor
to listen. If someone is reticent, ask them for feedback. The most
important thing however, is to repeat back what you’ve heard. Make
sure that your understanding is clear. By re-framing your
understanding, it allows others to know you are listening and fosters
communication. #4. Attitude & Ego Too often teamwork stops
because of someone’s ego. They refuse to admit they might be part
of the problem. Conflicts also arise because of inequity, and rather
than make the situation more equal, someone becomes defensive
instead of taking responsibility. Try This: The nature of some workers
may not be likely to change due to an attitude problem or ego.
Someone may think that a discussion doesn’t go their way and often
confuse cooperation with “winning an argument.” The team manager
should try to turn the conversation back to where it belongs, on the
issues at hand. Mutual understanding or coming to a resolution that
reflects everyone’s needs is often difficult and needs to be softened
with a consistent goal message, and making sure that your facial
expressions, gestures and tone of voice match the message.
Sometimes people just need to agree to disagree and follow the
program as directed. #5. Authority or Hierarchy Problems A worker
may feel reticent about approaching and talking to their manager.
Someone may be quietly stewing about an issue and never broach
the subject. Another may think that the discussion is too
personal. Try This: Try to segregate or make an appointment to
speak with the co-worker face-to-face if possible. Ensure that
confidentiality of the discussion is of utmost important to you. Set-up
the talk before problems escalate, if possible; and put questions in
the context of why you are asking. For example, “I would like to learn
more about the research on the needs of the client prior to
publication, is this a good time to ask some questions? Then suss out
the error and correct the problem. #6. Poorly Written
Communication Poorly written materials, incorrect syntax, bad
grammar and items out of context are all too frequent in interoffice
business publications and lead straight to confusion. Try This: Make
sure to proofread the copy and always have another set of
discriminating eyes check for mistakes. For important directives or
changes of any kind, run them by the best editor in the office. #7.
Gender Bias The battle over which gender makes the best leader is
taking the focus away from the real issue. Then too, sometimes
workers only want to relate to people of the same gender. Try
This: Don’t wait for an invitation to speak. Speak loudly and make
sure your viewpoints are expressed; establish eye contact, and own
your space. Never issue disclaimers, engage in demeaning yourself—
and avoid unwarranted apologies. #8. Focus or Listening
Problems Inability of employees to interpret the information or
provide adequate focus leads to team communication problems. The
gap in age, the hole left by a boomer generation retiring, and other
societal weaknesses make this communication barrier very real. Try
This: Make eye contact with the person and try to find some
common ground to initiate the discussion using the group focus
technique. Don’t acquiesce to “dumbing down” but use analogies to
help explain difficult principles. #9. Knowledge-Inadequate
Knowledge Group functions may suffer setbacks due to ineffective
education or lack of understanding or other inadequate knowledge
foundation. Try This: Occasionally the use of industry jargon is the
culprit and a simple question and answer “in plain English” will
correct the problem. Often a weakness in education becomes quite
apparent in annual performance reviews. Extra efforts will need to
be made to guarantee that all persons know and understand what
they are told. But some things even additional training won’t
satisfy. #10 Cliques, Groups and Friendships A tight and exclusive
grouping of individuals who bond together for one reason or another
can be problematic if they are not objective. Try This: Avoid any
character reference or label and don’t try to analyze what you think
‘they know.’ It is too easy to fall into faulty perceptions. Stress that in
a business environment all workers need to try to assimilate so that
differences can be minimized and that with cooperation, the task at
hand will move quicker and with less angst. Don’t be afraid to seek
assistance from people who demonstrate effective communication
skills.

Reference & Resource

Books: The Communication Problem Solver: Simple Tools and Techniques for
Busy Managers, Nannette Rundle Carroll (AMACOM Div American
Mgmt Assn, 2009) 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave, Leigh Branham
(AMACOM 2005)

SOURCE: BRIGHTHUBPM.COM/RESOURCE MANAGEMENT