Communication Breakdown at Work:
Four Point Action Plan  

Communication breakdown at work is one common element that comes up in almost every employee needs assessment or attitude survey. This is a source of frustration to managers who believe they communicate well. Here are four steps to help you repair communication breakdown at work. 

1.   Find out what the problem really is. Three people could complain about communication and, without your realizing it, each could mean something different. Perhaps one means he doesn’t understand the procedures manual; another wants to hear more from management about how the system works; yet another never receives feedback from his supervisor on his performance—and there could be many more. You can’t take effective action until you know where the gap is.

Action step: Ask your own people if they feel a lack of communication, and if so, what they specifically mean.

2.   Your communication system could be well designed, but still leave a gap. That’s because the problem is not the system, but the communication skills of the people using the system. There’s a communication chain in place for instances where action can’t be taken by the person who discovers a safety problem. But if even one person along the line misunderstands the message he receives, or doesn’t make his own message clear to the next person—the whole thing falls apart.

Action step: Review actual communication chain activity to find potential weak spots.

3.   It’s a myth that communication comes naturally to everyone. Communication in the workplace involves specific skills: writing, reading, speaking, listening, actions and behaviour, body language, tone of voice, persuasion, understanding. A team or work unit that doesn’t communicate doesn’t produce. How these skills are used varies from one job to another, one company to another, one workplace to another—but they are essential in every circumstance. You need to train your people, on an ongoing basis, so that communication skills become second nature to them, which will not only raise morale, but also productivity. Everybody wins.

Action step: Institute communication training programs based on specific needs.

4.   When you ask people to change the way they do things, or to learn new skills, you have a much better chance of success if you help them understand WHY the change or new skills are necessary. Particularly, if they can see the value to themselves, they will take a much more positive view of the training.

Action step: Illustrate first the WHY, then train on the HOW.

These steps can be crucial to your business or department's success, because while there is a communication gap, people and organizations can never reach their full potential.