Internal communication - the top 10 errors

Ensuring efficient, effective and appropriate communication is one of management’s greatest bugbears, so it helps to know what our most common mistakes are and how to address them.

Read on to find out...

1. Reliance on email

Hiding behind email has long since caused unnecessary disputes. But in a culture that relies on forms of electronic communication, it can seem revolutionary to suggest resorting to such outdated methods as telephone or face to face meetings.

The key is to help employees appreciate that email is a valuable and indeed critical tool for how we communicate, but it cannot replace other methods of communication and must be used appropriately. It is especially important to recognise that e-mail, whilst sent immediately, may not be read immediately, so don’t use it for something unexpected and urgent.

Work with employees to identify the times when email impedes effective communication. For example, when a complex issue has resulted in a long email trail that is likely to lead to misunderstandings and inevitable recriminations; when line managers are simply ‘copied in’ to emails on contentious matters, with no prior explanation; or when emails contain lengthy text that would be better suited to a centrally shared document for reference.

Knowing the whys and wherefores of poor communication will help employees to recognise best practice and use it in their daily emailing.

2. Cloak and dagger methods

We often talk about the transparency of personnel information, but openness extends much further than just absence and appraisal data.

For example, honesty about business performance is essential in preventing rumours that can lead to low morale, conflict and in extreme cases, job losses. Therefore it’s important that business leaders hold regular briefing sessions with employees to communicate financial performance and other business-critical information. Not only does this demonstrate trust in your employees, it also places an emphasis on the employee as much as the business leader to impact ongoing performance.

3. Over-use of jargon

Without resorting to pot psychology, it’s fair to say that there are very few tactics less ‘playground’ than over-use of jargon. In the business world it’s one of the most commonly used techniques to establish an in-club and thereby exert superiority over others. Think it sounds a little juvenile? Well that’s because it is. Jargon is often no more than a tool of divisiveness, used to bamboozle and belittle those around us.

Of course we all use jargon to some degree. For example, phrases like ‘bottom line’, ‘KPI’ or ‘workforce intelligence’ are bound to pepper the business vernacular at some point. But it’s when conversations or documents become so jargon-heavy that they lose some of their meaning that it becomes a problem.

Again, working with employees to encourage greater clarity in communication, is essential to making jargon less integral to your culture. That doesn’t mean removing jargon altogether, but try to make it clear that we should select words based on how helpful they are to the audience. Say what you mean.

4. Using 20 words when 2 will do

Brief, to-the-point communication has far greater impact than verbose documents/presentations. Avoid including information that obscures rather than aids meaning.

Brevity is essential for effective communication. Employees experience pressures that place considerable demands on their time so the simpler your internal documents, the more likely it is that they will be read and understood.

This applies to everyone: ask people to use bullet points and other tools that make information easy to read. Only include the essentials and avoid language that may be confusing or off-putting to others.

5. Over-use of meetings

Like over-emailing, a reliance on meetings can be just as damaging for communication. While meetings are an invaluable means of improving communication, they are only useful when conducted well. For this reason it’s helpful to bear in mind the following:

Outcomes– what do you want to achieve from the meeting? This doesn’t mean writing out long lists of objectives, but know roughly what you want the outcome to be -helping everyone to keep to schedule and focus on the task at hand.

Who you invite – do you really need to involve everyone from the finance director through to the newest telemarketer? Getting the right people on board is vital to keep everything on track. Should others need updating, identify your key individuals and ask them to cascade messages accordingly.

Duration – it might make us feel terribly useful, but long meetings are notoriously dull and can be criminally ineffective. Do bear in mind that attention spans vary and that seemingly endless meetings can drain attendees of creativity and resourcefulness. Ask colleagues to be considerate in their meeting planning – factoring in plenty of breaks to keep people energised and on top of their game.

Give appropriate information – make sure you give attendees plenty of notice and say when, where and what the agenda is. This helps everyone to prepare appropriate materials and consider the points to be discussed – ensuring a more productive outcome.

Insist on good time keeping – don’t be shy about punctuality. If people are late, start without them. Setting a professional scene is imperative for preventing dilly dallying and other such time-wasting activities. Equally, avoid over-running on allocated time slots and lunch breaks etc.

6. Keeping the brand at arm’s length

How you communicate internally should always reflect your brand. So it’s a wonder that so many organisations keep the brand at a distance from employees – often resulting in attitudes and behaviour that aren’t ‘on-brand’.

That’s not to say that this is always intentional. In fact, we employ marketers and brand experts to worry about the details of brand development, right? Well not entirely. Your brand people will focus on external communication of the brand and other brand building exercises, but unfortunately internal brand communication can often fall by the wayside. And unless you’re lucky enough to benefit from the expertise of an internal comms team, there can often be some dissent over where this responsibility lies.

The truth is that branding and marketing teams need to work with HR professionals and senior managers to ensure effective brand communication. For employees to truly live and breathe the brand, they need to gain a full understanding that directly impacts every which way they communicate.

7. Allowing bad manners

It may sound simplistic, but enforcing good manners can make a world of difference to the way that we communicate. Consider that in its most extreme form, bad manners can be interpreted as bullying - leading to disciplinaries, grievances and in some cases, legal action.

Understandably, changing such a fundamental aspect of human behaviour may seem an insurmountable task. However, relatively straightforward measures, such as incentive schemes that focus on the importance of treating colleagues with the same courtesy that is usually afforded to customers, can be extremely helpful in smoothing internal communication.

8. Lack of cultural clarity

While many people have a vague notion of culture, they often fail to live up to expectations due to a lack of guidance.

Cultural tools, such as guiding principles, are often effective, both in crystallising cultural expectations and promoting better communication. Whether honesty, innovation or even passion – your employees will benefit from an articulation of all your business principles.

Again, think about ways in which you can incentivise your employees to demonstrate guiding principles in their everyday communication, be that awards or other forms of recognition.

9. Culturally inconsistent dress codes

How we dress is one of the subtlest but also most powerful ways that we communicate. So enforcing a dress code that runs contrary to your culture can result in a lack of cultural integrity that creates cynicism amongst employees.

For example, in businesses that foster familial relationships, formal dress will naturally create greater distance between colleagues. Likewise, in firms that rely on a more formal environment, such as legal or financial organisations, a casual dress code could be confusing.

Equally, maintaining a certain standard of dress across departments and management structures is important to communicate equality amongst employees.

10. Incorrect use of technology

Too much, too little, or simply the wrong technology, can seriously hamper the way that we communicate.

From document sharing centres like SharePoint, through to basic intranet sites, most companies use technology to improve internal communication. However use of technology for technology’s sake, without proper implementation or training, will do little to address communication issues.

For example, online HR systems can be extremely valuable in improving communication between HR, line managers and employees. However without careful consideration of required features, phased implementation and even an element of branding, systems can soon become redundant – at great cost to the business.

We can’t be responsible for every IT system that comes our way, but where we can, we should emphasise our communication objectives. How will the system improve the way that we communicate and how can we influence this with astute and timely roll-out?

There are never any guarantees, but maintaining your focus usually pays off in the end.

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