Why Can't We Talk?

Communication matters. 

When you boil it down, all organisations are just networks; interlocking relationships – individual people in pursuit of (hopefully!) shared goals, aims or objectives.

No desk is an island, not matter how big or deep the metaphorical moat around them might sometimes feel, but when things go wrong or mistakes are made it is common to hear ‘miscommunication’ being singled out as the diagnosis.

But perhaps something else needs to be said here: that communication – or a lack of it – is more likely to be a symptom than a cause. What needs to be addressed is the underlying problem – or problems?

The following are just a few examples – we would be here all day if we tried to include them all!

Unclear Goals or Roles

If an employee is unclear about what is required or expected of them it is more a matter of luck than judgement that their work will meet the organisation’s (or their Manager’s) satisfaction.

If two people both think the other is responsible for something, chances are it will A) not be done, B) be done twice, but in different ways, or C) trigger disputes that could easily have been avoided.

An organisation – or manager – that can’t define responsibilities and set clear, unambiguous goals is unlikely to see them accomplished.

You can get what you want without asking for it, but that’s luck, not leadership.

Poorly defined Structures and Processes

If reporting lines are blurred, or teams have two (or more) ‘managers’ who aren’t able to co-ordinate or align their expectations, successful outcomes are unlikely.

Where a multi-disciplinary or cross-functional effort is required to achieve your objectives, you absolutely have to be sure that the hierarchy and lines of communication are clear. If you don’t, silo behaviours will encourage teams to work against or without each other, rather than together.

Your organisation needs every employee to have clarity – of purpose, of process and of progress.

Poor Leadership

Leadership is a responsibility, not a status.

It shouldn’t need explaining, but to lead is to set the direction: people’s willingness and ability to follow is largely dependent on knowing where they are being led.

If your organisation’s leaders are indecisive, if they fail to define a direction or provide clarity when it is sought, or they are unable (or worse, unwilling) to communicate their visions and strategies, employees will be left confused and floundering.

Their experience of poor communication and inadequate – or deliberately unhelpful – responses to requests for clarification are unlikely to inspire them to continue to communicate upwards.

Cultural Misunderstandings

In an increasingly globalised, multi-national and multi-cultural world, understanding across cultures is absolutely vital.

Attention to detail in one culture may be interpreted as micro-management in another. Even small incidents of personal manners can have an unexpected impact, if they differ from the local culture: an example from a UK citizen working in the Netherlands, taken from a Daily Telegraph article, shows how simple differences can cause big impacts:

“Being stopped by a Dutch airport official to be told that you look “so much better than your passport photo” becomes an amusingly phrased compliment. Numerous female friends have described going into work without make-up and immediately being told they look ill or tired. In the UK this would be a social faux pas, here in Amsterdam it is shrugged off as (you guessed it) Dutch directness.”