The Effects of Poor Communication in the Workplace

Summary:

            In the video produced by Jotform, Noel walks the viewers through the effects of poor communication in the workplace. Many teams struggle to have effective communication. Unfortunately, around 60 – 70 percent of employees and managers say they have an issue with communication between each other. The staff often feel like they are not given proper direction, whereas the managers do not feel comfortable communicating/directing their employees. So, what are the effects of this?

-        Unhappy clients

-        Damaged employee trust

-        Less effective collaboration

Noel discusses that companies spend more time trying to communicate and manage their external sources to keep a good client relationship, that they forget to communicate with their internal sources. He tells a story of a business that was releasing information to the public but had not discussed this with their staff. So, when clients called asking questions, the staff were not prepared to answer. This caused a lot of frustration and damaged client relationships. This also had an effect on the employee’s trust. They could no longer trust their company to give them the tools they needed to succeed. He goes on to say that very few people are working on their own. In a company you are collaborating with others, and you cannot collaborate well without communication.

Noel goes on to explain that you need diversity and inclusion to improve workplace communication. Companies will need to create psychological safety. This way, employees will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas. Creating a space for inclusion will help the business get new and unique ideas from individuals who may not usually speak up and share. Lastly, Noel shares that if your company can create effective communication, they will be able to accomplish company goals. “Communication is a two-way street” (Jotform, 2022). Managers need to ensure they are giving information to their staff but also should be getting feedback as well. Noel recommends using a survey to get the best and most honest feedback from your employees.

My Opinion:

            I can relate to the story Noel shared. In my experience, managers will get information about the business, or a product and it will only be shared with the employees who are working at that time. Then when shift change happens, the employees are left in the dark about important information. This ends in sharing misinformation with customers. Often times, the employee will get in trouble for sharing wrong information when the manager should be taking accountability for leaving their employees out of the loop. When confronted, the managers usually say that they thought someone else would let us know or that we should’ve just known. This would be miscommunication on both our parts as the employee can as about any new product information at the start of shift. There is a whiteboard in our lunch room that is now used to write any important news, which has been helpful.

Article Link: 

The Effects of Poor Communication in the Workplace - YouTube

Jotform. (2022, January 12). The effects of poor communication in the Workplace. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_sHPJs0ekU&t=3s