What Are the Costs, Losses, and Consequences of Poor Workplace Communication and What Should You Do?

What Are the Costs, Losses, and Consequences of Poor Workplace Communication and What Should You Do?

POOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION:  Ineffective, inefficient, or just plain bad workplace communication is something we have all endured. Your co-worker does not understand what you said because they do not listen, your boss avoids conflicts so nothing is resolved, or someone is emailing disrespectful “jokes” to your group. Good communication is rare and almost everyone thinks they are good at it!

COSTS, LOSSES AND CONSEQUENCES:  What are the soft and hard costs of bad communication? David Grossman reported in “The Cost of Poor Communications” that a survey of 400 companies with 100,000 employees each cited an average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees.

WHAT MAKES UP THESE COSTS?  In most organizations, it is lost productivity, a lack of focus, loss of respect for leaders, poor morale, more turnover, and perhaps even claims for bullying or harassing behavior. Turnover alone, for example, costs most organizations at least one and one-half times the amount of the departing employee’s salary.

WHY DO THESE COSTS OCCUR?  Research shows that these costs escalate because most groups have failed to educate their people about communications skills and have failed to create systems to establish and maintain communication norms.

What Should You Do?

Learn and model good skills:  As a leader, you need to take the time to learn and model good communication skills. We all spend a big part of every day trying to communicate our thoughts, our ideas, and our directions, yet we spend very little time learning how best to improve our skills.

Insist That Your Staff Do Likewise:  Make sure that you provide opportunities for your people to acquire effective workplace communication skills and mandate that they use what they have learned.

Monitor Electronic Communication: Even if your people are working remotely, they cannot escape the need to communicate well electronically. All the same problems with poor, inefficient, and even abusive in-person communication can manifest even more seriously with online communication. Make sure that your people understand that the same rules apply.

For more information about this topic, go to Lynne’s Monday Memos.

What Do You Think?

Is politics an issue in your workplace? Call or write us: 303-216-1020 or email: Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com