Is your internal comms broken?
5 warning signs your internal communication needs help
Internal communication usually breaks quietly before it breaks loudly. You may think it's a people problem, but consider checking for a clarity problem first. In my experience, unclear or inconsistent messaging often shows up looking like confusion, duplicated work, low trust, and culture issues.
We send so many emails, but still - no one knows what’s going on. Employees keep saying “I didn’t know about that,” even after multiple emails and posts. That gap means messages are getting lost in noise, not that people don’t care. Leaders need to uncover the best way to reach team members where they are. This might mean videos, stand-up meetings, digital boards in addition to email messages.
Everyone hears a different story. Different leaders describe the same change in completely different ways. When stories don’t match, employees fill the gaps. Teams feel excluded if they heard something different than their peers. It's critical to keep things consistent across teams, shifts, and locations.
Busy people, misaligned work. Teams work hard, but projects still miss the mark or need rework because expectations weren’t clear up front. Miscommunication is closely linked to wasted time and duplicated effort. Make sure everyone knows what success looks like. When you start with the end in mind, people can make decisions based on the most efficient way to arrive at the same end-state. Give leaders a contact (or place) to go with questions and for clarification.
The rumor mill is faster than leadership. No kidding! People hear about changes first from chats, texts, or social media, rarely from leaders. When you don't share and there is transformational change planned - your team knows something is up. Don't let them make up the rest. Delayed or partial information from leadership quickly erodes trust and fuels anxiety. Plus, what we imagine is almost always worse than the reality.
People are quiet… but not okay. Meetings are well attended (maybe mandatory) and there aren't many questions, but side conversations are happening and frustrations are high. When teams are afraid to speak up, people stop caring. They do less work, they become more frustrated and they start looking for other jobs.
If even two of these feel uncomfortably familiar, you’re not alone, AND your issues are fixable. A focused 30‑day Comms Reset can move your organization from noise and second‑guessing to clearer messages, better alignment, and a healthier culture.
If a template to reset your comms in 30 days is something you are interested in - click here & I'll send it your way.
