When comms issues don't look like comms issues - part 2

Earlier this week I wrote an article that touched on some of the symptoms that show up at work that might not scream “we have a communication problem”. Because I’ve been at this for more than a minute, I know the solutions often lay in communication improvements.

Nobody opens their AI and says “how can I communicate to my team better?” What they actually search for is “how can I stop my people from quitting – I’ve lost my best people this year” or “We just updated our CRM, how can I get my sales team to input their customer details?”

You can check out the first and second topics here, keep reading as I wrap up my thoughts.

Third

What do we do about low engagement and morale issues? Teams rely on engagement surveys to capture the official thoughts from their people. These surveys can uncover low morale, lack of trust, or feeling undervalued. It’s easy to blame perks (or lack thereof), pay, or leadership style for these symptoms. Something I know - people feel better about their role when they are included & informed in projects, when they see leaders listening & acting on employee feedback, and when they are allowed to disagree without being penalized (overtly or in the shadows).

How you share information matters just as much. When a project or initiative has a clear communication plan in place, it’s so much easier to share updates and details. When a timeline is established and shared – it’s clear to see when deliverables are slipping and stop the slide. Too often project leaders are aware of these things – but the general project team is not.

Think about how hard it is to know what is going on when you can’t see the bigger picture. One day of delay might not seem important to the worker putting the report together, but when she sees how many people are literally waiting for her report to keep things moving – she’s more likely to get it done on time. That’s where communication and collaboration can move the needle.

About 33% of HR managers believe poor communication is at the center of most morale problems. When employees aren’t sure what’s happening, why decisions are made, or how changes affect them, they fill the gaps with speculation. Leaders label these people as overly negative and resistant to change instead of looking at leadership hoarding the details . When these areas are ignored, they grow. If your team continues to feel out of the loop – your best people will leave – and they’ll leave first. (source: Niagara Institute)

Their departure will, no doubt, create a different problem that could have been avoided with a little self-awareness and some better planned communication steps.

The final area I’m going to address is mistakes, rework, and waste – when it happens because of poor communication.

Leaders see mistakes, missed deadlines, rework, and quality issues and immediately focus on training, process, or technology fixes. These areas might need to be fixed, but there is a case for looking at communication first. Sometimes the output is ok. Looking at directions that aren’t being followed, assumptions made, and constraints can shine a light on needing better communication (and fewer assumptions).

When people misunderstand instructions, expectations, or requirements, leading to preventable mistakes and errors, who is really to blame? In high‑risk industries like healthcare, miscommunication has been linked to roughly 80% of serious medical errors. In corporate environments, this translates to wrong configurations, mispriced deals, and compliance misses (source: Niagara Institute). Also according to the Niagara Institute, estimates show teams lose almost a full workday each week because of poor communication. These costs show up as operational overhead or project delays rather than bad communication.

With 25 years in the comms world, I've seen what good comms can do for a project, an initiative, morale, and worker loyalty. I've also seen the real pain that shows up when it's done poorly. Bad comms doesn't announce itself. It shows up disguised as something else: rework, QA problems, customer churn, employee burnout.

Every one of those starts as a symptom. Leaders Google "how to reduce turnover" or "why is my team resisting this change" or "how to fix low productivity." They're treating the symptoms. The infection is bad comms. There's a real cost when leaders don't get this right, and it's not just a line item. It's the whole organization feeling it.

If any of this sounds like your team right now, let's talk. Book a free discovery call with me and we'll pinpoint exactly where your messaging is breaking down, before it costs you.