These problems are pretty much everywhere
Communication is more important then ever before in helping an organization function smoothly and be successful in its mission. That doesn’t mean more communication more often, which can just make existing bad habits more ingrained. It means making sure that our communication practices are efficient, effective, and appropriate. Here are some problems a lot of companies need to fix.
1. Using email for everything
We have so many tools and platforms for organizational communication. This allows the use of the right tool for the situation. But too many companies – way too many – use email for everything, resulting in bloated inboxes along with missed and unread messages.
2. Cross-cultural misunderstandings
Many companies are already siloed by team or division, but the rise in multi-national locations and clients add geographical silos to the mix. Even if your colleague in another country speaks English there may be big differences in assumptions and nuance. Companies need to develop cross-cultural awareness, improve their skills in managing virtual and distributed teams, and embracing a global mindset.
3. Poor distribution
With the rise of virtual teams it is increasingly important to ensure that the people who need to be informed are informed. You can’t rely on cascading down the chain to be effective – or even to happen at all. You can’t assume a broadcast email or a post on the intranet will be seen by the right audiences. New types of feedback mechanisms need to be in place to monitor whether communication distribution is working well or not.
4. Cyber security
Hackers often find the easiest way into a company is through normal communication channels. They use email or texting or phone calls for spoofing and phishing attacks. These attacks are successful far more often than they should be, which means your people need thorough training on how to spot hostile messaging from bad agents.
5. Distractions
There is simply too much white noise in the modern enterprise. Email, voice mail, instant messaging, internal and external social media, webinars, team calls, town halls, newsletters… It is a non-stop deluge of information all screaming for the time and attention of your staff. How much of it is actually relevant to the recipient? How can the irrelevant stuff be filtered out?