Communication is vital for building deeper connections between your employees and your organization. So if it’s not as good as it could be, it could be costing you both in terms of employee engagement and the bottom line.

Employees who aren’t kept informed and engaged end up feeling undervalued and resentful. This can make goals harder to achieve, damage relationships and trust in management and hamper overall business performance.

These recent statistics show that, for many businesses, there’s still work to do to resolve internal communication challenges:

• Miscommunication costs US businesses $12,506 per employee each year – Grammarly’s 2023 State of Business Communication report

• 49% of US employees say poor communication decreases productivity – Forbes’ State of Workplace Communication in 2023

• One in three UK line managers doesn’t feel equipped to lead conversations with their team about what’s happening across their organization – IC Index 2023 Report

So how can corporate comms be improved in workplaces? Below, we highlight 10 of the most common causes of problems in internal communications and offer solutions on how to address them.

Many companies with internal communication problems have them because they withhold important information from employees. A lack of transparency about what’s going on in an organization often means people turn to gossip to get their information, which invariably leads to miscommunication.

What can be really damaging is if workers find out about key decisions or significant news from external sources such as social media as this can cause resentment and a breakdown in trust.

To stay in control of the narrative, always keep employees informed when you have a major announcement to make, and explain your reasoning when making decisions. If you can’t be transparent about a particular subject, discuss why without going into specific details. Clear, authentic communication is essential to maintain trust between employees and senior leaders.

Problems can arise if the message you’re trying to get across isn’t fully understood. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including:

• The sender not being clear about what they want to say

• The receiver not caring or paying attention to what’s being said

• Language barriers and cultural differences causing crossed wires

Lack of clarity in messaging, expectations and goals can lead to confusion, misunderstanding and frustration.

To avoid confusion, make sure your communication is clear, concise and consistent. Use plain language, avoid jargon and try not to use slang terms that people from different geographical locations or backgrounds might not understand.

One of the biggest internal communication challenges facing today’s workforce is information overload. Instant messaging, emails, social media posts, memos, company newsletters – we’re bombarded with information all day every day.

While this can be helpful for collaboration, it can also be overwhelming, distracting and stressful. We can end up with too many irrelevant messages on too many different apps and platforms, and vital information can get lost in all the noise. In fact, 82% of US employees say they miss important information because it gets buried in stacks of emails in their inbox.

There are a few ways to stop information overload from clogging up your internal communication systems. Having a mobile communication tool which can be used as an information hub, as well as for messaging and meetings, can avoid a confusing proliferation of tools and apps. Another is to be selective about who non-essential information is shared with. Before sending a message, think about who really needs to receive it.

When employees are left in the dark about how they’re doing at their job, they’ll continue to make the same mistakes and won’t feel reassured that they’re on the right track. Feedback is crucial for an employee’s development. In fact, 63% of US workers say they want more immediate ‘in the moment’ feedback on their work, rising to 74% for those aged 18-34.

A by-product of this is not enough positive feedback. Some managers never show appreciation for a job well done, yet are all too quick to criticize when something goes wrong. Lack of quality feedback can lead to frustration and disillusionment, eventually causing good people to quit.

Team leaders and line managers should have regular Q&A sessions with their staff where they can share feedback and address concerns. Always try to start on a positive note so employees don’t feel like they’re under constant attack. When you need to give negative feedback, make sure it’s constructive and not personal. Be specific about what needs to improve, and listen to the other person’s perspective.

While too little feedback is a problem, so too is feedback overload. Constant evaluation, both positive and negative, can make employees feel overwhelmed and judged. Someone experiencing feedback fatigue will start to question everything they do, to the point that they’re incapable of making a decision without first seeking their manager’s approval. Or they simply check out altogether.

Striking the right balance is key to avoiding feedback fatigue. Before you give feedback, be clear about what you want to achieve and why. For example, is it to improve performance, solve a problem or develop a skill? Also, make time to have a quality feedback session, free from interruptions or distractions, rather than constantly drip-feeding bits of information.

Some people aren’t comfortable voicing their concerns or sharing their ideas in public. This isn’t necessarily because they want to keep their views to themselves. It’s more to do with a deep-rooted fear of looking foolish in front of other people, insulting co-workers or losing the respect of managers. When employees don’t feel safe speaking their minds, they won’t contribute.

Your aim should be to create a culture of psychological safety in your workplace. You can start by making it clear to employees that there won’t be any fallout from sharing their ideas, and don’t be afraid to admit you don’t have all the answers yourself. Displaying your own vulnerabilities can encourage others to share more too.

Hold team building activities for employees to get to know one another better. This will help build trust so people feel more comfortable communicating with others.

While remote work offers an array of benefits, it also poses a number of internal communication problems. These include:

• Lack of human interaction between team members

• Less opportunity to pick up on verbal and behavioral cues

• Team-mates working at different times in different regions of the world

• Employees not knowing where to find the information they need.

• Poor internal comms can cause remote employees to feel lonely, isolated, out of the loop and unappreciated.