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Overcoming communication barriers to truly connect with employees
Good communication is important for mobilising, inspiring and directing employees and is equally recognised by senior managers and front-line team members. However, despite having better technologies and communication frameworks, internal communication does not seem to be improving.
From over half a million employees surveyed by Insync, less than half are satisfied with internal communications.
It is important to understand the difficulties behind effective communication. There are multiple barriers that make it harder to communicate. Some of the most common challenges include:
- Distance and mobility – having numerous and remote locations and more working from home makes it harder to forge strong connections with employees
- Perceptions of senior leadership – when the senior leadership team is not aligned around a clear vision and strategy or when there is a disconnect between what is said and what is done, employees have less trust in the messages they receive
- Noise – the proliferation of communication media means that employees are typically inundated with irrelevant and inconsistent messages
How to make effective communication work
The key to connecting with employees is overcoming these communication barriers to cut through the noise.
Fundamentally, communication practices need to be tailored to the organisation’s unique culture and context. Insync’s proven method outlined below can help to enhance organisational communication to cut through the noise.
A. Assess
Start by considering how effective your current communication practices are. An employee engagement survey will tell you how well you are getting your messages across.
B. Align
After understanding the current state of play, the next step is to develop and implement a well-considered communications plan and approach.
C. Activate
Assign responsibility to leaders to own and manage communications within and across teams based on your communication framework.
Effective communication builds trust, connection and engagement. Informed employees are more aligned, engaged, productive and innovative. Whereas, uninformed employees are misaligned, siloed, uninspired and ultimately unproductive.
Read our full report and framework for assessing, aligning and activating communication practices
Included in the report is a practical worksheet to help guide your assessment of your current communication practices and channels, and to build an effective communication framework and approach for your organisation.
Watch the video
Insync’s Senior Consultant Sophie Owen and Senior Manager Emily Dimmack, sit down to discuss the above paper.
Run time: 20 minutes.
