In this guide, you’ll learn four signs of poor team communication to look out for and how to fix them.
In the end, you’ll have all the tools you need to nip poor communication in the bud — and all the consequences that come from it.
What you’ll find in this guide is based on research on what experts in team communication shared as tell-tale signs of looming or existing poor team communication.
Let’s dive in.
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How can you identify poor communication in the workplace?
Here are the top five signs of poor team communication and ways to solve them.
1. A flood of communication
A flood of communication can take different forms. For example, overwhelming your team members with facts, figures, and stories.
When does a flood of communication usually happen?
It normally happens when you or your leadership need to communicate urgently. So, they quickly dump large amounts of information (often unstructured).
As a result, your team members may:
- Forget what was communicated (which defeats the purpose).
- Find it difficult to prioritise assignments or tasks.
- Feel stressed out.
You can address a flood of information in a few ways:
- Put your information in order of priority if you’re short on time.
- Communicate the three most important takeaways and specific action steps.
- Speak in person rather than via email, chat, or other written forms.
2. A lack of information sharing
This one is on your team members.
If you realise that your employees do not share information to boost each other’s productivity, there might be a problem of trust.
And you need to watch out.
Reasons for undersharing could include:
- Self-interest: A team member may keep personal information secret to gain an advantage on a particular project or earn a promotion.
- Cultural reason: Some team members come from different work cultures that may or may not align with their current team.
How can you fix this?
Initiate frequent team discussions to facilitate communication. In these discussions, you should include the following:
- Communicating goals and establishing a team purpose.
- Identifying and resolving any business, interpersonal or task-related issues.
- Reducing communication barriers when collaborating virtually.
3. Different personality conflicts
According to Janet Zaretsky, Co-Founder of Impact Speaking Lab:
“People working together on teams will have conflicts. Their performance will suffer. When they do not resolve their differences and are holding onto resentments.”
We discussed it in our article on HR and internal communications.
Janet says you should be alert to the following signs:
- Missing deadlines
- Gossiping
- Forming clans
- Complaining
You can consider administering a personality assessment to help your team members understand their styles and temperaments. You can also make them understand others’ temperaments.
4. Instances of finger-pointing
Serenity Gibbons, Principal at Diversity and Purpose, says, “If your team members often blame one another for missed deadlines, poor results, or cultural issues, they are not communicating effectively within the company.”
Gibbons recommends asking each team member when they felt others let them down.
“You will usually hear about instances when they wish their coworkers had informed them of changes or needs before time-sensitive tasks became urgent,” says Gibbons.
An easy way out of this issue is to encourage your employees to use instant communication tools, like Talk Magnet, among other team communication app for enterprises and SMEs.
Smooth communication within your team will decrease blame-shifting and increase accountability among your team members.
