Impact of Communication Gap on Business Bottomline

“No matter what job you have in life, your success will be determined 5 percent by your academic credentials, 15 percent by your professional experiences, and 80 percent more by your communication skills.” ­– Dr. Daniel Milstein

Communication is the core of everything we do every day in life. In a workplace setting, communication is the ultimate key to deliver right and clear information to both employees and business clients. With a good conversation, a business can run smoothly and job desks can be done well. Communication also provides a mechanism for building and strengthening relationships at work that if you fail to establish effective communication, this will make your business tangled in chaos.

A study by the EIU showed that poor communication has a tremendous impact on the workplace. For example, unclear instructions from superiors, pointless meetings, and other stressors can snowball into larger issues with widespread impacts on your business. 44 percent surveyed respondents cited that communication barriers lead to a delay in completing projects. Other consequences of communication gap include decreased morale, missed performance goals and lost sales that could worth hundreds or thousands of dollars.

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Another survey on “Potential Pitfalls along the Road to English-Language Proficiency” also found that lack of communication, especially English proficiency, in workplaces can impact global business success. The data showed that 78 percent of companies agree that English becomes an important window-to-business in the workforce as the language helps bigger the chance of your business to thrive competitively globally. However, only 62 percent companies actively encourage their staff to be proficient in English. Consequently, only a few businesses can leverage their wing to a global network.

Furthermore, the low cost of lack of communication will result in: loss of clients, misperceptions and frustrations, increased training costs, cultural insensitivity when dealing with overseas partners, decreased employee productivity, employee turnover, conflict within teams, and so forth.

Image credit: Why English Matters

Concluding the data, communication is more than important to help your organisation progress forward and develop. Communication will create better relationships within the organisation as well as with the clients and business partners. Therefore, it is important to improve your business communication skills. Alison Robins, content strategy and community for OfficeVibe, shared her 13 effective ways to boost the communication ability of your employees.

1.   Create a communication-friendly environment

2.   Try the one up and one down exercise at the end of your meeting

3.   Keep communication constant

4.   Offer a platform for anonymous feedback

5.   Hold a weekly town hall meeting

6.   Regularly ask employee feedback about the improvements or obstacles

7.   Offer your time to listen to your employees

8.   Communicate face to face

9.   Master your body language

10.  Communicate only when needed

11.  Personalize your communication

12.  Be authentic

13.  Incorporate team building games  

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