4 Strategies to Overcome Miscommunication at the Workplace

Communication training, vertical alignment, and English-speaker hiring can decrease miscommunication at the workplace. In turn, good internal communication can lead to 64% more productivity, 43% more successful business deals, and 33% more cost savings based on the 2024 State of Business Communication.

Poor communication between teams and teammates lead to 41% reduced productivity and 26% missed deadlines. These factors ultimately hurt your bottom line because of lost work progress and opportunities.

To make up for these losses, you can plan and implement the suggested strategies for your company. Increase productivity again, hit your project marks, and be on your way toward organizational success.

Causes of Miscommunication

Miscommunication between employees and teams can happen in-person or digitally. However, studies show that digital miscommunication, especially for hybrid or fully remote teams, is the most common. In fact, based on a study by Preply, miscommunication occurs in particular communication channels as follows:

• Email: 87%
• Text Messaging: 80%
• Direct Messaging: 79%
• Phone Calls: 71%
• Video Messaging: 67%

These issues arise because of a number of causes, causes which, if addressed, can be overcome and communication be improved. The common causes of miscommunication in the workplace, whether in-person or digital are:

1. Personality Differences

Each individual employee has a different personality. A mix of different personalities, especially strong ones, may sometimes lead to reductions in productivity and collaboration. Even if behavior may be unintentional, if personalities cause misunderstandings between team members, mutual engagement may be affected, and the misunderstanding may stall the team’s progress.

2. Unresolved Issues

Whether personal or between team members, problems that are swept under the rug will keep coming up. An initial misunderstanding can lead to several more. These unresolved problems can only hamper collaboration, halting good progress on any work being done.

3. Problematic Connections

Another common cause of miscommunication is a dysfunctional relationship that may develop due to an incompatible mix of personalities. These relationships will give rise to conflicts more often than not, affecting the efficiency of teams and members. Dysfunctionality may also spread like a sickness and lower morale, causing conflicts between other employees.

4. Interrupted Communication Lines

Decisions come from the top, but it takes subordinates to pass the message on to other team members. However, when communication lines are interrupted similar to a “Telephone” game, the original message may take on a different shape, leading to misunderstandings. Misunderstandings then lead to reduced innovation, inefficient implementation of strategies, and unproductive work.

5. Uncommunicated Changes

Companies must grow in order to hit organizational goals. However, unexpected changes may cause disconnection among employees. A new strategy, a new technology, a new policy, a new hire—these changes may disrupt the current workflows of teams. A vague plan without a clear communication mechanism will only disturb employees, leading to lowered productivity, anxiety, and slower progress toward company targets.

How to Prevent Miscommunication in the Workplace

Any of the five examples of miscommunication in the workplace above may be present in your company. They may be the cause of piling workloads and slower work paces. To restart and revitalize your teams, you can implement any of the following initiatives to improve communication between your employees.

1. Teach Communication Etiquette

Focus employee training on proper communication etiquette, especially as applied to instant messaging channels. Neutral and respectful ways of communicating help decrease disturbances and interruptions to others, preserving productivity.

Teach your employees to think before they send any message. Let them ask the following questions:

• Is this message required? Can I find the answers to my questions or concerns without having to ask others?
• If it is required, is it urgent or can I send this at a later time? If it is not urgent, at what later time are others more readily available to receive it?
• Through which channel can this message be best sent?

By asking these questions, effective communication may be promoted, and misunderstandings decreased. As a result of effective communication, you can make your teams 70% more productive.

2. Train Employees to Proofread

Nuance is completely removed from digital communication platforms without careful wording. As a result, the miscommunications through digital channels as discovered by Preply occur. However, simple proofreading is one way to avoid miscommunication.

Establish a checklist for employees to follow when communicating. Managers and leaders can have their team members go through the following questions:

• Is there clarity regarding the intended and actual message? 
• Was careful wording applied to establish an acceptable digital tone?
• Is there a better way for the message to be communicated?

With this evaluative checklist, your employees may send clear and emotionally neutral messages, decreasing time spent deciphering the meaning of messages and increasing collaboration.

3. Align Teams Vertically

Miscommunication between team members and leaders may also lead to unproductive work and lost collaboration. To remedy this, your leaders must regularly check-in with their teams and individual members. Once a week may be enough for the entire team. Tiny catch-ups with team members, especially for clarifications, may be good at least once a day as well. When done correctly, employees with more information from leaders work 77% more productively.

4. Hire Highly Proficient English Speakers

English may be one universal language, yet not everyone speaks English at the level that native speakers can. On the other hand, Filipinos boast a high proficiency level in English along with collaborative and empathic power skills. These talents have been the reason why the Philippines is the go-to for a number of outsourced jobs.

At the same time, many Filipino professionals work remotely, making them well-versed with remote communication. Experience with digital communication platforms have made Philippine remote workers adept at effective communication.A third bonus is the cost savings of having a remote Filipino team member. Estimate the amount of savings you can enjoy using an offshoring calculator.

Tools that Help Address Miscommunication

1. Communication and Collaboration Hubs

Combine messaging capability with additional features such as file sharing, video conferencing, and software integrations. With a centralized hub, you can have an accessible communication channel that also helps with efficient working. No need to use third-party apps to do other important communication tasks.

2. Cloud-Based Documentation Platform

Collaborative work on documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and other file outputs become easier to do with a cloud-based documentation platform. With version history, each collaborator can keep track of changes, make comments on the same file, and help colleagues with the task at hand.

3. Project Management Software

You can easily get lost in the deadlines, projects, and tasks you and your employees have to do. To keep track on everything and keep tabs on everyone, use a project management software. It can help you organize all the work in an orderly fashion, while keeping progress by teams and individual workers visible.

Knowledge Center

Company and team knowledge will be communicated faster and easier using a knowledge center. Keep all kinds of relevant information in one place that teams and workers can access. In return, questions about these foundational information may be reduced.

Cut Down Miscommunication for 70% More Productivity

Miscommunication can hamper the progress of teams and the company as a whole. These often stem from a number of factors such as personalities, relationships, and change. However, if you implement communication training, regularly align leaders with team members and hire English-proficient speakers, you can reduce the rate of miscommunication and fast track your progress toward organizational targets.