A few years ago, ‘The Economist Intelligence Unit’ sponsored by ‘Lucidchart’ examined some of the perceived causes and effects of communication barriers in the modern workplace.
The special edition was based on a survey conducted from November 2017 to January 2018, included 403 senior executives, managers and junior staff at US companies divided equally and from companies with annual revenue of less than US$10m, between US$10m and US$1bn and more than US$1bn. The survey research provides insights about what employees see as the biggest barriers to workplace communication, the causes of the barriers and their impact on work life.
Amongst the key highlights were:
– Poor communication is having a tremendous impact on the workplace,
– The most frequently cited cause of communication barriers is fundamentally human: different communication style.
– The use of instant messaging and social media at work reflects a gap between how generations use certain communication tools.
– There is a discrepancy between the communication tools that people find most effective and the ones they regularly use.
– An employee’s place in the pecking order affects the fallout they face from poor communication.
Structured, organised and meaningful communication in the workplace can facilitate the implementation of corporate strategies and at the same time secure seamless collaboration of people and stakeholders.
The EIU – Lucidchart edition is available here: https://www.scribd.com/document/401775358/EIU-Lucidchart-Communication-barriers-in-the-modern-workplace-pdf
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