Failure To Communicate In The Workplace

Failure to communicate in the workplace gets attributed to individuals. He does not share information. She never explains the reasoning. Most of it is structural, and three causes account for the bulk.

Unclear ownership. When two people could reasonably be the one to pass something on, often neither does. This is the most common cause and the easiest to fix.

No route for bad news. Where raising a problem has historically cost the person raising it, information stops flowing upward long before anyone notices. What reaches senior people is filtered, and they are the last to know.

Too many channels. Email, chat, a system, a meeting and a noticeboard means anything important lands somewhere a third of people were not looking.

None of the three is solved by asking people to communicate better.

Safe Work Australia covers psychosocial hazards including poor support. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s psychological safety course and respect at work training.