Solid relationships are built on great communication. This is crucial when it comes to leaders’ relationships with their teams.
The Society for Human Resource Management surveyed 400 companies with 100,000 employees each and found companies lost an average of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication with and among employees.
Fast Company shares the following mistakes that consistently ruin great communication.
- Overcomplicating things. Many managers experience imposter syndrome, a constant fear of not living up to expectations or having your abilities questioned if you appear unsure. This can cause leaders to speak in a more complex manner to look “smart,” causing confusion among listeners. Ask yourself whether you are overcomplicating things because you feel insecure.
- Communicating without a clear structure. Unstructured communication will lose your audience. Work backward from the main takeaways and build your communication around those points. Use simple words and short, clear sentences.
- Assuming once is enough. Saying something once is not enough, no matter how inspiring the message. When a leader communicates a message only once, team members often do not retain all the information. It is crucial to repeat important messages regularly, touching on them multiple times during the year.
- Not taking responsibility for a misunderstood message. You must be sure your listeners understand the message. Although people may nod and say they understand, it is best to ask listeners to reflect back in their own words what they understood from the communication.
- Communicating only one way. Different people learn in different ways—listening, reading, doing. Communicating a message through multiple channels increases the chance of people understanding and internalizing the message.
- Not showing empathy. This especially is vital when delivering a difficult message. To connect to your audience, think about how you would feel if you were hearing the message and what you would want to hear. Employees recognize when a message is being delivered in a manner that acknowledges how it affects them.
