Poor communication tends to lead to extended deadlines, unclear objectives, and duplicated work

Seasoned operational leader and consultant Daniel Gatt on Friday highlighted the detrimental effects that poor communication can have at the workplace, especially when delivering projects.

Effective communication has made various headlines within the business space in recent years, especially due to the prevalence of remote and hybrid work practices.

Business leaders have had to face the challenge of ensuring that messages come across with the right intention and in a clear and concise manner.

Mr Gatt, Head of Customer Support at HandsOn Systems and Founder of Grow Up Podcast, recently stated that as a business leader, he has come across various situations where employees said that they weren’t tasked to do a particular job, or that their colleagues had to do it, not them. These include the commonly used “that’s not my job” and “I wasn’t tasked with that responsibility”.

Mr Gatt explained that these phrases tend to indicate a “lack of communication, accountability and clear direction”.

“The key for delivering a successful project isn’t always fully reliant on how skilled the stakeholders are, or how good the technical delivery is. It’s communication,” he said.

Poor communication can have devastating ripple effects across the whole business, prompting additional challenges that may eventually be costly both in the short and long term.

Mr Gatt added that poor communication often results in “extended deadlines, unclear objectives and roles, duplicated work, or no work done whatsoever”.

Therefore, he proceeded to pinpoint three key ways business leaders can fix this issue and foster a culture of effective and efficient communication.

Firstly, he remarked that it is vital for business leaders to establish “clear guidelines and cadences early on”. This involves creating clear reporting lines, meeting schedules, and ways to disseminate information.

Additionally, Mr Gatt also said that collaborative tools such as Jira, Microsoft Teams, and Slack need to be utilised effectively. In this respect, business leaders must make sure that everyone working on a particular project is “aligned in using them”.

He also pointed out that business leaders must hold “regular, bite-sized check-ins” to ensure that the employees have room to “provide updates, highlight issues, and challenge workflows”. This keeps everyone in the loop as to what is happening with a certain project, and avoids having workers being unsure about the direction of the task and each of their role’s significance.

“Keep communication lines open, and your projects will succeed more often, and faster,” he concluded.

Mr Gatt has over 14 years of leadership experience in finance, corporate and tech environments. Prior to founding the Grow Up Podcast and joining HandsOn Systems, he had a distinguished career at HSBC, where he served in a host of roles, including Chief of Staff of Operations. He is an accomplished professional with a proven track record in leading and managing teams in complex corporate environments.

For additional tips on how business leaders can boost communication at the workplace, click here.