Executive Summary
The world is moving faster than ever. After revolutions in industry and digital technology, communicating the information necessary to perform well is a massive undertaking. The quality of communication released to a working force is integral to achieving success and reducing expenditures for any company. According to Forbes, “For over 40% of workers, poor communication reduces trust both in leadership and their team (Hoory, 2023)”.
My team and I have studied the effects of poor communication in the workplace and compared communication practices available to combat these effects. We have evaluated solutions to affect three main areas: ensuring that recipients have received intended communications and can acknowledge that they understand. They can find and study historical information relevant to performance success. We are confident this analysis will show how these implementations in workplace communication can improve trust, increase production, and increase employee retention for the organization.
Recommendation
Business requires exceptional communication to be successful. The basis of success is maximum production with minimal cost. Poor communication is costly. It affects every phase of operations. When we don’t communicate well with new staff, we spend more money getting them up to speed.
Tenured staff can lose trust in leadership and a company’s objectives entirely. “Over the last year, the rate of job quitting in the United States has reached highs not seen since the start of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey program in December 2000. This recent phenomenon has been called the “Great Resignation” (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).”
Staff operating in an environment are less productive. “Employees working for companies that foster a “connected culture” are twice as likely to be productive when working from anywhere (Business Wire, 2020).” Suppose the goal is to create a culture of well-informed, connected, and highly productive individuals. In that case, we should focus on deploying a communication solution that applies collective improvement to the key areas where communication is lost in transmission/translation or cannot be located.
Therefore, we recommend the implementation of a cyclical communication system. This system would organize all communication sent to staff from all levels of leadership by creating a hub that houses communication releases related to regulation, policy, and operation. These communications will be sent via operating rosters. They will be communicated as assignments that allow leadership to ensure all team members receive the information while simultaneously creating a deadline for review and acknowledgment for recipients to educate themselves and resolve any questions/concerns. Finally, once the information cycle has been completed, the communication and relevant content will be placed into a rolling repository with communication dates, relevant department connectors, and rosters communicated.
Confirming Receipt
Communication methods in the modern-day workplace are an evolving concept that has changed drastically over the last few decades. Compared to the workplace before the Internet, meetings and communication for business were primarily held in person or over the phone. With the advancements in technology and COVID, there has been a sharp increase in the number of jobs done from the convenience of one’s home. With this convenience, though, there are setbacks such as the inability to fully know if new information being discussed through email or other forms of communication online has been received and read by all employees. To combat this lack of certainty, read receipts are essential to consistently know if all employees are receiving the new information being sent.
Read Receipts have started being used in many forms of online communication, for example, Apple shows read receipts on all text messages and many forms of social media. For instance, “iMessage read receipts and ellipses, and their counterparts in other applications, offer a unique type of communication within text-based messaging, allowing users to track the status of their messages” (Earle, 2018). This tracking of messages could not be accomplished to the same level or as quickly as read receipts allow. This makes for quick communication followed by a quick response, allowing quicker communication and verified read receipts.
The Purpose of Acknowledgement in Communication
Communication is one of the primary parts of society. It allows people to share their thoughts and collaborate on solving problems and discussing crucial issues. In official forms, especially in negotiations or business talks, the communicators can acknowledge people’s understanding.
This means that after the negotiations or discussions concerning vital, complex, and sometimes controversial points, the sides confirm that they understood all the discussion’s meanings, thoughts, facts, and results (Dewey, 2022). In other words, they state that there is no uncertainty left. It is an important ending that allows people to develop healthy and efficient relationships with the perspective of future collaboration. However, the parties do not always have the opportunity to acknowledge their understanding.
The Idea of Dualism and the Problem
The critical idea regarding the impossibility of acknowledging what was communicated is that, in a particular situation, the individuals may not understand the material communicated personally. In other words, as a problem, one can state that the person can be under pressure or influenced by someone. In this case, their voluntary acknowledgment of understanding would be impossible because of dualism. The notion of dualism is profoundly described by the philosopher Leibniz. According to Dewey (2022), the absence of dualism “is to assert the true meaning of the question, which has been unseen or evaded” (p. 23).
Consequently, the pressure and the influence create a significant misunderstanding of the material communicated and, therefore, the impossibility of genuine acknowledgment. It highlights the theory of dualism because, on the one hand, the person has their own opinion regarding the question discussed, but, on the other hand, they are influenced by others. The problem is that the person may express their acknowledgment without understanding the issue, making the situation even worse.
Historical Reference
Maintaining the history of a company has been difficult throughout the years with all the changes in staff, processes, and procedures. Oftentimes, companies employ collaboration tools or programs to maintain their history. Whether those changes are in staff, processes and procedures, bylaws, or some other type of documentation, companies need a type of collaboration to track all the history. These changes must be documented, maintained, and continuously communicated or shared with the staff. Typically, the company’s president or a human resources staff member may oversee the incorporation and tracking of changes and the company’s history.
Whoever the individual may be, they should keep track of all the changes throughout the company’s history. There should also be a way for new and old employees to see the changes and stay current on what is happening in the company. Many companies use collaboration tools or software like Basecamp, Slack, Google Workplace, Microsoft SharePoint/Teams, and others to communicate with their staff (Hooker, 2023).
When changes in management, owners, or staff occur, they can access the company’s history in the collaboration tool and see what processes or tasks have taken place. Within these collaboration tools are ways to track changes in staff, job responsibilities, organizational charts, and company documents. Tools like Docstar or ERM (electronic records management) can help track company documents. An administrator or owner must be assigned to the platform to keep the communication tool accurate. After the president or human resources staff make the changes, the administrator or owner is key to maintaining the written or digital updates and keeping an ongoing record of the history of the company.
References
Dewey, J. (2022). Leibniz’s new essays concerning the human understanding: A critical exposition. DigiCat.
Earle, K. K. (1970). Attributions online: An examination of time stamps, read receipts, and ellipses in text-based communication. Attributions Online: An Examination of Time Stamps, Read Receipts, and Ellipses in Text-Based Communication. Web.
Hooker, T. (2023). Top 9 document collaboration tools for growing teams. Document360. Web.
Hoory, L. (2023). The State Of Workplace Communication In 2023. Forbes. Web.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2022). The “Great Resignation” in perspective. Web.
Business Wire (2020). New Study Reveals Boost in Employee Productivity and Well-Being Among Companies That Foster a ‘Connected Culture’ in Work from Anywhere Environment. Pumble. Web.