What about receiving a request to complete a task without any details or specifics resulting in back and forth communication that could have all been covered in an original brief? 

When you rely on unspoken rules or cultural norms, misunderstandings are almost guaranteed, particularly in global teams. If guidelines aren’t formalized these constant misunderstandings can lead to simmering resentment, or at the very least, wasted time going back and forth with teammates, redoing tasks or simply trying to gather necessary information. 

In fact, a study by the author of Digital Body Language, Erica Dhawan and Quester, found that poor digital communication costs the average office worker four hours per week, with 70% of office workers experiencing some form of unclear communication from their colleagues. 

And it’s not just from their teammateHave you ever been waiting on an email response only to see your colleague actively commenting on Slack threads or sending you unrelated instant messages? What about receiving a request to complete a task without any details or specifics resulting in back and forth communication that could have all been covered in an original brief?s, over one-third of employees are dissatisfied with how their managers communicate with them.

While some of this is to be expected when working with diverse groups of people, much of it could be bypassed by formalizing internal communication guidelines.

The value in formalizing internal communication

During our shared podcast season last year, I spoke with Pilar Orti about how “visible teamwork” can help distributed companies feel closer and more connected. She shared with me how this visibility isn’t always... read more

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