Lost in Translation: 10 Miscommunication Examples and How to Fix Them

A recent report suggests that miscommunication at the workplace cost US businesses a staggering $1.2 trillion in 2022. This highlights the importance of constructive workplace communication in defining the success and growth of any organization.

The most recent statistics also indicate that about one in every six employees working in a remote setup finds difficulty working with the others, which gives rise to chances of miscommunication, rancor, delayed completion of tasks, and even loss of productivity altogether.

Hence, the managers and HR teams need to diagnose the latent problems due to which communication fails and ensure that such issues do not occur so that a cordial and productive working atmosphere is maintained.

This article explores various miscommunication examples at work, delves into the reasons behind them, and suggests ways to improve communication for long-term success.

Workplace Miscommunication- What It Means?

Workplace miscommunication encompasses interactions between employees and managers, interdepartmental communication, employee and customer interactions, and vendor communication. Simply put, workplace miscommunication describes any failure or mistake in the delivery of information schedules or plans with respect to the organization and coworkers.

However, allowing for the efficient and accurate distribution of information within the organization has many challenges. For instance, process-oriented communications company-wide represent one of the issues, especially when the work environment is largely dominated by remote or tool-based interactions.

Typically, workplace miscommunication happens when the person’s intended message does not reach the audience in the correct form. This indicates that the speakers/writers and the listeners/readers are not in agreement, and as such, the information or message gets distorted, with the most important aspects being missed.

Trivial forms of workplace miscommunication can be a failure to make corrections to the agenda of meetings, sending information-overloaded emails, or recording a series of unwanted events in the minutes of a meeting.

Causes of Workplace Miscommunication

Below are some of the key factors that can lead to miscommunication at work:

1. Hierarchical Structure

This happens when information or messages get lost or altered when moving between too many hierarchical layers in an organization.

2. Lack of Proper Training

Many organizations today focus on communication skills for sales, marketing, and other customer-facing roles but not on internal communication. Employees who don’t receive adequate internal communication training are more likely to make communication errors.

3. Incomplete Information

Another source of workplace miscommunication is when managers and leaders don’t share all the relevant information with team members. A recent study from Gallup also found that improving worker engagement and communication can increase productivity by 18% and profitability by 23%.

4. Lack of Leadership

When leaders in an organization fail to set clear expectations about company or project-level goals or managers are vague about workers’ responsibilities, miscommunication is bound to happen.

5. Language and Culture Barriers

Diverse teams can face challenges like language barriers, which are common examples of miscommunication in global organizations.

6. Lack of Feedback

Failure to give timely feedback or infrequent check-ins can also result in employees making mistakes in communication.

Examples of Workplace Miscommunication and Ways to Fix Them

In this section, we will explore some of the common examples of workplace miscommunication and various strategies to overcome them:

Example 1: Unclear Expectations

When expectations at work are unclear, it can trigger a series of negative outcomes such as low morale, distrust, conflicts, and burnout.

Imagine this: a company has a clear vision and goal, but the manager fails to effectively communicate it to the team. For example, the manager sends an email with vague instructions, assuming everyone understands what needs to be done.

The result? Team members may feel confused or uncertain, leading to disengagement and frustration. This lack of clarity can break down workplace harmony, resulting in errors, misunderstandings, and conflicts when employees aren’t sure of what’s expected.

How to Fix It?

As a manager and business leader, the first thing you need to do is ensure that your employees are motivated to get their work done effectively and believe that what they are doing is essential. Take enough time to clarify expectations, ask questions, and ensure everyone’s on the same page.

The best way to navigate this is to look for ways to connect the work they do to the organization’s overall mission and explain why it’s important. The goal is to make employees feel that their work is important and contributes to something significant.

Example 2: Misinterpreted Tone in Communication

A recent survey suggests that more than 55% of respondents feel that large group meetings are a significant source of miscommunication in the workplace compared to one-on-one meetings.

This could be due to several reasons, such as the limited structure of meetings or employees misinterpreting the leader’s tone due to the absence of any vocal cues, leading to anxiety, stress, and defensiveness.

How to Fix It?

To address miscommunication, it’s important to foster clear and direct communication with employees individually to prevent misunderstandings. Here are some practical strategies:

1. Be Clear in Your Messaging: Use complete sentences and proper grammar to ensure messages are easy to understand and free from ambiguity.
2. Simplify Language in Group Settings: Avoid using overly complex language, especially in large meetings. Keeping things simple and direct can help make your message clear and reduce potential misunderstandings.
3. Encourage Open Dialogue: Create an environment where employees feel comfortable asking for clarification when needed. This not only helps prevent confusion but also builds trust and openness.
4. Use Tools that Facilitate Communication: Consider using communication tools that allow for voice messages, structured notes, and real-time feedback to add more clarity. Features like these can make it easier to convey tone and intent, helping employees better understand your message.

Example 3: Misunderstood Project Deadlines

This usually happens when a manager or team leader shares a task/project deadline with their team through email. However, in many cases, the email does not clearly state the details, such as the deadline or the time zones, which can lead to chaos and confusion.

How to Fix It?

Set clear and concise communication guidelines so that everyone in the organization understands the message’s overall meaning.

For instance, you can connect daily work to goals, prioritize your to-do list, and set realistic due dates.

Also, mention the time zone clearly in your email when communicating deadlines along with straightforward language without using jargon or technical terms that can confuse recipients. This will help ensure everyone is on the same page regarding the communication.

Additionally, consider these helpful tips:

• Provide Regular Updates: Send follow-up messages to ensure that everyone is aware of any changes to the deadlines or requirements. This keeps communication consistent and avoids last-minute surprises.
• Use Calendar Invites: Incorporate calendar invites along with email communications. This helps recipients automatically align with the correct time zone and makes deadlines more visible.
• Encourage Confirmation: Ask team members to confirm receipt and understanding of the deadline. This simple step can prevent misinterpretations and ensure everyone is clear about their responsibilities.
• Visualize Deadlines: Use project management tools that allow deadlines to be visually tracked on a dashboard. This not only helps with visibility but also offers a centralized location where updates and changes can be accessed easily.

Example 4: No Clarity in Delegating Work

Many times during a work meeting, managers assign specific tasks to team members verbally without providing proper follow-up. This might lead to confusion and miscommunication, where more than one employee takes on the same task, leading to missed deadlines and duplicated efforts.

How to Fix It?

Managers must always follow up on verbal task assignments with a written summary to ensure that all employees understand their responsibilities clearly and that no tasks are neglected.

When delegating work, it is also important to be clear about the task’s purpose, desired results, and why you chose the person for the job. Managers must also clarify expectations at the beginning of the task to avoid miscommunication and conflict.

Additional Tips to improve delegation include:

• Create Centralized Task Documentation: Use a shared tool to document assigned tasks, due dates, and expected outcomes. This creates a single source of truth, making it easier for employees to stay updated and aligned.
• Set Interim Checkpoints: Establish regular checkpoints to review progress. This not only keeps employees on track but also provides opportunities to clarify expectations or adjust priorities if needed.
• Encourage Two-Way Communication: Invite feedback from employees regarding task clarity, potential challenges, or support needed. Open dialogue can help refine the delegation process and boost team efficiency.
• Use Automated Reminders: Implement automated reminders for deadlines and task updates. This keeps everyone informed and reduces the likelihood of overlooked responsibilities.

Example 5: Poor Handover of Tasks

Workplace miscommunication usually occurs when an employee goes on leave without handing over their responsibilities properly. For instance, they do not convey the schedule of an important client meeting for a particular day, leading to missed communication with the client when they are unavailable.

How to Fix It?

The best way to fix this kind of workplace miscommunication is by implementing a standardized checklist for all employees taking leave and handing over their responsibilities. This list should include all important tasks, submissions, and meetings, ensuring that nothing is missed or left behind.

Try these quick fixes to tackle poor handover of tasks:

1. Use a Simple Handover Checklist: Have employees complete a checklist before leave, covering tasks, deadlines, meetings, and key contacts.
2. Share Tasks Digitally: Use a shared digital space to document handover details so everyone can access what’s needed.
3. Assign a Clear Backup: Make sure tasks are handed over to a specific team member and everyone knows who’s covering what.
4. Enable Access to Tools: Ensure the backup has access to all essential files and tools.
5. Hold a Quick Handover Chat: A short meeting to clarify any questions before the leave helps avoid surprises.

Example 6: Misunderstanding Around Peers Getting All Recognition

In many organizations, even the best-performing employees sometimes feel that their peers often get recognized despite them doing all the important work. This creates misunderstanding and makes the employees feel they are doing something wrong.

How to Fix It?

The need for managers and business leaders here is to read between the lines of what their employees are trying to convey.

Consider various factors to understand whether the employee is being overlooked, and if they are, what are the reasons for the same.

If you see that their work is worthy of praise and recognition, show your appreciation, as it is critical for employees to feel that their work is valued.

Other tips you can use here include:

• Address the internal issues immediately and openly.
• Build active listening skills to navigate disputes.
• Acknowledge and respect each person’s opinions and differences.

You can also use Engagedly’s talent management platform to navigate this better.

Example 7: Cultural Differences

In today’s diverse workplaces, managing cultural differences can be quite a challenge and can lead to miscommunication at several levels. For instance, different communication styles, interpretations of gestures, and expectations may create huge misunderstandings in the workplace.

How to Fix It?

The best way to tackle cultural differences and miscommunication around it is by embracing workplace diversity by fostering cultural awareness through well-designed training programs, establishing clear communication guidelines, encouraging open conversations about differences, and accommodating various cultural perspectives.

Example 8: Overload of Information

Too much information without much context can overwhelm employees, leading to huge misunderstandings and missed details. This can also lead to a lack of motivation in employees to perform the required tasks.

How to Fix It?

First and foremost, ensure that workplace communication is crystal clear, streamlined, and relevant.

Make use of various project management tools to collect and organize information, prioritize messages, and avoid overloading communication channels with unnecessary data.

Some of the other strategies you can use here include-

• Put a limit on information gathering.
• Identify the priorities.
• Schedule related tasks together.

Example 9: Technology Failures

In today’s technology-driven workplaces,  technology glitches are quite common and can severely disrupt communication. Whether it’s poor internet connection, dropped calls, or non-functioning collaboration tools,  the result can be disrupted workflow and misunderstandings among the employees.

How to Fix It?

To effectively deal with such situations, make sure to have contingency plans in place. For instance, utilize backup tools or alternative communication methods in case of sudden technology malfunctioning. Likewise, provide training to employees on how to ensure continuous workflow during instances of tech hiccups.

Example 10: Vague Instructions for Remote Teams

The team leader schedules a virtual team meeting by sending an email with vague instructions and assumes that everyone on the team understands the message. However, when working remotely, most team members need more clarity, or it can lead to disengagement of employees and lesser productivity.

How to Fix It?

To successfully navigate this challenge, it is important to give detailed instructions and set the expectations right for all virtual activities.

This kind of clarity and proper guidelines in advance help enhance the participation of all employees and foster better engagement as well.

Below are a few tips to help you implement this effectively:

• Avoid technical jargons and use straightforward language.
• Offer clear and detailed instructions to avoid ambiguity.
• Foster an open environment where employees feel comfortable asking for clarification.

Impact of Workplace Miscommunication

Miscommunication at work can lead to several issues, including:

1. Unnecessary Stress

Miscommunication at the workplace can create conflict among peers and team members and cause anxiety, stress, and an acute sense of frustration.

2. Confusion Among Employees

A lack of miscommunication and clarity in the workplace can lead to confusion, poor results, and difficulty reaching set goals.

3. Poor Employee Morale

At the workplace, trust and confidence in shared information are paramount for employees. A lack of transparency and clarity can lead to low employee morale, frustration, and employee demotivation.

4. Loss of Revenue

Since the importance of time at any workplace is immense, miscommunication of any kind can also result in a real loss of business revenues.

5. Damage to Reputation

Ongoing miscommunication within a workplace can result in a poor company reputation among employees and within the overall industry.

6. Loss of Productivity

Miscommunication and misunderstandings can lead to task repetition and revision multiple times, leading to inefficiency and loss of productivity in terms of achieving goals and meeting deadlines.

The Bottom Line

The effects of workplace miscommunication can be significant. The best strategy against miscommunication at the workplace is how you communicate as a manager or leader.

When you’re precise, deliberate, and sensitive to your recipient’s needs and circumstances, you can significantly improve communication, reduce situations that can lead to conflicts, and foster higher productivity and better business outcomes.

To tackle this effectively, organizations need to take targeted steps to prevent any kind of miscommunication at the workplace and address it when it does occur. Investing in high-quality communication tools is one of the easiest and fastest ways to prevent miscommunication.

FAQS

1. What is workplace miscommunication?

Workplace miscommunication refers to any breakdown in passing information or plans within an organization or among peers and coworkers.

2. What is the cost of workplace miscommunication?

Miscommunication at work can lead to wasted time, stress among team members, reduced employee morale, inefficiency, reputation damage, and legal ramifications as well.

3. How can you avoid workplace miscommunication?

The best way to avoid workplace miscommunication is by communicating clearly and concisely in writing, avoiding jargon, and offering clear examples or visuals.