and why it happens in your organisations...
Lynn Tran, Communication Professional
We@work | October 2 2018
76% of the asked leaders agree that at some point their internal communications look just like tangled, spaghetti electrical wiring poles in Hanoi, Vietnam. Below are their more specific responses to WE@WORK's 2017 questions on why their internal communications are in such situation:
1. Superlong & no-purpose meetings
"I have been sitting in a 10-hour meeting in a Vietnamese corporation. Non-stop lectures and breaks were only allowed for toilets and food...When exactly? From 6pm today until 6am morning next day...Only happens in Vietnam I guess"
""It was the biggest boss' solo performance ... He seems to like his own voice a lot(smile)". Well apparently in this case 91% of audience daydreamed, 93% missed it and 73% did other work during the meeting are not overstated
3. "Flooded" with emails
According email-using reports, every week one gets 304 emails on average, 92% of them delete internal emails without opening or reading. Too much information without consolidated or filtered systems makes internal communication another nightmare.
"We tried Trello or Taskworld for better communication. However in my inbox there are hundreds of backup email from these apps"
$2100-$4100 per employee is lost annually due to poorly worded & incorrectly titled communications
4. One content - 10 different emails - 10 different titles
"I have been receiving ten different emails with ten different subject titles but with regard to only ONE issue, such a huge DISTRACTION...I hardly find the right email for the right information i need...I have to go over all 10 emails"
If we know how to use email threads in the right way, we might reduce 304 emails per week down to 30 in this case.
4. Inconsistent and lengthy languages
During conversations between Vietnamese and Vietnamese co-workers, the languages that are lengthy, inconsistent and unorganised have been used at most. The receivers find it difficult to decode the messages. They mostly ignored (69%), felt frustrated (56%), yet rarely asked for repetition (24%) or kept patient until they understood the message sender meant (9%)
The majority (85%) think communication problems come from inconsistent mindsets. Only good education can change mindsets