Posted on Saturday, 19th June 2010 by Vanessa Miller
In a recent study conducted by SIS International Research, inefficient business communication was found to cost up to $5,000 per employee per year for companies with more than 20 employees. Companies with 20 or less employees, saw the cost of communication problems average approximately $3,000 per year, per employee.
A survey taken of businesses with fewer than 400 employees showed that 70% of the respondents spend an average of 17.5 hours each week on communication related problems. The survey also shows that businesses are increasingly aware of communication problems, yet only 40% are taking measures to reduce the negative impact.
The survey shows the five biggest communication problems, in declining order, to be: inefficient coordination, waiting for information, unwanted communications, customer complaints, and barriers to collaboration. Here are brief comments on each of the five.
Inefficient coordination of communication among team members causes 68% of the respondents to spend 3.7 hours per week trying to find answers to complete team projects by an assigned date.
Waiting for information from those who know, causes 68% of the respondents to delay work 3.5 hours per week, per informational source. All those within the 68% tried multiple times for a response.
Unwanted communications caused 77% of the respondents to spend 2 hours per week addressing such communication.
Customer complaints about not being able to reach employees in a timely fashion caused 74% of the respondents to spend 3.3 hours per week listening and reacting to complaints.
Barriers to collaboration, or inaccessibility of other employees, causes 61% of respondents to average 3.3 hours per week trying to make needed contact with other employees.
All the above collectively stall spontaneity, initiative, and an overall entrepreneurial spirit within the employees. At the same time much sought after employee attributes are being squelched, negative traits are introduced such as unaccountability, lethargy, and an attitude of “it’s good enough”. Communication must be responsive, clear, crisp, and meaningful and contain direction to maintain a high employee energy level and to continue accomplishing company goals.
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Tags: Business, Business Communication, Inefficient Business, Inefficient Business Communication
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