Aniruddha Atul Bhagwat
A brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible world. Yes, that sounds worse than it is, but the good part is that we have the power to survive and thrive. It’s within our power to communicate; it is something that allows us to work together and share ideas, inspiring us to take action.
Imagine that your organisational hierarchy was dropped into a pinball machine. The ball moves up and down, side to side, and even jumps out of the machine. It moves fast; it moves indiscriminately. Its trajectory is how messages move in an organisation. Now, imagine millions of balls. Billions? That is the complexity that communication brings.
Assessing the value of great communication may be difficult, but the cost of poor communication stares us right in our faces. Communication goes much beyond the marketing department. Whether one is running the business or positioning it, it plays a significant role. Enterprises pay a high cost if they get it wrong.
How high? At least $1.3 trillion, and definitely more. That is the estimated cost of poor communication across US enterprises, as stated in Grammarly’s State of Business Communication Report, 2022.
Why more? Because apart from this figure being only for the US market, it also covers the cost impact of communication efficiencies in running the business. The report claims enterprises spend nearly one full day each week clarifying and resolving unclear past communication. Inversely, good communication helps run an efficient business and is obviously much cheaper.
It is no secret that communication is vital in positioning a business. Marketing teams often go into endless iterative loops, sometimes just to get that one ad copy or press release headline perfect. But while they pour a lot of money into controlling messaging across a handful of mediums, what about your other mediums (read: employees)? We spend a third of our lives working, so it would be safe to assume we speak about our work to others. We are mediums, yet often, employees know less about what the business stands for than top journalists.
Lastly, leading a business is manifested in communicating well. Romantically, leaders should invite the company to a tomorrow that is better than today. But realistically, for many, this is far from the truth. Great communication can lead to better outcomes. It can provide visibility by breaking hidden silos, giving direction and purpose, and inspiring great work. More than cost, great communication creates massive possibilities for revenue and growth.
Communication is business. Every time one speaks about the business, there is a possibility of either building the brand or eroding it. Communication creates possibilities, and the cost of getting it wrong will always be high and underestimated.
The author is co-founder & CEO of Ideosphere Consulting