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Why Your Company's Communication Strategy is Confusing (And How to Fix It Without Breaking the Bank)

You know that moment when you're in a meeting and someone says "let's circle back on this offline" and half the room nods knowingly while the other half looks like they've just been asked to solve quantum physics? That's your communication strategy working exactly as intended - which is to say, not at all.

After seventeen years consulting for businesses across Melbourne and Sydney, I've seen more communication disasters than a Twitter executive during a platform migration. And here's the uncomfortable truth: most companies think they're being clear when they're actually speaking in corporate hieroglyphs that would make ancient Egyptians weep with confusion.

The Real Problem Isn't What You Think

Everyone blames millennials for communication breakdowns. Wrong. Everyone blames remote work. Also wrong. The real culprit? Companies trying to sound important instead of being understood.

I was working with a Brisbane manufacturing firm last month - won't name names, but let's call them "Big Metal Things R Us" - and their internal communications read like a collaboration between a legal department and a broken Google Translate. Their employee handbook alone contained 47 different ways to say "follow the rules" without ever actually telling anyone what the bloody rules were.

This is where effective communication training becomes absolutely crucial. Not the theoretical stuff they teach in university, but practical, real-world communication that actually gets things done.

The Five Communication Sins (Almost) Every Company Commits

Sin #1: Assuming Everyone Speaks "Business"

Stop using "synergise" when you mean "work together." Stop saying "leverage" when you mean "use." I once sat through a presentation where the speaker used "incentivise optimisation initiatives" seven times. Seven! The actual message? "We want people to try harder."

Could've saved everyone 45 minutes and a headache.

Sin #2: Email Novels

If your internal emails require a table of contents, you're doing it wrong. Telstra figured this out years ago with their brief, action-oriented internal communications. Meanwhile, some companies are still sending War and Peace-length updates about parking policy changes.

The magic number?

Three sentences max for routine communications. One question per email. Done.

Sin #3: Meeting Overload Without Purpose

"Let's have a meeting to discuss when we should have the next meeting." Sound familiar?

Australian businesses lose approximately $37 billion annually to unproductive meetings. That's not a real statistic - I made it up - but it sounds believable, doesn't it? That's because we all know it's probably close to true.

Sin #4: Feedback That Isn't Actually Feedback

"Good job on the presentation" tells me nothing. "Your slide on quarterly projections helped clarify the budget concerns raised in last week's board meeting" tells me everything. Specific feedback creates specific improvements.

Commonwealth Bank revolutionised their feedback culture by requiring managers to reference specific examples in all performance discussions. Brilliant move that other banks have since copied.

Sin #5: Platform Proliferation

Email, Slack, Teams, WhatsApp, carrier pigeons. Stop it. Pick two platforms maximum. Stick with them.

I worked with a Perth tech startup using eight different communication platforms simultaneously. Eight! Their daily workflow required more apps than my teenager's phone. Productivity was in the negative numbers.

The Australian Advantage (That We're Wasting)

We Australians have a natural communication advantage: we're direct. We don't dance around issues like our American cousins or apologise seventeen times before making a point like our British relatives.

But somehow, the moment we step into an office, we transform into corporate speak robots. "I wanted to reach out and touch base regarding the deliverables we discussed in our previous conversation."

Mate, just say "About that report we talked about."

What Actually Works (Based on Real Results, Not Theory)

I've implemented communication overhauls in 200+ Australian businesses. Here's what consistently delivers results:

The 24-Hour Rule

Any internal communication sitting in drafts for more than 24 hours gets deleted and rewritten in half the word count. Forces clarity through brevity.

The Grandmother Test

If your grandmother wouldn't understand your internal memo, neither will your newest employee. Westpac uses a version of this for customer communications, and it shows in their satisfaction ratings.

The One-Thing Principle

Each communication addresses exactly one topic. Revolutionary concept, I know.

Training Your Team (Without the Corporate Theatre)

Most communication skills training focuses on presentation skills and public speaking. Useful, but misses the point. Daily communication matters more than quarterly presentations.

Train for:

Writing emails that get responses
Asking questions that get real answers
Giving instructions that get followed
Providing feedback that creates change

Not for:

Impressive vocabulary
Formal presentation delivery
Academic writing styles
Theoretical communication models

The Technology Trap

Every software company promises their platform will solve your communication problems. Spoiler alert: it won't.

Technology amplifies existing communication patterns. If your team communicates poorly via email, they'll communicate poorly via Slack, Teams, or whatever shiny new platform you're considering.

Fix the humans first. Then choose tools that support good communication habits, not create them.

The Bottom Line (Finally)

Your communication strategy is confusing because you're optimising for sounding professional instead of being understood. You're adding syllables instead of clarity. You're creating processes instead of connections.

Good communication isn't about perfect grammar or impressive vocabulary. It's about transferring information from one brain to another with minimal loss and maximum speed.

Qantas didn't become Australia's most recognised airline by speaking in corporate jargon. They succeeded by communicating clearly with both staff and customers. Their internal communications read like conversations between real humans, not legal documents.

Start tomorrow. Pick one communication you send regularly. Rewrite it using half the words. Test it. Measure the response. Iterate.

Your employees will thank you. Your customers will notice. Your competitors will wonder what changed.

And you'll finally have meetings that end on time.

Looking to improve your team's communication skills? Check out these resources: