My Thoughts

Why Your Company's Communication Strategy is Confusing: And Three Things I Got Wrong About It

Walked into a boardroom last month in Sydney's CBD, and within fifteen minutes I counted seven different communication apps on the projection screen. Slack for "urgent" messages, Teams for meetings, WhatsApp for "quick chats," email for "formal correspondence," and some custom intranet portal that nobody under 45 knew how to use properly.

The regional manager looked at me with genuine confusion and asked: "Why does everything take three times longer to communicate now than it did five years ago?"

Mate, if I had a dollar for every time I've heard that question.

The Multiplication of Confusion

Here's what most communication consultants won't tell you straight up - your problem isn't that you need better communication tools. Your problem is that you've got seventeen different ways to say the same thing, and nobody knows which one to use when.

I've been working with Australian businesses for the past sixteen years. Started as a junior trainer in Perth, worked my way through corporate workshops across Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. Seen the evolution from email-only environments to this current circus of connectivity options.

And honestly? Some companies were more effective when they just had a phone and a fax machine.

That's not nostalgia talking. That's data. When you've only got two ways to communicate, everyone knows the rules. Phone for urgent, fax for documentation. Simple.

Now we've got emotional intelligence training specialists trying to teach people how to read tone in text messages. Which, by the way, is like teaching fish to climb trees. Humans aren't wired for it.

The Australian Context That Everyone Ignores

Something I got completely wrong early in my career was assuming that communication strategies from American business schools would just slot right into Australian workplace culture. Spent two years trying to implement Silicon Valley-style "radical transparency" policies.

Disaster.

Australians communicate differently. We're direct, but we're also polite. We'll tell you exactly what we think, but we'll cushion it with enough courtesy that you don't feel like an idiot. American communication frameworks miss this entirely.

Had a client in Darwin - mining company - where the head office in Sydney kept sending these elaborate communication protocols designed by some hotshot consulting firm from California. Beautiful PowerPoint presentations about "authentic stakeholder engagement" and "synergistic dialogue frameworks."

The mine workers took one look at it and said, "Just tell us what you want us to do and when you want it done."

That's Australian communication in a nutshell. But somehow we've convinced ourselves that more complexity equals more professionalism.

Three Things I Got Wrong (And What Actually Works)

Mistake Number One: Thinking More Channels Means Better Communication

Used to recommend that companies adopt multiple communication platforms to "meet people where they are." Absolute rubbish.

What actually works is picking two - maximum three - communication methods and sticking to them religiously. Email for non-urgent documentation, phone/Teams for immediate responses, and one collaborative platform for project work.

That's it.

Volkswagen figured this out years ago in their Australian operations. Two communication methods company-wide. Every employee knows exactly how and when to use each one. Their internal communication satisfaction scores? 87% positive response rate.

Compare that to the average Australian company using five or more platforms: 34% satisfaction.

Mistake Number Two: Assuming Everyone Wants "Real-Time" Communication

This one nearly cost me a major client in 2019. Big retailer in Melbourne, about 400 employees. I convinced them to implement instant messaging across all departments because "modern workforces expect immediate responses."

Productivity dropped 23% in the first quarter.

Turns out, constant interruption isn't efficiency. It's just noise.

The fix? Time management training and designated communication windows. Check messages at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 4 PM. Everything else waits.

Revolutionary? No. Effective? Absolutely.

Most people can handle delayed responses better than constant interruption. But we've created this myth that being unreachable for two hours somehow equals poor customer service.

Mistake Number Three: Overcomplicating Feedback Loops

Early in my career, I was obsessed with creating sophisticated feedback mechanisms. Anonymous suggestion boxes, quarterly communication surveys, focus groups, pulse surveys, 360-degree feedback platforms.

You know what I discovered after years of this? The best feedback comes from simply asking people directly.

"How's this working for you?"

That's it. Revolutionary stuff, I know.

What Actually Confuses People (And It's Not What You Think)

The biggest communication issue I see in Australian workplaces isn't unclear messages or poor technology. It's inconsistent expectations.

Your email says "urgent" but it sits in someone's inbox for three days because they're waiting for the "really urgent" follow-up call. Your instant message gets ignored because the recipient assumes if it was important, you would have called.

People aren't confused about what you're saying. They're confused about what level of response you're expecting.

Here's a simple framework that actually works:

Email = Read within 24 hours, respond within 48 hours
Phone call/Teams = Immediate attention required
Project management platform = Weekly check-ins sufficient

Post these rules somewhere visible. Enforce them consistently. Watch confusion disappear.

The Role of Technology (Less is More)

I'm not anti-technology. Used properly, communication tools can be brilliant. But most companies implement technology without considering human behaviour.

Take Slack, for example. Fantastic tool when used correctly. Absolute chaos when every conversation happens in real-time across seventeen different channels.

The companies that succeed with modern communication tools are the ones that treat them like digital versions of physical spaces.

You wouldn't have sixteen different meeting rooms for the same type of conversation. Why have sixteen digital channels?

The Cultural Element Nobody Talks About

Here's something that might make some HR departments uncomfortable: not everyone communicates the same way, and that's perfectly fine.

Some of your team members will always prefer email. Others will always prefer face-to-face conversation. The goal isn't to force everyone into the same communication style. The goal is to create clear pathways between different styles.

Had a client in Brisbane - logistics company - where the warehouse staff never used the company communication app. Management kept complaining about "engagement levels."

Solution wasn't more training or different technology. Solution was a simple printed daily update sheet posted in the break room, with QR codes linking to digital versions for people who preferred that format.

Engagement went from 23% to 78% overnight.

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the ones everyone overlooks.

What's Actually Broken (And How to Fix It)

Most communication problems aren't communication problems. They're process problems disguised as communication problems.

When someone says "we need better communication," what they usually mean is "we need clearer expectations" or "we need more consistent follow-through."

Communication is just the delivery method. The real issue is usually unclear decision-making processes, inconsistent priorities, or poor time management.

You can have the most sophisticated communication platform in the world, but if nobody knows who's supposed to make decisions or when those decisions will be made, you'll still have confusion.

The Bottom Line

Your communication strategy is confusing because you're trying to solve human problems with technological solutions.

Start with clarity of purpose, add consistent expectations, and then - only then - choose the simplest technology that supports those goals.

And for the love of all that's holy, pick two communication methods and stick with them.

Everything else is just expensive distraction.

The mine workers in Darwin had it right all along. Sometimes the best communication strategy is the one that gets out of its own way.