Category: Business writing

The brevity of social media-style communication can create significant ‘blindspots’ that obscure meaning and ultimately cost far more than the time saved.

If you’re reading this post, you’re no stranger to workplace miscommunication. You’ve likely observed that in the rush to be concise, clarity can be compromised.

Maybe you’re a Learning and Development Manager who’s expected to find training solutions to the problem of miscommunication.

Bosses complain about information overload and lack of time to read documents, so they want you to make sure everyone else learns how to write concisely. But what does that mean? Just writing fewer words? Passing over punctuation? Machine-gunning bullet points?

The difference between brevity and concision is not well-understood. Instead of writing and editing skilfully for clarity and concision, message senders expect texting-style ‘shortcuts’ to do the job, e.g. abbreviations, emojis, and multiple one-line pings instead of one longer message.

This approach assumes the reader will ‘get’ what the writer means quickly. Yet, the room for misinterpretation is enormous, often with serious consequences.

Brevity can cause Titanic-like turmoil. What can you do to mitigate this kind of miscommunication? I’ll share some ideas, but let’s start with understanding the problem better.

The brevity paradox

The digital revolution has fundamentally altered how we communicate. Social media platforms, messaging apps, and collaboration tools like Slack and Teams have trained us to value brevity above all else. We abbreviate, truncate, and compress our thoughts to fit smaller screens and shorter attention spans. The pervasive influence of instant messaging cannot be ignored.

Research by Gligorić, Anderson, and West confirmed this shift in their study Causal Effects of Brevity on Style and Success in Social Media. They noted that “short messages are well-suited to small screens, and images with few words in large text are often shared widely.”

Similarly, the Pew Research Center’s study on The Future of Digital Spaces and Their Role in Democracy found that the migration to mobile devices has accelerated our preference for shorter, more visually-oriented communications.

Brevity, sometimes interpreted as concise communication, offers clear benefits, like:

• Better readability on mobile devices – short, easily digestible messages are crucial for effective communication on smaller screens
• More engagement with key messages – quicker to read and easier to understand messages are more likely to be acted upon, particularly in fast-paced environments
• Improved clarity – concise communication forces the distillation of ideas, removing the details that don’t matter.
• Reduced cognitive load for busy professionals – time and effort savings for both writer and reader.

But what happens when we apply digital communication styles to complex workplace interactions? Brevity can backfire, and the results may cost more than what’s saved.

When business communicators, especially ‘digital natives’, confuse brevity with concision, they often make these mistakes:

• Eliminating context that readers need to understand the implications
• Using ambiguous abbreviations and personal shorthand
• Omitting crucial details that impact decision-making
• Relying on emojis to convey complex emotions or intent
• Sending multiple fragmented messages instead of one complete thought

Concise writing means constructing sentences carefully with deliberate word choices and correct punctuation – focusing not on the word count but on making every word count, so your reader is in no doubt about what you want them to know.

And they’re not blindsided by the proverbial berg beneath the surface.

Misplaced brevity’s business impact

Productivity erosion
When project communications lack context, a team can waste hours pursuing misaligned objectives. That means missed deadlines, redoing the work, and readjusting the budget. Research from McKinsey Global Institute estimated that employees spend as much as 28% of their workweek managing email and nearly 20% searching for internal information or tracking down colleagues who can help. That’s a lot of time spent clarifying ambiguous communications.

Profitability hits
A SIS International Research study found that a business with 100 employees spends an average of 17 hours per week clarifying communication, which translates to an annual cost of $528,443.

Dud decision-making
Critical nuances omitted from reports or analyses lead to flawed decisions, often with far-reaching consequences. A single missing data point could reshape an entire strategy.

The tone trap
Without vocal intonation and facial expressions, brief written messages can come across as cold, dismissive, or even hostile. A message intended as efficient might be perceived as uncaring (my pet hate: ‘Noted with thanks’). The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published a study titled Egocentrism Over Email, which found that people overestimate their ability to communicate effectively via email by more than 50%. The senders believed their tone would be correctly interpreted, but the recipients frequently misunderstood it.

Relationship ruin
Brief client communications lacking personalisation or detail can signal indifference, eroding trust and potentially jeopardising relationships.

Compliance and legal vulnerability
Abbreviated policy documents or instructions create dangerous interpretation gaps, exposing organisations to significant liabilities around service delivery and workplace health and safety.

Team disenchantment
Consistently receiving terse, context-free communications makes people feel undervalued and disconnected. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report tells us that poor communication is a major contributor to employee disengagement. Companies committed to high-quality internal communications, however, enjoy 41% lower absenteeism and 21% higher productivity.

Balancing brevity with effectiveness

Here are 5 ways you could approach the ‘brevity versus concision’ problem.

1. Redefine concision when talking about communication
   Encourage managers and team leaders to be specific about what they mean when they say ‘be concise’ – is it half a page or 100 words with a diagram? Replace ‘keep it short’ with ‘make every word count’.
   
   
2. Develop communication guidelines
   Create protocols for when to use different communication methods and what level of detail is appropriate for each. For example, help employees understand that an email might require more context than a chat message (developing team-based communication protocols is a popular activity in my True Colors workshops).
   
   
3. Foster fair feedback
   Establish processes that allow individuals and teams to safely provide input on communication effectiveness without fear of criticism.
   
   
4. Invest in business writing workshops
   Look for programs that address the nuanced skills of balancing clarity with concision, selecting appropriate tone, and crafting messages with intention. Effective communication training offers one of the highest ROIs of any L&D investment.
   
   
5. Aim for audience-centred writing practices
   Ensure any business writing training includes identifying what information is truly essential to the reader’s understanding and decision-making. This includes considering their knowledge base, information needs, and potential interpretation before sending communications.

 When your teams communicate with precision, purpose, and empathy, you’ll see tangible positive impacts, like:

• Faster project completion with fewer iterations and missed deadlines
• More aligned and engaged teams working toward common goals
• Stronger client relationships built on reliable understanding
• Reduced risk of costly misunderstandings
• Higher employee satisfaction and talent retention

The digital transformation of communication isn’t reversing, but your organisation can learn to navigate it skilfully with the right training.

If you’re ready to invest in concise business writing skills for your people instead of wondering what’s happened to your productivity and profitability, book a complimentary, unconditional Tell Me More call. 

Book a Tell Me More Call 

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Stop wasting time
(that you don’t have) wondering if communication training is worth it.

Honestly, how often have you sat in a meeting distracted by wondering if everyone is actually on the same page?

Or tried to decipher an email that could have been a 2-minute conversation?

If you’ve run out of fingers and toes to count, you’re definitely not alone.

Research continues to highlight the underestimated cost of communication challenges in the workplace.

NewZapp’s 2024 report says a staggering 86% of employees and executives attribute workplace failures to a lack of effective communication. This clearly shows that communication isn’t just a minor operational detail; it’s a fundamental driver of success or failure.

We’re not just talking about a few misunderstandings here and there. Teams are losing, on average, 7.47 hours per week due to communication breakdowns. That’s almost a full workday spent on unclear emails, misinterpreted instructions, and unproductive meetings.

Australian Institute of Management’s (AIM) 2019 study found that communication skills were lacking in the majority of Australian leadership teams, with 35.7% of respondents believing their leaders needed to strengthen these skills.

These statistics highlight that poor communication is a significant issue in Australian workplaces, reducing productivity and impacting negatively on employee engagement and retention.

Your time is better spent looking at ways to invest in communication skills and strategies that improve organisational outcomes.

Why this should be top of mind (the “why this is important” bit)

Now, if you’re in HR, Peopleand Culture, Learning and Development, or a team leader striving for better results, these numbers aren’t just abstract figures. They translate directly into tangible losses:

• Financial drain: Think about those lost hours. Multiply that by the salaries of your team members, and you’ll quickly see the significant financial impact of communication inefficiencies. When communication falters, projects stall, errors increase, and resources are used inefficiently. These seemingly small daily hiccups accumulate into big budget blowouts.
  
  Grammarly’s 2023 research revealed that miscommunication costs US businesses, for example, an average of $12,506 per employee annually. So, a company with around 100 employees could be losing over $1.2 million each year. This has to directly impact profitability and the ability to invest in growth.

• Energy sap: Poor communication breeds frustration, confusion, and even conflict. This drains team morale and individual energy levels. Instead of focusing on their core tasks, employees are spending their time clarifying, correcting, and smoothing over misunderstandings. This can lead to burnout and decreased engagement.

• Reduced efficiency: Teams bogged down by unclear instructions or misunderstandings spend more time on clarification and rework, diverting their focus from core objectives and slowing down overall progress. NewZapp also reported that Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index found that 64% of employees struggle to allocate time and energy effectively due to poor communication, hindering their ability to innovate and think creatively.

• Well-being hit: Constant miscommunication creates stress and anxiety. Feeling unheard or misunderstood can significantly impact an individual’s sense of belonging and psychological safety within the team. Poor communication can erode trust, increase frustration, and hinder collaboration. When team members don’t feel heard or understood, poor morale and unnecessary tension start to build.

What does cost-effective team communication actually look like? (i.e. why the training is worth it)

Effective communication isn’t just about being clear. It’s about a consistent and intentional approach to how information is exchanged and understood within a team. Here’s how to recognise it:

Defined communication protocols: Teams that establish clear guidelines for communication – such as expected response times, meeting prep and preferred communication channels – experience less friction and more predictability. Knowing when to pick up the phone, schedule a quick chat, or use a collaborative platform can significantly improve efficiency.

Example: a marketing team might use Slack for daily quick questions and updates, email for formal client communication, and a project management tool like Trello for tracking campaign progress and assigning tasks.

Structured and purposeful meetings: Instead of ad-hoc gatherings, meetings have clear agendas, often circulated in advance. Roles and responsibilities during the meeting are understood, and action items with owners and deadlines are documented and followed up on.

Example: a project team might start each week with a 30-minute stand-up meeting with a defined agenda: progress on key tasks, roadblocks, and priorities for the week.

Active listening: It’s not just about waiting for your turn to speak. Active listening involves truly understanding the other person’s perspective, asking clarifying questions, and providing feedback to ensure comprehension. This fosters a culture of respect and reduces the chances of misinterpretation (read more about this here).

Example: a team leader shows interest in a colleague’s request for help by looking at and orienting their whole body towards the person speaking.

Self and social awareness: Recognising different communication styles and adapting your approach accordingly can significantly improve understanding and collaboration. Being aware of non-verbal cues and motives is also key.

Example: a team leader arranges a True Colors workshop to help everyone understand what matters to each person, what will bring out their best at work.

Clear, concise, purposeful written communication: Emails and documents are well-structured. Subject lines are informative and key messages are easy to identify. Messages are unambiguous, jargon is minimised, and the purpose is clear from the outset. Think about the effort put into crafting a concise and impactful subject line for an email – it saves everyone time.

Example: an email announcing a policy change might have a subject line that states “Action Required – Update to Expense Reporting Policy”, with content in the email outlining the changes, the reason for the changes, and the steps employees need to take.

Regular and constructive feedback mechanisms: Effective communication includes defined processes for giving and receiving feedback, both positive and constructive. This might be through regular one-on-one meetings, project post-mortems, or 360-degree feedback processes.

Example: a team leader schedules monthly individual check-ins with each team member to discuss their progress, challenges, and areas for development, providing specific examples and actionable suggestions.

Psychological safety: Team members should feel comfortable asking “silly” questions, admitting mistakes, and challenging ideas without fear of judgment or negative consequences for having diverse perspectives.

Example: during a brainstorming session, a leader might explicitly state that all ideas are welcome and encourage quieter team members to share their thoughts.

How communication training makes a tangible, “bottom line” difference

Investing in communication training is a strategic move that directly influences your organisation’s success. Electro IQ’s analysis indicated that organisations with strong, well-known internal communication protocols are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers.

And McKinsey research shows that well-connected teams can experience a 20-25% increase in productivity.

By equipping your teams with effective communication strategies through targeted training, you can:

Reduce operational costs: Fewer errors and less rework due to miscommunication translate into tangible cost savings.

Complete projects faster: Clear communication streamlines workflows and reduces delays caused by misunderstandings.

Boost morale and talent retention: Employees who feel heard and understood are more engaged and less likely to seek opportunities elsewhere.

Investing in communication training as a strategic imperative

It’s time to view effective team communication not just as a “soft skill” but as fundamental to organisational performance. The evidence is clear: poor communication is a costly drain on time, resources, and well-being. By prioritising and investing in developing strong communication capabilities within your teams, you’re making a strategic investment in your organisation’s future success.

When you shift from simply talking to truly connecting and understanding each other, making effective communication a priority, you’ll unlock greater productivity, stronger collaboration, and a more positive and profitable workplace.

If you’re ready to spend some time looking at ways to invest in communication skills instead of wondering what’s happened to your productivity and profitability, book a complimentary, unconditional Tell Me More call. 

Book a Tell Me More Call 

Tap back to Communisence for more practical tips