W
hen it comes to how often organization leaders communicate with employees, executives should default to more rather than less, according to a recent article by the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Internal and executive communications can be like walking a tight rope of sorts. While employees tend to complain about managers who bombard them with information via emails, memos, chat notifications, and more, leaders who say little are often viewed as uncaring. That can lead to frustration and lack of trust, which can quickly erode morale and productivity. If managers are not trusted by their teams, their leadership abilities will inevitably be questioned as well.
“Overcommunication may be seen as annoying and a nuisance, but it’s not seen as a damning flaw for a leader, partly because a leader’s overcommunication is seen as an attempt to benefit you, even if it is misguided, as opposed to an attempt to undermine you or simply ignore you,” said Francis Flynn, professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Flynn and Stanford doctoral candidate Chelsea Lide examined the issue in a recent paper and found that perceived intent was critical in how employees viewed the ideal amount of communication. Even if overcommunicating leaders didn’t quite meet the expectations of their teams in terms of quantity and quality, they were still seen as being well-intentioned. By contrast, under communicating leaders were seen as not trying at all. Flynn and Lide defined communication as task-related messages in their studies, rather than small talk or conversation.
Communication frequency received much more attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, as in-person work came to a halt and workers relied on their managers for rapidly changing company updates and safety protocols. Workers needed to hear from their managers and leaders, and those who delivered that needed communication likely saw better results from their teams—even if their updates weren’t always positive.
“It brought into sharp relief just how important communication was, not only in terms of the message being communicated, but also how often people are checking in with one another and exactly how detailed leaders are being in their communication to employees,” Lide said.
Flynn and Lide recommend leaders ask their employees about their communication preferences and always communicate more when in doubt. Flynn noted that many leaders overestimate their current level of communication.
Their research also led the authors to advise against giving employees too much autonomy. “It’s very popular, especially in certain industries, to sell the narrative of complete autonomy,” Lide said. “For that reason, I think managers might be biased toward leaving people to their own devices, whether that’s in the employees’ best interests or not.”
Instead, the additional touchpoints or more detailed messages will provide employees the direction they need – and many times desire – to be successful and continue their professional development.
Flynn and Lide recommend leaders ask their employees about their communication preferences and always communicate more when in doubt. Flynn noted that many leaders overestimate their current level of communication.