Why Is Communication Important in the Workplace?

Ever feel like you’re swimming in information? Emails, texts, pings, videos, and endless scrolls of content...it’s everywhere. The problem is, most of it doesn’t help you.

It’s noise. In engineering, there’s a term for this: the “signal-to-noise ratio.” That’s the strength of the actual message compared to the junk that surrounds it.

I’d argue that a huge chunk of what hits us daily could be classified as junk, making it tough to focus on what really matters. The same thing happens at work. According to a Grammarly study, poor communication drains US businesses of $1.2 trillion a year.

Great communication means sending the right “signal” to the right people, with as little “noise” as possible.

The Problem: Too Much Noise

You know that feeling when your Slack lights up like a Christmas tree? Ping after ping, half of them irrelevant.

Then your inbox adds to the chaos with reply-all email chains that never seem to end. To top it off, people throw in jargon that sounds impressive but says almost nothing.

That’s noise.

In the workplace, this noise leads to missed deadlines, duplicated work, and growing frustration. As Mark Sanborn, the author of The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary, says, "In teamwork, silence isn't golden, it's deadly." 

Recent numbers back it up. Employees report that miscommunication or communication barriers result in missed goals (31%) and project incompletion (44%).

What Great Communication Looks Like

Pilots use a simple formula to cut through the noise: Who are you? Where are you? What do you want? No long stories, no extra fluff. Just clear, essential details that help everyone stay on the same page. 

That kind of clarity saves time, prevents mistakes, and, let’s be honest, reduces headaches.

Imagine if workplaces used the same approach. A meeting agenda that’s one page, not twenty. A Slack update that tells you the key point in two lines instead of a mini novel. An email subject line that says, “Budget due Friday” instead of “Following up regarding the previous discussion on financial tracking.” 

Small changes like these mean people don’t waste energy digging for the signal. Check out my video to learn how to think like a pilot when responding to emails. 

I’m a huge fan of Paul Bailey, the author of Peter Smart's Confessions and Gabriel's Lament, in this regard. He keeps the advice simple: ‘’Make sure to communicate your idea quickly and keep it straight to the point.’’ 

At the end of the day, the best communication looks a lot like good aviation: precise and easy to act on.

The Cost of Poor Communication

Think about a project that fell apart because the instructions weren’t clear. Maybe people doubled up on the same task or the final product didn’t match what leadership actually wanted. 

Stress is just one outcome of such miscommunication. It also costs a ton of money. 

In aviation, if details get buried in noise, the results can be catastrophic. At work, the consequences may not be life-or-death, but they can still cripple a team. 

A Project.co report found that 8% of businesses lose employees due to communication issues. A staggering 63% of employees report wasting time because of the same problems. 

These aren’t small side effects. They’re company-wide problems that ripple through every project. 

The price of poor communication is steep. But I’ve got good news: it’s also one of the most fixable problems in the workplace.

Practical Steps to Improve Workplace Communication

So far, we’ve talked about the problem of noise, what great communication looks like, and the steep cost of getting it wrong. The next question is obvious: how do you make it better? 

Relax. You don’t need a complete overhaul. 

A few practical shifts can cut through the clutter and bring clarity back to your team.

Simplify Messages 

Some people like to think that using complicated language makes them sound smart. The truth is it makes you harder to understand. 

People don’t have the time or patience to decode jargon. Say things plainly. 

Here’s an example: “Let’s synergize cross-functional deliverables.” What if I just said it like “Let’s work with the marketing team on the new product launch.” Easier to grasp, right? 

Choose the Right Medium

Not every message belongs in the same channel. Slack works best for quick updates or short reminders. Email is better when you need a record or more detail. 

Meetings should be reserved for topics that truly need discussion and back-and-forth. If you match the message with the right medium, people pay more attention.

Active Listening 

Bernard Baruch, the American statesman and financier, puts it quite plainly, ‘’Most of the successful people I've known are the ones who do more listening than talking.’’ That’s how important this skill is. 

In aviation, pilots use a “repeat back” method to verify instructions. One person gives the command, and the other repeats it to confirm. 

That habit prevents errors when the stakes are high. You can do the same at work. If someone outlines next steps, repeat them back in your own words. It shows you heard them and catches any confusion before it grows.

Clarify Priorities 

Every message should answer three simple questions: Who? What? When? 

Who’s responsible? 

What needs to be done? 

When is it due? 

Without those anchors, tasks float around in limbo. Clear priorities keep projects moving forward. Even better, everyone knows what they’re supposed to do. 

Ready to Cut Through the Noise? 

Think about it: planes stay safe in the sky because communication is short, clear, and impossible to misinterpret. Workplaces aren’t that different. 

When messages get cluttered with extra words or lost in endless threads, people waste time and projects stall. On the flip side, when you keep things simple, productivity climbs. 

Want to make your communication style more pilot-like? Check out my video on pilot communication in action. 

Sources: 

1. Businesswire: ‘’Grammarly and Harris Poll Research Estimates U.S. Businesses Lose $1.2 Trillion Annually to Poor Communication.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.  

2. HBR: ‘’Why Overhauling Internal Communications Could Be Your Greatest Revenue-Driver.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.  

3. Project.co: ‘’Communication Statistics 2025.’’ Accessed 10/05/2025.