How many times have we sat down with a manager and asked what would help them communicate better?
The Axios HQ Internal Communications report notes that ineffective communication costs an individual employee over 35 working days a year in lost productivity. The Gallagher Employee Communications Report 2025/26 is direct about it. 87% of IC professionals identify manager effectiveness as a risk to their communication function. Only 21% say their organisation provides managers with toolkits or resources to support them.
This gap explains why manager communication doesn’t improve even though everyone says it’s critical.
I talked with a few managers (names changed for anonymity) bout what happens when they’re asked to communicate organizational change.
Lisa: “I’m supposed to tell my team this is a great decision for the business. But I think it’s great for shareholders and difficult for us operationally. How do I sell something I don’t believe?”
Marcus: “I haven’t been given enough information to understand the reasoning. I’m just supposed to repeat what I was told. That’s distribution.”
Priya: “The timing feels wrong. We’re asking for behavior change while people are still processing the last set of changes. But I’m not supposed to say that.”
David: “My team trusts me because I’ve been straight with them. Now I’m being asked to sell something I have concerns about. The minute I do that, I lose their trust. But if I express concerns, I’m told I’m not a team player.”
What they’re describing is a trust issue.
Lisa: “If someone from communications sat down with me before a big announcement and said ‘here’s what’s changing, here’s why, here’s what we don’t know yet, here’s what your team will care about, what are your concerns,’ that would help. But that conversation doesn’t happen.”
Marcus: “What I need is information. Real information. Not messaging. Information I can work with to explain this to people who depend on me.”
Priya: “And I need permission to acknowledge that change is hard. My team knows it’s hard. Pretending it isn’t just makes me look dishonest.”
David: “I need to know my job is to help my team navigate this, not convince them it’s amazing. Those are different jobs.”
How do you see it?
- What’s the biggest gap between what you need from communications and what you’re getting? If you’re a manager, I mean.
- If you’re in communications, when was the last time you actually asked a manager what would help them communicate better? And what did you learn that surprised you?
- What would change if you sent managers information instead of talking points?
