Strong communication is the driving force for everything you do at work. As a project manager, it’s your responsibility to set the tone for how your team members communicate with one another. In this piece, we discuss the importance of team communication and provide strategies for how to improve engagement in the workplace. Your communication style says a lot about you as a leader. Are you supportive and relaxed as you guide your team through creative projects?

Communication tools are an integral part of effective team collaboration. In this article, we take a look at the five most important features of communication tools, then review the four must-have types of communication tools your team needs. Effective communication is one of the most important parts of any business. By enabling easy communication, you unlock collaboration and make it easier for team members to focus on the work that matters.

It is always observed that minor break-ups in communication in a busy hospital can create huge problems, sometimes causing threats to life also. It is not only disturbing when a nurse fails to get a doctor in time, or an important update about the patient’s condition is lost among the informational noise – it directly affects the patient.

You’ve probably been there before: sitting in a meeting when someone asks a question that you could have sworn was covered in last week’s email. There’s no time to search your inbox. The conversation has moved on and now you are trying to reconstruct bits of information from colleagues on the hallway or over lunch.

You know that feeling when you are about to get to work on some project, but can’t seem to find the latest update on it? Someone mentioned it in a meeting; another dropped a note in the group chat, and there’s probably an e-mail about it somewhere-if only you could remember the subject line. The result? Time wasted, frustration rising, and teamwork feeling like anything but seamless. That is where employee communication apps come in, saving the day.

‍ In August 2005, during Hurricane Katrina in the US, emergency responders and national leaders struggled to react effectively due to incompatible military communication systems. Similar issues were observed during NATO’s 2023 Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise, where senior military and civilian leaders identified the operational challenges posed by incompatible military communication systems among allied forces.

Let’s discuss something we all know, but don’t really ever talk about: the incredible ease at which customer communication can go south. Tomorrow, you’re celebrating a successful sale; the next thing you know, you are knee-deep in a miscommunication that could have been avoided. Maybe it’s because of some overlooked order update, delayed response to an inquiry, or a tone that didn’t go as well as you had planned.

‍ In November 2024, a ransomware attack on Blue Yonder, a supply chain software provider for Starbucks, disrupted the company's scheduling and payment systems across its 11,000 North American stores. Managers were forced to revert to pen and paper to track employee hours and process payroll. Implementing out of band communication solutions can mitigate such risks for enterprises by providing secure, independent channels for coordination during crises.

‍ Critical IT incidents demand swift and reliable communication. Yet, conventional communication channels often rely on the same infrastructure under attack. This vulnerability was starkly illustrated by the 2024 CrowdStrike incident, where a faulty software upgrade triggered a global IT outage, costing businesses an estimated $5.4 billion. The incident exposed a critical flaw: relying on "in band" communication for incident response.

‍ Communication systems are the backbone of defense operations, keeping decision-makers and personnel connected to ensure missions run smoothly and don't fall apart. According to the second annual State of Military Communications study, 97% of military personnel experience connectivity loss at some point.