How Leaders Can Turn Ineffective Communication Formats into Clarity
- Nia Janiar
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
At work, you have probably seen it yourself: ineffective communication formats, like meeting minutes that just record words, or bullet-point emails with no context that lead to more follow-ups.
Nobody on your team questions these formats. They feel safe, so they keep being used even when they are not effective—or even when people do not realize they are wrong. And if someone challenges them, the answer is often the same: “This is how we have always done it.”
Those kind of responses brings me back to the words of a computer scientist and mathematician, Grace Hopper: “The most dangerous phrase in the language is, ‘We have always done it this way.’”
It is dangerous, because that kind of comfort comes with a cost. Important information gets buried. Decisions slow down. And people lose confidence in their own writing, knowing deep down that what they are producing is not moving anyone to act.
When a leader decides to change
I know some leaders are aware of these costs and want to make a change. Fiona, our training coordinator, once told me about a discovery meeting she had with a leader from an investment company who was looking to join our corporate training program.
Maudy (not her real name), a corporate communications head, said her team relied almost entirely on WhatsApp for work updates. It was quick and easy, but it also created chaos. Important notes slipped away in the constant stream of messages. Context was missing. No one could retrace decisions when a problem came up.
And then, she made a bold move. She asked the entire organization to switch to email for updates.
The switch was not easy because employees had to adapt. WhatsApp was simple: you typed a quick line in a casual tone and hit send. Email, on the other hand, demanded structure and a semi-formal style. It required background, a clear explanation, and specific actions. And when that tone was not balanced, the writing often came across as stiff.
As predicted, the first emails were clumsy. Some lacked structure, others missed the point entirely. Some also struggled to adjust their tone to different audiences. An email to a director, of course, should not read the same as one sent to a colleague.
In our corporate training, Maudy’s team learns how to write emails with intention, using clear and concise language while keeping the full context intact, organizing their ideas so the message flows logically, and tailoring their writing to the intended audience.
To me, what Maudy did was truly inspiring, because the shift was never just about platforms from WhatsApp to email. It was about leadership. Because it takes courage for a leader to challenge old habits. It takes vision to say: “The way we have always done it is not serving us anymore. Let’s try something better.” And it takes persistence to guide a team through the discomfort of change until they discover the benefit for themselves.
A true leader seeks the best not only for the organization but also for the people within it. When writing improves, thinking improves as well, because clear writing is the natural outcome of clear thinking.
That is why I believe leaders play such an important role in breaking the ineffective communication into clarity. By challenging old communication formats, they do not just improve writing. They improve trust, speed, and the very way decisions are made.
Moving forward
If you are a leader who has noticed these patterns in your organization, you are already ahead. Awareness is the first step. The next step is equipping your team with the skills to adapt, so that writing is not just routine, but intentional.
That is the work we do in our The CommonGround Framework® (The CGF Model) corporate training: helping teams move past “we’ve always done it this way” and toward a culture of clarity. Because once people learn how to write with intention, the format—WhatsApp, email, report, proposal—no longer holds them back.
And that is the kind of change that lasts.
Nia Janiar
She is the Lead Writer at B/NDL Studios, bringing versatility to her craft—whether it's social posts, articles, or reports.