Effects of Negative Communication in the Workplace

by Arnold Anderson, Demand Media

Common elements of negative communication include rumors, misinformation, misinterpretation, incomplete information and employee slander. While many of the elements are purposely initiated -- for example, employee slander -- other elements occur without any intent of malice, such as unknowingly relaying incomplete information. Communication is essential for maintaining a productive workplace. By understanding the effects of negative communication in the workplace, you can develop policies that help to decrease the problem and encourage positive communication.

Conflict

A negative side effect to negative communication is workplace conflict. When one employee spreads false rumors about another staff member, the result can often be a verbal or physical altercation between the two parties. But conflict resulting from negative communication is often not that straightforward. For example, if an administrative assistant relays instructions from her manager that are incomplete, but she does not realize they are incomplete, then any anger resulting from the incomplete instructions would be directed at the assistant, but she would not understand why the conflict started.

Morale

Negative communication, whether intended or not, can have an effect on staff morale. Persistent intended negative communication can add stress to the workplace that makes it difficult to develop a productive work environment. Unintentional negative communication can be forgiven up to a point, but when it becomes habitual, it can lead to a drop in staff confidence in the company.

Structure

When there is a culture of negative communication in the workplace, it tends to have an effect on organizational structure. Communication between departments and other parts of the company breaks down because the negative communication has degraded organizational communication to the point where it is no longer functional. This will leave departments and work groups on their own to answer their own questions and develop their own methods of getting the job done. In the end, the structure of the organization starts to break down.

Recovery

An atmosphere of negative communication can be extremely difficult for a workplace to recover from. Intentional and unintentional negative communication erodes trust, and it pervades discourse to the point where information must be checked several times before it is acted upon. The longer negative communication is allowed to degrade the quality of communication and teamwork in the workplace, the longer it takes for the workplace to recover and become productive.