When Silence Becomes the Story: How Broken Internal Comms Rewires Your Team
We know broken communication when we see it—the confused faces in meetings, the duplicated efforts across departments, the quiet frustration of people who feel left out of decisions that affect their work. But here's what we rarely talk about: communication isn't just about sharing information. It's literally rewiring how your team thinks, feels, and functions together.
The absence of intentional internal communication doesn't create a neutral space. It creates a vacuum that gets filled with assumptions, anxiety, and isolation. And in that vacuum, your organizational culture doesn't just suffer—it transforms into something you probably never intended.
The Real Problem: When Silence Becomes the Story
Most organizations treat internal communication like a nice-to-have—something to think about when there's time, budget, or a crisis to manage. But behavioral science tells us something different: the quality of communication within your team is actively shaping the neural pathways that determine how people show up to work every day.
When communication is inconsistent, unclear, or absent, here's what actually happens to your people:
Trust erodes in real-time. Without regular, transparent updates, people start filling in the gaps with worst-case scenarios. That project delay? Must mean the organization is struggling. That leadership meeting? Probably deciding who to let go. Silence doesn't feel neutral—it feels ominous.
Decision-making gets hoarded or paralyzed. When people don't understand how decisions are made or what information is considered important, they either stop making decisions altogether (waiting for someone else to weigh in) or make decisions in isolation, leading to duplicated efforts and misaligned priorities.
Psychological safety plummets. Amy Edmondson's research on psychological safety shows us that people need to feel safe to speak up, ask questions, and admit mistakes. But when communication flows only one way—or barely flows at all—people learn that their input isn't valued or wanted.
Silos solidify into walls. Without intentional cross-departmental communication, teams develop their own languages, priorities, and cultures. What starts as specialization becomes isolation, making collaboration feel forced and uncomfortable.
The cost isn't just inefficiency. It's human. People leave organizations not because of the work itself, but because of how the work feels—disconnected, uncertain, and lonely.
What Your Team Is Actually Experiencing
Before we can fix internal communication, we need to name what broken communication feels like from the inside:
"I never know what's going on." People feel like they're always playing catch-up, hearing about important decisions secondhand or stumbling into changes that affect their work.
"My questions don't seem welcome." When leaders only share polished updates or final decisions, it sends a signal that the messy middle—where most of the real work happens—isn't worth discussing.
"I don't know how my work connects to the bigger picture." Without regular context about organizational priorities and progress, individual contributors can't see how their daily tasks matter.
"Other teams feel like strangers." People know their immediate colleagues but have no sense of what's happening in other departments, leading to duplicated efforts and missed opportunities for collaboration.
"I'm not sure if I should speak up." When communication feels formal or hierarchical, people stop bringing up concerns, ideas, or early-stage problems that could be addressed before they become crises.
This isn't just about information flow. It's about belonging, agency, and psychological safety—the foundational elements that determine whether people do their best work or just get by.
Reframing Internal Communication: From Broadcasting to Behavior Change
Here's where the research gets interesting. Companies like Buffer have demonstrated that radical transparency doesn't just improve information sharing—it fundamentally changes how people relate to their work and each other. When Buffer openly shares salary formulas, revenue metrics, and even strategic struggles, they create what they call "greater justice" and increased feedback loops.
Similarly, Southwest Airlines' "Fireside Chats" during the pandemic weren't just about delivering news. CEO Gary Kelly's vulnerable, direct communication style created a sense of shared reality and mutual trust that helped the organization navigate unprecedented challenges.
These examples point to a crucial insight: good internal communication is a behavior change intervention, not an information management system.
When you communicate with transparency, vulnerability, and consistency, you're not just sharing updates. You're teaching people that:
Questions are welcome and valuable
Uncertainty is normal and can be discussed openly
Their input matters and will be considered
The organization trusts them with the full picture
Learning and adaptation are ongoing processes
The Working Out Loud Revolution: Making Learning Visible
One of the most powerful frameworks emerging from organizational psychology is "Working Out Loud" (WOL), developed by John Stepper. At its core, WOL challenges the assumption that communication should only happen when you have something finished to share.
Instead, WOL encourages people to share their work in progress, their questions, and their learning process. Companies like GE have used WOL circles to break down departmental barriers and create what they call "grassroots culture shifts."
The magic happens when people start sharing:
What they're working on and why it matters
Where they're stuck and what help they need
What they're learning and how it might apply to others' work
How their projects connect to broader organizational goals
This isn't just about transparency—it's about creating a culture where learning is collective and visible, where people feel connected to something larger than their individual tasks.
A Practical Approach: Building Internal Communication That Actually Works
Ready to start shifting your internal communication from chaos to connection? Here's a manageable approach that builds on the research while respecting the reality of busy, resource-limited teams:
Phase 1: Assess and Acknowledge (Weeks 1-2)
Start with an honest audit of your current communication landscape:
Map Your Current Channels List every way your team currently communicates (email, Slack, meetings, documents, hallway conversations). For each channel, note:
What it's supposed to be used for
What it's actually used for
How often people check it
Whether it creates clarity or confusion
Survey Your Team Ask three simple questions:
Do you feel informed about what's happening in our organization?
Do you feel comfortable asking questions or sharing concerns?
Do you understand how your work connects to our broader goals?
Name the Gaps Where are the biggest disconnects between what you intend to communicate and what people are actually experiencing?
Phase 2: Establish Foundations (Weeks 3-4)
Create a Communication Charter Work with your team to establish:
What internal communication is for (beyond just sharing information)
How you want it to feel (transparent, supportive, connecting)
What channels will be used for what purposes
How often people can expect updates
Model Vulnerability from Leadership Leaders should start sharing not just decisions, but decision-making processes:
"Here's what we're considering and why"
"Here's what we don't know yet and how we're learning"
"Here's a mistake we made and what we learned from it"
Phase 3: Build Rhythms (Weeks 5-8)
Establish Predictable Touchpoints Create regular opportunities for different types of communication:
Weekly: Team-level updates and check-ins
Monthly: Cross-departmental sharing or "Working Out Loud" sessions
Quarterly: Transparent progress reviews and priority adjustments
Create Feedback Loops Build in regular opportunities to assess and adjust your communication:
End meetings with "What was clear? What was confusing?"
Include communication questions in employee surveys
Hold quarterly "communication retrospectives"
Phase 4: Evolve and Integrate (Ongoing)
Make Communication Everyone's Responsibility Help people understand that good internal communication isn't just the job of leaders or communications staff. Everyone can:
Share context about their work and priorities
Ask clarifying questions instead of making assumptions
Connect people who should know each other
Celebrate and amplify good communication when they see it
Experiment with New Formats Try approaches inspired by the research:
"Fireside chat" style updates from leadership
Cross-functional project demos or show-and-tells
Structured peer learning circles
Transparent goal tracking and progress sharing
The Transformation: From Chaos to Connection
Organizations that invest in intentional internal communication don't just become more efficient—they become more human. People feel more connected to their work, more confident in their contributions, and more capable of navigating uncertainty together.
The behavioral science is clear: how you communicate shapes how people think, feel, and act. When you communicate with transparency, vulnerability, and consistency, you're not just sharing information—you're building the neural pathways that create psychological safety, collective learning, and adaptive capacity.
Your internal communication strategy isn't just about keeping people informed. It's about creating the conditions where your team can do their best work, together.
Ready to start transforming your internal communication? Download our Internal Communication Audit Tool to assess your current state and identify your first steps toward building a more connected, resilient team culture.
