70% of Startup Companies Face Communication Difficulties, Study Reveals

Turns out it’s not just your office.

High turnover and lack of capital are just two of the many startup stigmas. As technology continues to advance, the challenges faced by small businesses evolve. According to an independent study conducted by Undock, 70% of startup companies face communication difficulties. This is what previous startup employees had to say about their experiences with communication (or lack thereof) in the workplace:

Too Many Channels

With no set structure for team communication, staff are confined to the depths of hundreds of messaging channels. Rebel against the Slack way of life, and you will be shunned as unproductive and low-producing. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?

Lack of Communication

Depending on the stage of the startup, you could be answering to the founder or a team of higher ups. Either way, management is always busy. This gets tricky, especially with remote work. With unanswered emails, messages and calls, some employees struggle with the ambiguity.

Can’t Turn Off

While we know that startup hours traditionally exist outside of the 9–5 schedule, it’s important to value and honor the teams’ life outside of work (R-E-S-P-E-C-T). Employees find it difficult to turn off while receiving emails, meeting invitations, and messaging across various channels, all evening and weekend long.

If you experience any of the above communication challenges within your team, don’t be afraid to be the disruptor and encourage change. An efficient communication system will increase the happiness of your employees and ultimately drive more revenue to your business. It’s a win-win situation.

Fortunately, our office uses Undock, a unified communications platform that keeps all of our conversations in one place, sends us reminders when we haven’t spoken to each other in a while and allows us to unplug when we need time away from work. Comment below if communication is broken at your company!