Messages don’t reach the frontline. New hires get half the onboarding they need. Teams operate in silos. And suddenly, what looked like “a people problem” turns out to be a communication breakdown.

So we sat down with our leadership team—Patrick Van Der Mijl (CEO), Daren Jennings (CCO), and Andrea Popma (Senior Director of Customer Success and Customer Support)—to unpack the most common assumptions about communication we see companies still holding onto when it comes to internal communication.

Here’s what they had to say—and why it’s time to let go of these three outdated assumptions.

3 Assumptions About Communication in the Workplace You Need to Let Go

Assumption #1: “Communication comes naturally.”

Let’s unpack this false assumption first.

Talking is natural. Effective workplace communication? That’s a whole different story—especially when you’re leading a workforce that doesn’t sit at a desk all day.

“Communication has to be intentional,” says Patrick Van Der Mijl, CEO and Co-founder of Speakap. “We’ve seen too many companies rely on generic tools that weren’t built for how their people actually work. And the result? Disconnection. Confusion. Missed opportunities.”

It’s not that people don’t want to communicate—it’s that they haven’t been given the right tools or the right channels. And for deskless teams, that gap is even wider.

“Deskless employees can’t afford to dig through inboxes or navigate clunky intranets,” adds Andrea Popma. “They need communication that’s mobile-first, real-time, and in their language—literally and culturally.”

Reality check: Don’t confuse casual chat with effective communication. The ability to communicate with clarity is a skill—one your team deserves support to build.

Assumption #2: “Our communication is working just fine.”

Look closer. It probably isn’t.

Most organizations don’t realize their internal comms are broken until something goes wrong—high turnover, low engagement, inconsistent execution across locations.

“I’ve had conversations with leaders who were completely confident in their communication setup,” says Daren Jennings, Chief Commercial Officer at Speakap. “Then we run a quick audit, and they’re shocked to see how many people weren’t even receiving updates—let alone acting on them.”

Disconnected systems. Over-reliance on managers to cascade messages. Important updates lost in the noise. It’s not just inefficient—it’s risky.

“When communication is spread across too many tools, it’s not just hard to manage—it’s impossible to measure,” Patrick explains. “You can’t improve what you can’t see. That’s where a centralized platform makes all the difference.”

Reality check: Don’t rely on assumptions. Build feedback loops. Centralize messages. And encourage open communication that makes space for questions, reactions, and people’s points of view.

Assumption #3: “Communication isn’t a business risk.”

Spoiler: It absolutely is.

Think poor communication is just an inconvenience? Think again. It leads to compliance failures, safety incidents, delayed rollouts, and missed KPIs.

“This isn’t just about messaging—it’s about business outcomes,” Daren says. “If your workforce isn’t aligned, your operations aren’t either. And that shows up in your customer experience, your margins, and your retention rates.”

And here’s the part companies often miss: communication gaps are costing you money. Every time an update gets lost, a policy goes unread, or a training is skipped, your business takes a hit.

“When leaders start connecting the dots between miscommunication and real cost—whether it’s turnover or lost productivity—they stop seeing communication as ‘nice to have,’” says Andrea. “They start seeing it as core infrastructure.”

Reality check: Miscommunication in the workplace can be surprisingly expensive, leading to productivity gaps, employee turnover, and even safety risks. Spoiler: those “little misunderstandings” add up fast.

Time to rethink the status quo

If any of these assumptions about communication sound familiar, it’s time to step back and reassess. Because in a world where speed, clarity, and connection are everything—your communication strategy needs to be more than good intentions.

It needs to work.

And it needs to scale.

At Speakap, we help businesses eliminate communication issues by giving frontline and office teams one connected platform. Real-time updates. Clear messages. Measurable results.

No more blind spots. No more tool overload. Just smarter communication that delivers real results.

‍