How to improve communication in the workplace: A science-backed strategy

You sent the message. But did anyone see it?

You push out a crucial announcement, but the frontline team never reads it. You update a policy, and new hires somehow miss it. You change a meeting room location, and half the attendees are no-shows. 

In a world where employees are drowning in tools and tasks, it’s no wonder important comms are slipping through the cracks.

69% of employees said their organization delivers inconsistent messaging across different communication channels.

But here’s the good news: there’s a smarter way to cut through the noise – and to make sure team members see, understand, and act on your messages. We’ll break down tactics for how to improve communication in the workplace, backed by real-world science. Let’s get started.

The problem: Why employees miss messages

Nobody’s inbox is getting lighter these days. The average employee is juggling multiple platforms, drowning in notifications, and trying to separate the have-to-knows from the mark-as-spam. And that’s just the beginning.

Then there’s the channel problem. Carefully crafted emails don’t reach frontline teams who might only check email once a week (if at all). That beautifully written intranet post? Many employees haven’t logged in since their first week. Even polished announcements can get buried in tools that feel more like a digital junk drawer than a reliable source of truth.

And to make things even more complicated, not everyone absorbs information the same way. Marketing research shows people need to hear a message multiple times before it sticks — a concept known as “effective frequency.”

In internal communications, the principle still applies, but the numbers look a bit different:

• Gen Z employees typically need around 2.8 exposures for a message to sink in. They prefer mobile apps and quick updates on collaboration tools.
• Baby Boomers often rely on email or printed materials and may need up to 5.1 exposures.
• Employees under heavy cognitive load (think: overloaded with tasks or switching contexts constantly) might need up to 37% more exposures to process and act on the same information.

The bottom line? Messages don’t fail because they aren’t important. They fail because they aren’t seen often enough, in the right places, or in the right format.

The science behind “effective frequency”

In marketing, consumers often need 6–8 exposures to engage with a message they didn’t ask for. 

But in the workplace, employees are already invested in what’s happening around them. Research shows they typically need just 3–5 exposures to fully absorb and act on internal messages.

Each exposure boosts comprehension and recall, increasing the chances your team will understand and take action.

But even if you get the frequency right, format and delivery still matter. Employees toggle between multiple apps, face inconsistent formatting across devices, and miss updates buried in little-used portals. 

Without a tailored multi-channel approach, even your most critical messages can get missed.

The consequences of workplace communication gaps

Here’s where it hurts most:

1. Frontline teams miss critical updates

These are the people who aren’t sitting at a desk. They’re out on the floor, in the field, or in customer-facing roles. Because they’re spending so much of their time away from their inboxes or chat apps, messages sent through emails or Teams messages just don’t connect. This leads to missed safety protocols or HR announcements.

2. New hires drown in information overload

New employees are already overwhelmed. You can’t expect them to dig through 12 emails to find the one update that matters. They need a better way to receive must-know info – again and again, in bite-sized pieces.

3. Knowledge workers waste time

One small update, missed by a few people, and suddenly the whole meeting’s delayed. If that room change had shown up everywhere – on digital signage, in the meeting invite, on their mobile – you’d be starting on time (and getting more done).

Only 26% of employees are completely satisfied with their company’s workplace tools and technologies…and that figure is only trending down.

6 best practices to improve employee communication in the workplace

A smart workplace communication strategy makes or breaks your internal comms. 

The most effective teams follow these tried-and-true best practices:

1. 1. Tier your messaging: Prioritize what must be seen by everyone. Important announcements get the full-court press across all channels, while FYI updates might just need a single touchpoint.

• Prioritize repetition: Repeated recall of information leads to retention rates as high as 80%. Look for ways to communicate the same information multiple times – for example, in an email, then in a chat app announcement, then on digital signs in the office. Each exposure builds understanding and increases the likelihood of action.

1. Match message to medium: Think about how your target audience is most likely to engage with your comms. Use digital signage for frontline workers who rarely access computers. Leverage collaboration tools for Gen Z and tech-savvy teams. Use printed notices or emails for Baby Boomers and other traditional communicators.
2. Create once, publish everywhere: Build your content in one place – like a detailed intranet post – then let technology do the heavy lifting by distributing tailored versions across multiple channels. No more copy-pasting the same message five different ways.
3. Avoid overload: Coordinate timing your comms across channels for maximum visibility without message fatigue.

Track engagement: Use analytics to see what’s actually landing. Monitor engagement by channel and content type, so you know what’s working – and where to fine-tune.

The benefits of improved workplace communication

By delivering information across multiple platforms in a coordinated way, your organization can ensure more thorough recall of the most important information. This helps make your team more aligned, more productive, and more ready for change.

But to put these best practices into action, you’ll need a workplace communication tool that’s built for purpose. Multiple disconnected comms channels just aren’t the right approach. A unified workplace experience platform (like Appspace) helps ensure that all your messages: 

• Show up in the right place
• Get seen by the right people
• Are formatted for action, not friction

These advanced comms platforms can also offer:

• Smart content adaptation that automatically tweaks your content to fit each channel
• Targeted amplification to reach specific audiences
• AI-powered tools that handle the heavy lifting of content adaptation

These capabilities help solve some of the biggest communication challenges you’re facing.

Research shows that 69% of employees say messaging is inconsistent across different communication channels, and only 21% feel their tools support real-time communication effectively. When messages are scattered or delayed, it’s harder for people to stay aligned and take action. 

A unified, data-driven approach helps cut through the noise, making communication clearer, faster, and more effective across the entire workplace.

Your action plan for making messages stick

Use this checklist to build your own multi-channel communication strategy that ensures important messages get seen, understood, and acted upon.

• Use 3–5 exposures across different channels
• Tailor channels to roles and demographic preferences
• Schedule messages strategically to avoid overload
• Track performance and adapt based on analytics
• Implement tools that amplify and simplify your communication strategy

Ready to make your messages unmissable?

Your comms deserve better than “sent” and “forgotten.” It’s time to turn up the volume on your messages and make them impossible to ignore.

Want to see how Appspace can improve your workplace communication? Check out our interactive demos, or try us for free.