Last year, Grammarly’s State of Business Communication report with The Harris Poll demonstrated that ineffective communication claims almost an entire work day each week in lost productivity. This year’s State of Business Communication report shows how the effects of poor communication are deepening, with new levels of nuance and urgency. 

The findings show that the very nature and means of communication are changing, with a rise in written communication. The data also shows that the effects of poor communication are growing year over year, with leaders reporting a 15% drop in productivity due to ineffective communication. Businesses that do nothing to solve written communication challenges will only see the risks grow over time as the nature of communication continues to evolve. 

The rise of asynchronous work creates greater urgency to improve written communication

Data from this year’s State of Business Communication report shows that asynchronous communication is on the rise, with 72% of knowledge workers* reporting that they communicated more asynchronously than they did last year. Asynchronous communication is characterized by interactions that take place not in real time. 

Alongside a shift toward asynchronous work, knowledge workers must communicate more in a written format to convey information and ideas on channels that support asynchronous collaboration, such as email and text-based chat. Data from this year’s report shows that the amount of time knowledge workers spend on written communication channels has increased by 18% since last year.  

As the amount of written communication grows, leaders who ignore effective writing as an imperative skill set will see inefficiencies pile up across the organization. Businesses must address inconsistent and unclear interactions to reduce friction, eliminate costly revisions, and improve employee engagement for higher productivity levels. 

Strong written communication boosts employee engagement and productivity 

Data from this year’s report shows that teams are struggling to communicate in the written format. While 67% of knowledge workers reported that the verbal communication they received from others was effective, this number drops to 60% for written communication and to 55% for written communication from senior leaders.  

When organizations foster strong written communication, business metrics such as engagement and productivity improve. Data from this year’s report shows that confident written communicators rated their engagement in their role an average of 7.8 out of 10, compared to 6.5 out of 10 for workers who felt unconfident in their written communication skills. Confident writers were also more self-assured in their day-to-day work, rating their overall work confidence a 7.8 out of 10, compared to 6.2 out of 10 for those who weren’t confident in their writing capabilities. 

A more engaged and confident workforce directly affects productivity and the overall work quality across an organization. More than half of knowledge workers reported that they were more productive as a result of effective communication at work. 

Effective written communication also drives customer satisfaction

A recent study found that almost half of consumers now use more digital channels to interact with businesses than before 2020. As a result, companies now interact with customers in a more fragmented way across a variety of channels and increasingly on platforms that require written communication. The same study found that the use of text-based messaging apps to communicate with customers had almost doubled since 2020. 

This year’s State of Business Communication report shows how valuable communication is for achieving positive customer interactions and driving revenue. Most business leaders (63%) said effective communication directly affected customer satisfaction, and 69% of those leaders said customer satisfaction scores increased by 10% when communication was effective. Businesses also benefit from net-new business when employees communicate well. One out of three business leaders said effective communication had helped them gain new business deals. 

Business leaders must take action to improve written communication

Data from this year’s report shows an interesting gap between perception and reality when it comes to the effectiveness of one’s own communication skills. Knowledge workers tend to rate their own communication as more effective than what they receive from their peers. This hints at a gap in skill perception, which indicates that knowledge workers may need more real-time cues to help them spot opportunities to improve their message. 

Communication assistance AI such as Grammarly Business helps knowledge workers see opportunities to improve their writing in real time. The tool suggests edits as the user writes to help them adjust their tone and clarity while maintaining brand consistency and adhering to style guidelines. Business leaders who invest in technology to scale consistent and effective communication across their organizations will reduce preventable losses while also propelling their organizations forward. 

To discover more insights from this year’s State of Business Communication report, click below to download the full report.