How complexity hinders messaging—and tips for streamlining

Internal communicators like to get things done.

We like to churn out content, share information and make things happen, and we like to do everything quickly.

Our biggest frustrations occur when we hit roadblocks and projects grind to a screeching halt. Those roadblocks can take lots of shapes and sizes: An executive changes her mind, an email is missed, the lawyer reworks a paragraph into a page.

It’s OK. Stuff happens in business. Occasionally, you’re going to miss the mark with a message or run into a leader who just doesn’t like a particular piece of communication. That’s life.

However, if these obstacles are springing up over and over—and if you’re finding that it’s becoming more difficult to get your job done—the issue may be something more systemic. Unnecessary complexity might be rearing its ugly head.

For internal communicators, complexity kills.

Luckily, if you know how to spot the signs of complexity, you can simplify your work and drive needless complexity out before it drives you out of the industry.

Here are three surefire signs that your internal communications processes have become too complex and you need to simplify your world:

1. Your approval process makes it difficult to share timely information.