Employee With Poor Communication Skills: Signs and What to Do

Poor communication in the workplace does not just create frustration. It slows projects, damages relationships, fuels turnover, and costs organisations significant money every year.

Research consistently shows that unclear communication from managers frustrates nearly 30% of employees. Moreover, when an employee has poor communication skills, the ripple effect touches everyone around them. Teammates spend extra time clarifying, re-doing work, or managing the friction that miscommunication creates.

Therefore, identifying examples of employees with poor communication skills early is critical. The sooner a manager or HR professional recognises the patterns, the sooner they can intervene with the right support, coaching, or development.

What Does Poor Communication in an Employee Look Like?

An employee with poor communication skills does not always shout or argue. In fact, many poor communicators are quiet, avoidant, or simply unclear. The signs are often subtle until they create a visible problem.

Poor communication takes many forms. It can be written, verbal, or behavioural. Moreover, it can affect an employee’s relationships upward with managers, laterally with peers, or downward with direct reports if they lead a team.

Before reviewing specific examples, it helps to understand the four main categories of poor communication that appear most frequently in workplace settings.

Unclear or imprecise communication. The employee conveys information in a way that leaves others confused, requiring follow-up and clarification.

Passive or one-way communication. The employee shares updates only when prompted or fails to loop in key people at the right time.

Poor listening. The employee hears words but does not absorb meaning. They miss context, interrupt, or respond without fully understanding the situation.

Avoidance. The employee sidesteps difficult conversations, delays delivering bad news, or fails to raise concerns until they become crises.

Real-World Examples of an Employee With Poor Communication Skills

Example 1: The Employee Who Sends Confusing Emails

One of the most common examples is the employee who writes long, unstructured emails that bury the key message in unnecessary detail. Colleagues read the email twice and still cannot identify what action is required.

This employee writes from their own perspective, including context they find interesting but the recipient does not need. They rarely start with the main point. In addition, they use jargon, passive voice, and run-on sentences that create ambiguity.

The result is a cascade of follow-up questions, delayed decisions, and a subtle erosion of confidence in the employee’s reliability.

Example 2: The Employee Who Waits Too Long to Speak Up

Some employees hold back information that their manager or team urgently needs. They wait until they fully understand a situation before raising it, or they avoid communicating bad news because they do not want to seem incompetent.

This pattern is particularly damaging in fast-moving projects. By the time the employee surfaces a problem, it has compounded significantly. What could have been a five-minute conversation becomes a crisis requiring hours of remediation.

Moreover, this avoidance creates distrust over time. Managers begin to feel they are never getting the full picture, which limits how much autonomy and responsibility they extend to the employee.

Example 3: The Employee Who Does Not Listen

Active listening is a communication skill many employees underestimate. The employee who does not listen properly nods in meetings but misses critical details. They ask questions about things that were already explained. Furthermore, they respond before the other person has finished their point, steering conversations in directions the speaker did not intend.

This type of employee often causes rework. They complete a task based on what they thought they heard rather than what was actually requested. When corrected, they push back because they are certain they were given different instructions.

In team settings, this behaviour signals a lack of respect and creates frustration among colleagues who feel unheard and dismissed.

Example 4: The Employee Who Relies Only on One Communication Channel

Some employees use email for everything, including time-sensitive decisions that need a quick verbal conversation. Others refuse to put anything in writing, creating accountability gaps and leaving no record of agreed actions.

This rigidity causes problems. A three-day email chain over an issue that could have been resolved in a two-minute call wastes everyone’s time. Similarly, an employee who never documents decisions or commitments creates confusion when details are disputed later.

In remote and hybrid environments, this problem is especially pronounced. Knowing how to communicate clearly when managing remotely requires intentional channel selection, something employees with poor communication habits rarely practise.

Example 5: The Employee Who Talks But Does Not Communicate

This employee dominates meetings with volume but contributes little clarity. They speak at length without getting to the point. Moreover, they rarely organise their thoughts before speaking, which means their contributions are hard to follow and easy to dismiss.

In group settings, this creates a disproportionate cost. The employee uses significant airtime without producing proportionate value. Colleagues disengage, and managers must often redirect the conversation to keep meetings productive.

The fundamental problem is not confidence or effort. It is the absence of structure and audience awareness in verbal communication.

Example 6: The Employee Who Avoids Difficult Conversations

Some employees have strong written and verbal communication in comfortable settings but shut down when conversations become challenging. They avoid giving honest feedback to peers. They stay silent when they disagree with a decision. Furthermore, they do not address conflict directly, allowing tension to build until it becomes visible to the entire team.

This avoidance has a compounding effect. Problems that could have been resolved with one direct conversation become embedded cultural issues. Team trust erodes quietly, and the employee’s reluctance to engage honestly signals a lack of accountability.

Example 7: The Employee Who Communicates Too Much

Poor communication is not always about saying too little. Some employees over-communicate in ways that create noise and confusion. They copy too many people on emails. They provide excessive background before getting to the point. They send status updates that no one requested and flood group chats with information that could wait.

This behaviour drains the team’s attention and makes it harder to identify what actually requires action. Moreover, it signals poor judgement about audience, context, and the difference between information sharing and information flooding.

Example 8: The Employee Who Communicates Differently Under Pressure

Some employees communicate well in routine situations but deteriorate significantly under stress. They become short, reactive, or unclear when deadlines approach or stakes rise. In exactly the situations where clear communication matters most, their skills break down.

This pattern is particularly damaging in leadership roles. A manager whose communication quality drops under pressure creates uncertainty precisely when their team needs clarity and calm.

The Business Impact of an Employee With Poor Communication Skills

The cost of having an employee with poor communication skills is not abstract. It shows up in measurable business outcomes.

Missed deadlines and rework. Unclear instructions and poor listening lead to tasks being completed incorrectly the first time. Rework consumes time that cannot be recovered.

Team friction and disengagement. When communication is consistently unclear, late, or avoided, team morale suffers. Colleagues lose patience. The team’s ability to collaborate effectively deteriorates over time.

Client and stakeholder damage. Poor communication that reaches external audiences, whether clients, partners, or senior leadership, can damage the organisation’s reputation and relationships in ways that are difficult to repair.

Turnover risk. Employees who work alongside a poor communicator, or who report to one, cite communication issues as a significant factor in leaving. In addition, the employee with poor communication skills often struggles to advance, creating frustration and disengagement of their own.

Trust erosion. Poor communication, particularly the avoidance of difficult conversations, destroys team trust gradually. Team trust-building activities that actually work can help rebuild this, but prevention through early communication development is always more effective.

How Managers Should Address an Employee With Poor Communication Skills

Addressing poor communication requires a structured, compassionate, and direct approach. The goal is development, not punishment.

Step 1: Be specific about what you observed. Avoid vague feedback like “your communication needs to improve.” Instead, describe a specific incident, the impact it had, and what alternative behaviour would have produced a better outcome.

Step 2: Separate the behaviour from the person. Poor communication is a learnable skill. Frame the conversation around observable behaviours and their impact rather than personality traits. This reduces defensiveness and opens the door to genuine development.

Step 3: Ask questions before prescribing solutions. The employee may not be aware of their communication gaps. Use questions managers should ask their direct reports to surface their perspective before presenting your observations. Understanding the employee’s self-perception is essential before developing a plan.

Step 4: Co-create a development plan. Identify two or three specific communication behaviours to focus on. Set clear expectations and measurable goals. Agree on regular check-in points to review progress.

Step 5: Model the behaviour you expect. Managers who want employees to communicate clearly, proactively, and directly must do the same themselves. Your communication sets the standard for your team.

Step 6: Provide feedback consistently, not just during reviews. Real-time, specific feedback on communication is far more effective than a single review conversation. Moreover, understanding how to handle negative feedback at work without taking it personally can help both parties navigate these conversations more effectively.

Poor Communication Skills in New Managers: A Special Case

New managers face a unique communication challenge. They move from a role where they were responsible for their own output to a role where they are responsible for a team’s results. This transition demands a completely different communication repertoire.

Many new managers default to the communication habits that made them successful as individual contributors. They over-explain technical detail to non-technical audiences. They under-communicate team progress to their own managers. They avoid performance conversations because they are uncomfortable with the shift in relationship dynamics.

Understanding skills for first-time managers includes recognising that communication is the single most important skill a new manager must develop. The transition from individual contributor to manager is itself a communication challenge that requires deliberate attention and support.

Signs That an Employee’s Poor Communication Is Systemic vs Situational

Not every communication breakdown is a systemic problem. Distinguishing between situational and systemic poor communication helps managers respond proportionately.

Situational poor communication happens in specific, identifiable contexts. The employee communicates well in most situations but struggles in high-pressure moments, unfamiliar formats, or with certain audiences. This is addressable through targeted coaching and practice.

Systemic poor communication is consistent across contexts, audiences, and formats. The employee struggles to communicate clearly regardless of the situation. This requires a more structured development plan, possibly including communication training, coaching, or adjusted role responsibilities.

In both cases, the approach should be supportive rather than punitive. Communication is a skill that can always be improved with the right investment and attention.

How Learnit Platform Helps Managers and Employees Improve Communication

Learnit Platform is the expert resource that helps both managers and employees address poor communication skills with practical, immediately actionable guidance.

Here is exactly how Learnit supports communication development at every level of the organisation.

Expert guides on the root causes of poor communication. Many employees with poor communication skills do not know what is going wrong. Learnit’s resources help employees and managers identify the specific communication patterns creating problems, whether that is poor listening, unclear writing, avoidance of difficult conversations, or channel misuse.

Practical tools for having difficult communication conversations. Many managers delay addressing communication issues because they do not know how to raise them without creating defensiveness or damaging the relationship. Learnit provides frameworks for structuring these conversations with clarity and respect.

Communication development content for every career stage. From first-time managers navigating new communication expectations to senior leaders building executive presence, Learnit’s content meets employees where they are. Development is not one-size-fits-all, and neither is Learnit’s resource library.

Resources for building communication-first team cultures. Poor communication in individual employees often reflects a team or organisational culture that has not prioritised communication standards, feedback, and accountability. Learnit helps organisations build the cultural conditions where strong communication is expected, modelled, and developed at every level.

Support for the transition moments where communication skills break down. Career transitions, such as moving from peer to manager or joining a new team, are when communication gaps most often surface. Learnit’s guide on how to make the contributor-to-manager transition smoothly directly addresses the communication challenges that arise during these moments.

Ongoing learning that builds real capability over time. One workshop or feedback conversation rarely transforms a poor communicator. Learnit provides a continuous library of resources that employees can return to as their context and challenges evolve. Real communication development happens through repeated practice, reflection, and progressive skill-building.

Free, immediately accessible content backed by 30 years of expertise. With over 1.9 million professionals upskilled and 500 expert-written resources available at no cost, Learnit gives every organisation the tools to address communication problems without a significant training budget.

Conclusion

An employee with poor communication skills creates visible, measurable problems for their team and organisation. However, poor communication is rarely a fixed condition. It is a gap that can be identified, addressed, and improved with the right support.

The examples in this guide, from unclear emails to avoid difficult conversations, all share a common root. The employee either lacks awareness of the impact of their communication, lacks the skills to communicate more effectively, or lacks the support and feedback to know where to start.

Therefore, the most productive response to poor communication is not frustration or avoidance. It is a direct, specific, and development-oriented conversation followed by consistent support and clear expectations.

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