Communication training · PI assessments · Team building
Our organizational communication is lacking.
Information gets stuck at the top. Departments don't talk to each other. People hear about changes after the fact, meetings end without a decision, and the same misunderstandings keep coming back. Everyone's working hard. They're just not working together.
It's rarely one bad communicator. It's the whole system.
When communication breaks down, most owners go looking for the one person who's causing it. In my experience, it's usually a mix of three things:
- No rhythm. There's no clear, regular way information moves through the company, so it moves by hallway conversation and guesswork.
- Leaders who were never taught. Most managers got promoted because they were good at the work. Nobody showed them how to give clear direction, feedback or bad news.
- People who are wired differently. One person wants the bottom line, another wants every detail. Neither is wrong, but they keep missing each other.
It adds up. In a 2022 Grammarly and Harris Poll study, U.S. business leaders estimated poor communication costs their companies about $1.2 trillion a year, and knowledge workers said they lose about 7.5 hours a week to it. That's nearly a full workday, every week.
How I help
Every company is different, so we start by finding out where communication is actually breaking down. Then we pick the right mix of these:
Communication training
Practical, hands-on sessions for leaders and teams: giving clear direction, listening for what people actually mean, running meetings that end in decisions, and handling hard conversations with respect. We practice with real situations from your workplace, not textbook scenarios.
PI Behavioral Assessments
The PI Behavioral Assessment™ from The Predictive Index® takes about six minutes and shows how each person naturally communicates, makes decisions and handles pressure. It measures four drives: Dominance, Extraversion, Patience and Formality. Once your team can see each other's wiring, they stop taking things personally and start adjusting how they talk to each other. I'm a Certified PI Practitioner.
Team-building sessions
Not trust falls. Working sessions where your team learns how each person operates, clears the air on what isn't working, and agrees on how you'll communicate from here on. For executive teams, the Five Behaviors® Leadership Intensive goes deeper, with six months of follow-up.
What I won't do
I won't hand you a communication plan that lives in a binder. And I'll tell you the truth: sometimes the communication problem starts at the top, including with the owner. If that's what I see, I'll say so, kindly and privately. That's usually where the fastest progress happens.
This is for you if…
- People keep saying "nobody told me"
- Departments work in silos and blame each other
- Meetings end without clear decisions or owners
- Small misunderstandings keep turning into big problems
Good to know
- Everything is built around your team and your real situations. No canned programs.
- Works for teams of 5 up to executive teams of 100+ person companies.
- PI is a tool for understanding people, not a verdict on them.
Questions
Where do we start?
With a free 30-minute check-up. I'll ask where things are breaking down, and we'll figure out whether you need training, PI, a team session, or some mix of the three.
Does my whole team have to take the PI assessment?
Not to start. Many owners take it themselves first, free. For team sessions, having everyone's profile is what makes it click, so we'd usually include the people in the room.
What if the real problem is one person?
Sometimes it is. If someone is refusing to share information, undermining others or not doing the job, that's a performance conversation, and Phone-a-Friend HR is built for exactly that.
No forms. No pitch.
Tell me what's going on.
Text me, call me, or grab 30 minutes on my calendar. I usually reply within two hours during business hours.