As a middle manager, you’ve likely experienced this scenario: You leave an executive meeting with strategic directives, only to face blank stares when relaying the same information to your team. Or perhaps you’ve watched senior leaders glaze over as you share detailed technical insights your front-line staff finds invaluable. This communication disconnect is the daily challenge of middle management—translating between different layers of an organization.

As a middle manager, you sit between senior leadership and front-line employees. This requires you to translate between the different layers of an organization. Using the same style of communication with the same content puts you at risk for failing to communicate. You must present information to people in different roles and at different levels in different ways to have the right impact. In a world where a leader’s communication style impacts the perception of effectiveness, getting this right is vital[1] [2] [3].

In this article, we will explore the challenges of ineffective communication and share best practices for effective communication across organizational levels.

Challenges of Ineffective Communication

Research identifies four primary communication styles: analytical, intuitive, functional, and personal[4]. Senior leaders often gravitate toward intuitive communication focused on big-picture concepts and possibilities. Meanwhile, technical teams may prefer analytical or functional approaches that prioritize details and processes. Understanding these preferences helps you shift your approach appropriately.

Discussions about high-level strategy may leave junior team members confused. They may lack historical background to make sense of the information you are trying to share. This lack of context means they will not follow all of the hidden details that are inherent in the discussion. I’ve experienced cases where overwhelming teams with strategy only causes confusion and overthinking. In these situations, it becomes necessary to back up, slow down, and cover ground that you may assume your audience already has.

Deep technical discussions may not be required for high-level decision making. For example, inserting details about low-level networking protocols into a scheduling discussion would be inappropriate. I’ve needed to ask technical people to provide yes or no, binary answers to questions that they feel have a lot of nuance, when this nuance is not appropriate for the broader audience.

UX designers and software engineers approach solving customer problems with different tool sets. Trying to have the same discussion in the same way with both audiences will not work. Even the words that each group uses have different meanings. Think about the word “interface.” A UX designer and a software engineer might have very different understandings of what’s important in an interface. In my case, I’ve seen a designer and engineer argue for 10 minutes about a point, only for it to come to light that they were talking about different aspects of the system.

These examples are pulled from my personal history. In each case, I’ve had to switch communication strategies mid-stream to correctly address the challenges presented.

As you can see, not tailoring your communication style risks leaving out vital knowledge or swamping people with unneeded details.

Best Practices for Effective Communication

The impact of not tailoring your communication style to match your audience is clear. You will fail to meet the demands of your job and may even negatively impact your performance. On the other hand, over-adapting can be seen as manipulative and undermine trust. When aligning your communication style, focus on these practices:

• Engage in active, mindful listening and avoid an over-focus on your own performance[5].
• Avoid making assumptions and confirm that the information you are sharing is being received.
• Use technical jargon sparingly and only with an audience you have confirmed is aware of the meaning.
• Seek feedback from trusted colleagues or mentors on how they perceive your communication.
• Avoid over-adaptation and losing authenticity. Present the communication as yourself, but be aware of who is receiving it.

Conclusion

Before your next communication with someone, consider answering these questions:

• Who will receive this information?
• What action or understanding do I want from this interaction?
• What organizational factors might influence how the information is received?
• Which medium (email, document, presentation, meeting, 1:1 meeting) will have the most impact?

Taking a moment to answer these questions can dramatically improve your effectiveness.

Communication is one of the key skills of any manager. We use it to inform and influence at all levels of an organization. Remember to be aware of who you are communicating with, how, and about what. Stay topical in your own voice. Follow these patterns, and you are well on your way to success.

Footnotes

[1] Leadership = Communication? The Relations of Leaders’ Communication Styles with Leadership Styles, Knowledge Sharing and Leadership Outcomes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2912722/

[2] Leader’s communication style, LMX and organizational commitment. https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstreams/f3022010-3a8e-4d39-a824-630b977c2868/download

[3] Exploring Communication Styles in Leadership. https://online.jwu.edu/blog/exploring-communication-styles-in-leadership/

[4] 4 workplace communication styles every leader must know. https://www.axioshq.com/insights/workplace-communication-styles

[5] Mindfulness and Leadership: Communication as a Behavioral Marker of Leadership Performance. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6450257/