As we know, effective communication — particularly in a business context — is crucial to implement, refine. But what type of communication is most essential, and how does effective communication impact business professionals?
To explore this further, we invited Robin Stock, a Director in Tienli Limited to share his insights. Join us as we delve into the following question-and-answer session with him.
1. Why is Robin the right person to ask about communication?
I grew up during the 1970s in Switzerland – a time when phones were used for actual conversations, and your typewriter didn’t need a firmware update.
Before we dive deeper, let me clarify: I’m not a certified “alignment evangelist,” a “chief synergy architect,” or any other buzzword-born title invented during a leadership offsite. I’m just a hack from Switzerland with 34 years of real-world experience.
My first job was as a product specialist for a Japanese company in Switzerland, back when electronics had actual buttons and your inbox was a plastic tray. From there, I followed the tech trail through media technology, audio, and electronics (yes, I’m a formally trained engineer), eventually landing in Malaysia, where I lectured at a private university – mostly in rooms where the air conditioning worked better than the computers.
Later I found myself back in Switzerland, navigating the corporate-maze towards being a member of the “Global IT Management Team” in a large healthcare company. That role led me deep into the world of service management, liaison work, and finally into endless “collaboration initiatives”.
Eventually, I was sent to Asia – officially in charge of regional infrastructure, unofficially tasked with diplomacy. In 2014, I decided to stay in the region and set up shop in Hong Kong, where we now help businesses establish a presence in Asia.
I was asked to share my thoughts on communication in business for this platform, and it’s
my pleasure to contribute.
2. Why is effective communication critical to business success?
Every community – and thus every organization or company – is nothing else but the sum of its people. That said, communication is central to every endeavour, not only business – it’s the core of human cooperation; nothing flows without it.
Unfortunately, within the business world, communication is often reduced to meaningless ritualized exchanges, designed to support the hierarchical structure and political interests within an organization. This is unfortunate, as effective communication is rooted in clarity and intent.
The German philosopher Martin Heidegger mentioned, “Language is the house of being.” One implication of that would be: If that house is in disorder, it collapses – along with clarity, trust, and purpose. And indeed, most business disasters are not due to bad ideas but due to poor transmission of intent.
3. When should formal communication be prioritized over informal methods?
When legal obligations, accountability, or risk demands a paper trail and clarity is your best shot at covering your rear end. So, in other words: use formal communication when:
• There are legal implications,
• You need precision, and
• You’re setting policy or boundaries.
Beyond that, formality often ends up in bureaucratic theater: long e-mails nobody reads, memos written to cover egos instead of facts, etc. If the culture is healthy, informal channels of communication should be the default.
4. What common barriers hinder effective communication in business, and how can they be overcome?
Communication in the business world is often driven by a mix of doublespeak, fear, jargon, and ego. It’s not that people don’t know how to communicate effectively – it’s that many are conditioned to collaborate in ways that hide meaning rather than reveal it:
Doublespeak: This form of communication sugarcoats harsh realities in polished nonsense. This is how toxic work cultures become “fast-paced high-performance environments,” or mass layoffs are rebranded as “rightsizing for strategic agility.” The cure is simple: radical clarity. Say what you mean, Hemingway-style.
Fear: Fear of being wrong, of appearing weak, of contradicting someone higher up in the food chain. The solution here is building a healthy work culture through trust and example, instead of HR memos.
Jargon: Artificial business lingo makes people sound corporate, not competent. It’s a smokescreen for lack of substance, and often competence. Ditch it. Speak like a human being if you want to be understood by humans.
Ego: When people care more about being right than getting it right. Listen like you might be wrong – that’s how teams can grow. And then there are those meetings – the black hole where attention and time go to die. If the outcome of a meeting could have been a simple message, spare everyone’s time and send the darn message.
The real antidote to all of this is a work environment that rewards truth, clarity, and
common sense. If honesty is punished and theater is rewarded, communication will
always suffer – no matter how many Slack channels and vision statements you throw at it.
5. How can managers improve feedback mechanisms within teams?
There are entire libraries of literature on effective leadership and team building, so we can only scratch the surface here.
In general, I believe that feedback should not be a scheduled ritual. Instead, make it fluid, simple, and most importantly: fearless.
The goal is to create continuous feedback loops, rather than isolated feedback events like awkward performance reviews. To make this work, managers must dismantle the hierarchy in the room. Leaders should act more like gardeners, not cops.
A healthy feedback culture also celebrates challenge and conflict. When someone on the team pushes back or speaks up, that’s not rebellion – it’s the organizational immune system doing its job. Encourage and ask real, disarming questions like: “What’s one thing I do that makes your job harder?” That kind of honesty opens doors.
6. How can business navigate cultural differences in global communication?
It starts with a simple truth: We are all human beings with the same fundamental objectives: being understood, respected, and working toward shared goals.
But the way we communicate on the path to achieving those objectives can differ wildly, because we’re wired through different cultural reference frames. A “maybe” in one culture might be a polite “no” in another. A smile might signal joy – or discomfort. Silence might mean respect – or scream help.
In other words, cultures speak different dialects of behavior. They use different cues and filters to process the same human experiences. The biggest mistake is assuming that your way of speaking, listening, or negotiating is the “default setting.”
To navigate this, start by assuming you don’t know what the other person actually means. Again, clarity is paramount. Also, practice a mix of common sense and humility. Encourage open dialogue where people can safely explain how things are done in their world. Build shared language through real conversations instead of checklists. Be curious instead of correct.
In more practical terms, you should:
• Explore cultural context, not just etiquette: Understand the why, not just the how.
• Never confuse politeness with agreement. Surface harmony may hide deep roots.
• Focus on intent, not just content; listen and ask.
• Normalize clarification: Don’t be afraid to ask, “Can you help me understand what that means in your context?”
7. How can business measure the effectiveness of their communication strategies?
Let’s first remind ourselves what “effectiveness” in business really means. The reason for a business to exist is to create value, and that normally boils down to real, tangible revenue. If communication doesn’t drive alignment, motivation, or clarity around actions that generate revenue, directly or indirectly, it is not effective.
In small businesses, this becomes apparent very quickly. If a sushi shop doesn’t order the right fish in advance, it will not be on the menu – and thus no cash can be generated.
Many departments in large and complex organizations often have a systemic disconnect from the core business – the element that actually creates cash flow. However, the same basic principle as in the sushi shop applies there.
The key element for measuring overall effectiveness is therefore the balance sheet. Following that, which KPIs to measure and adjust to improve effectiveness depends on the size and nature of your business. For a sushi shop, it could be securing your supply of fish. A larger organization may have to align multiple departments toward the shared goal of improving shareholder value.
The Takeaway
Let’s be honest: The modern business world isn’t a meritocracy – it’s more like a well-rehearsed stage play. Oftentimes, communication is reduced to ritualized performance, where common sense gets sacrificed on the altar of hierarchy and status. Job interviews become a rehearsed masked dance, meetings turn into monologues. Meanwhile truth and authenticity get quietly escorted out the back door.
This conditioning starts early. School teaches obedience, not curiosity. And by the time
people hit the job market, they’ve been trained to follow scripts and smile on cue.
But here’s the good news: Communication doesn’t have to be part of the charade. Because at its core, it’s a human thing.
Don’t be intimidated by corporate theatrics. Don’t second-guess every word or microexpression. We’re all human, all imperfect, and all just trying to get things done.
Be clear, be direct, be respectful, say what you mean, mean what you say.