In every sport, there’s a phase of play that is regularly neglected, often hiding immense potential for performance improvement. In cricket, fielding was once an afterthought; in American football, it was special teams, despite their significant contribution to the game; and in soccer, set pieces are now increasingly recognised as a vital area for gaining an edge. In business, one of the regularly neglected phases of play is internal communication – an underappreciated phase of work that holds the potential to unlock significant improvements in performance, efficiency, and innovation.
The Untapped Phases of Play in Sport
In cricket, fielding was historically seen as almost irrelevant to batting and bowling. Teams would focus heavily on run-scoring or wicket-taking, often overlooking the impact that strong, coordinated fielding could have on match outcomes. However, players like Jonty Rhodes and Ricky Ponting revolutionised fielding by demonstrating how attention to this underappreciated aspect could turn games ushering in a whole new phase of professionalism and performance.
Similarly, in American football, special teams were often neglected, despite covering nearly one-third of game time. Coaches like John Harbaugh (the Head Coach of the Baltimore Ravens, himself a former Special Teams Coordinator) understood that mastering special teams play could yield decisive advantages. His focus on special teams strategy showed how critical it was to develop all phases of the game, prioritising recruitment of talent that excels in this phase of the game.
The Neglected Phase in Business: Internal Communication
In business, there are often many neglected phases of play, with one of the most common areas of potential improvement beinginternal communication. Similar to how fielding, special teams, and set pieces were undervalued in sports, many organisations (and teams) underappreciate the impact of communication and the open information flow within their teams. When businesses fail to prioritise internal communication, the cost can be substantial—resulting in inefficiencies, missed opportunities for innovation, organisational misalignment, and a fractured culture.
The Cost of Neglecting Internal Communication
Neglecting internal communication can lead to significant problems:
- Siloed Knowledge: Information often becomes trapped within departments, leading to duplication of effort, missed opportunities, and reduced efficiency. Like a poorly coordinated fielding unit in cricket, a business operating in silos is prone to costly mistakes.
- Missed Innovation: When ideas and information are not shared across an organisation, innovation is absent. Great concepts can fail to reach the right people, and collaborative thinking is stifled. The equivalent in sports is an incredible set-piece routine that would have made the difference in a key game, never materialising due to a lack of communication.
- Organisational Misalignment: Without clear communication, teams may work at cross-purposes, wasting resources and time. In American football, misalignment on special teams can result in critical errors, missed tackles and confused responsibilities just as misaligned business units are incredibly ineffective.
- Low Employee Morale: Employees who feel left out of communication loops are less engaged and more likely to underperform or leave the organisation. Clear communication keeps employees connected to the company’s mission and motivates them to contribute to its success rather than request a transfer or trade elsewhere.
Unlocking the Potential: Tools we use to improve Internal Communication
Addressing the neglected phase of internal communication in business can unlock substantial value. Just as in sports, where teams have found a competitive edge by improving underappreciated phases, we have developed a series of tools and techniques to help improve internal communication.
Here are some proven strategies:
1. Radical Transparency: Sharing Everything Possible
We are committed to radical transparency. At Oxygen Conservation that means sharing all possible information with the team, from weekly updates to board packs and performance data. Much like teams that drill set pieces to perfection by ensuring everyone understands their role, businesses that commit to radical transparency empower employees with the knowledge they need to make better decisions and contribute more effectively.
We believe that radical transparency builds trust within an organisation, as team members feel valued and trusted with important information – on the sports field, players need to trust that each other will be where (and when) they’re supposed to be. Sharing performance data, for example, can inspire teams to collaborate better and understand how their work contributes to the company’s success. The absence of transparency is like taking a penalty in absolute darkness.
2. The Blackstone Meeting: Weekly All-Hands Meetings
A powerful way to improve internal communication is through regular, structured meetings where all teams come together. Our Blackstone Meeting, for instance, is a Monday morning all-team meeting that ensures every member of the organisation starts the week together with energy, positivity, and the same information and key priorities. This creates alignment across departments and helps the team understand the broader business context. Just as in sport, where a well-coordinated and inspiring pre-match team talk is key to success, a great team meeting ensures that everyone knows their roles and is working toward the same goals.
3. Inclusion in Decision-Making
Just as involving multiple players in a set-piece strategy enhances performance on the field, involving a wide range of diverse team members in decision-making fosters collaboration and ensures more well-rounded decisions. One of our most effective examples is in our recruitment processes. At least seven different members of the team are included in each recruitment, offering a variety of perspectives on potential hires ensuring the team and the potential recruit have a fully informed perspective on cultural alignment.
Involving multiple stakeholders in key decisions—whether in recruitment, strategy, or product development—ensures that decisions are better informed and more representative of the team’s collective intelligence. It also creates a sense of ownership and inclusion among employees, increasing morale and engagement.
4. Utilise Different Technical Channels
We are an exclusively remote or hybrid team, it is therefore especially important to ensure communication flows smoothly across different platforms. This includes using various technical channels such as Email, Microsoft Teams, group messaging apps, and shared cloud storage systems like OneDrive. By using different platforms tailored to different needs—real-time messaging for quick updates, emails for formal communication, and cloud storage for file sharing—businesses can ensure that information is accessible to everyone, no matter their location or time zone.
5. Time Together: Prioritising In-Person Interaction for Remote Teams
For remote or hybrid teams, prioritising time together is crucial to building stronger relationships and reinforcing shared values. In the same way that sports teams benefit from time spent training together to build trust and coordination – think preseason training and the very actual of travel away for tours or fixtures – remote teams can significantly benefit from periodic in-person meetings. Especially in remote working environments, it’s important to reinforce shared values and build team cohesion.
At Oxygen Conservation, our culture is built on commitments to theenvironment, impact, adventure, and togetherness. It is therefore especially important that we dedicate time for the entire team to spend together adventuring in the environment. These gatherings allow employees to live out these values in person, building stronger bonds that improve communication and collaboration when the team is working remotely. So far that has included e-biking in the Highlands, free diving in Cornwall, Coasteering in Wales and so many more adventures.
Fixing the Neglected Phase
In sport, focusing on neglected phases like fielding, special teams, or set pieces has been a game-changer for many teams. Similarly, in business, improving internal communication can unlock tremendous value. Whether it’s through structured weekly meetings, radical transparency, inclusion in decision-making, leveraging various communication tools, or fostering time together for remote teams, businesses can cultivate a stronger, more collaborative, and higher-performing organisation.
Much like in sports, where winning often depends on small margins and underappreciated phases, success in business can hinge on the quality of internal communication. By addressing this neglected area, organisations can achieve huge improvements without significant additional investment.