Making sure your comms are effective in an age of AI
As AI tools become more embedded in our work, it’s tempting to focus on speed, scale and efficiency because we can generate messages faster, repurpose content instantly and push updates across multiple channels in seconds. Yet, despite all that output, many organisations still hear the same refrain in engagement surveys that communication isn’t effective.
So what’s really going on? In a recent conversation with Singapore-based communication specialist Lisa Partridge, founder of Six Comms, we explored a simple but powerful idea: communication often fails not because we’re doing too little, but because we’re out of balance. So we asked the important question: how do we restore that balance? And Lisa’s Six Cs framework offers a way to restore that balance.
But before we get there, let’s start with the myths.
The myths keeping us planted
If you work in internal communication, these will sound familiar.
Myth 1: If we sent the message, communication happened.
Thinking that just because the email was sent, the town hall delivered, or the intranet article was published that the job is now done.Well, that’s incorrect.
Transmission is not the same as understanding, so without checking clarity, context and interpretation, we’re often just adding to the noise that each of us experience on an every minute of every day basis.
Myth 2: More communication is better communication.
Plenty of people say: “There’s no such thing as over-communication.”But that would also be wrong, because in today’s digital environment (with overflowing inboxes, chat notifications, back-to-back meetings) more is often just more noise. Volume doesn’t create clarity, it generally just dilutes it.
Myth 3: Communication belongs to HR or the Comms team.
Formal channels matter, sure, but culture is shaped in everyday moments: the meeting that starts late, the one-on-one that gets cancelled, the leader whose behaviour contradicts the values deck. Communication lives in behaviour as much as it does in messaging.
What people really mean by ‘comms isn’t effective’
When employees say communication isn’t working, they’re not asking for more emails. They’re usually asking three deeper questions:
Do I feel heard?
Not just spoken to, but listened to.Do I understand where we’re going and where I fit?
Clarity about purpose, direction and boundaries matters more than message volume.Can I safely contribute?
If feedback goes nowhere, or people don’t feel safe speaking up, communication becomes one-directional.
These aren’t channel problems, they’re problems that are innately human… which is where the Six Cs come in.
The Six Cs
Lisa’s Six Cs framework works because it recognises that communication has two essential layers: human and strategic. Both matter, because neither works without the other.
The human layer
1. Connection
Beyond job titles and org charts, do we know the humans we work with? Real connection happens in the “spaces in between”, and not just in formal meetings. So in a hybrid, AI-accelerated world, connection is the infrastructure that allows for our people to genuinely collaborate.
2. Curiosity
Are we asking open, non-judgmental questions? Curiosity fuels innovation, diffuses tension and prevents assumptions from hardening into conflict. Without it, feedback becomes accusation instead of exploration.
3. Compassionl
Empathy is the understanding of context, whereas the action we take on that context is compassion. So ultimately, once we understand someone’s context, what do we do with that insight? Adjust expectations? Redistribute workload? Provide support?
Together, these three Cs form the human foundation.
The strategic layer
Human connection alone isn’t enough, and communication also needs discipline.
4. Clarity
What are we trying to achieve? Why does it matter? What does success look like? If direction is fuzzy, execution will be too.
5. Customisation
Who is this message for, really? Different roles, environments and communication styles require different approaches. For example, a call centre employee doesn’t consume information the same way a head office manager does and all of this is impacted by channel choice, tone and format - which is why it should be chosen intentionally, not habitually.
6. Consistency
Do words and behaviour align? Nothing erodes trust faster than leaders who speak one set of values and model another. Consistency builds credibility.
Diagnosis, but make it practical
One of the most useful applications of the Six Cs is as a reflective tool; you can ask:
Where are we strong?
Where are we over-indexing?
What have we been neglecting?
You might discover your team excels at connection but lacks clarity, or that your strategy is strong, but compassion is missing during change. The framework works at multiple levels: organisational, team and individual. Plus, because it provides shared language, it helps teams name issues that previously felt vague or frustrating.
Three unexpected ways to lift your comms game
Beyond frameworks, there are three simple, and slightly unconventional, suggestions that stood out.
Make best friends with your voice
Record yourself before an important conversation. Listen back to notice tone, pace, filler words, and clarity. Your voice is one of your most powerful tools, but most of us have never consciously trained it.
Take difficult conversations for a walk
Literally.
Movement reduces tension and nature improves cognitive clarity. Walking side by side can feel less confrontational than sitting face to face in a stark meeting room, so why not try it? Even changing physical spaces inside the office can shift energy and openness. The environment you’re in influences dialogue more than we think.
Get an accountability buddy
Improving communication isn’t a one-off workshop, it takes practice. So, having someone check in weekly with questions like: What worked? What didn’t? What will you try next? Will help to create momentum and follow-through.
The bigger question: what would you rebalance?
If communication feels “off” in your organisation, the solution may not be another channel, another campaign or another town hall. It might be as simple as recalibrating the balance between human and strategic communication.
Are you dialling up clarity but neglecting connection?
Prioritising consistency but forgetting curiosity?
Relying on output while underinvesting in trust?
AI can support the mechanics of communication, sure, but it can’t replace presence, empathy or aligned behaviour.
