A while ago, when I used to deliver a regular seminar to MBA students about communications, I would open with a simple but striking point: people who are strong communicators tend to earn more and rise further than those who are not.
There is plenty of evidence that skills, including social and communication skills, carry a salary premium and help people progress to more senior roles over time, especially in knowledge-intensive work environments where collaboration and persuasion matter most [1][2]. If communication gives such an advantage to individuals, it raises an obvious question for SME leaders like you and me: how much better placed is a business if that business is a good communicator?
In this post, I want to explore business communication skills for SME growth: how they affect performance, how far most firms really understand their own communication competencies, and what practical steps leadership teams and marketers can take to build something that goes far beyond “sending emails” or “putting out a press release”. I will also touch on whether there is a Toastmasters-style route for businesses that want to build communication as a core organisational capability [3][4].
Why business communication skills for SME growth matter
Most SMEs underestimate the commercial impact of communication and treat it as a soft, almost nice-to-have skill, rather than a strategic capability that underpins execution, culture and customer experience [5][4]. Yet studies link effective communication to higher productivity, better employee engagement and stronger financial performance, which means that every unclear message, muddled instruction or vague strategy statement creates drag on growth [6][3].
One review of organisational communication found that clear, accurate communication improves alignment, collaboration and decision-making, which in turn boosts productivity, efficiency and trust across the business [3]. Another piece of research suggests that effective communication in teams can raise productivity by up to 25 per cent when people feel connected and aligned around shared goals [6].
From individual skill to organisational advantage
At an individual level, employers consistently rank oral and written communication as top skills for graduates and managers, ahead of many technical competencies [2]. Businesses that translate those individual strengths into organisational habits – how meetings run, how decisions are communicated, how customer conversations are handled – gain a structural advantage that competitors find hard to copy [5][3].
In practical terms, good communication touches everything: sales conversations, pricing discussions, internal project briefings, performance reviews, crisis response and even how your receptionist answers the phone. When you look at it that way, business communication skills for SME growth are not a bolt-on; they are the plumbing of the entire organisation [4][5].
Do businesses understand their communication competencies?
In many SMEs, communication quality is visible only when something goes wrong: a lost deal that “should have been ours”, a project overrun caused by misunderstood requirements, or a reputational wobble because the business stayed silent while others filled the narrative void [5]. Most leadership teams do not maintain a simple, shared picture of their communication strengths and weaknesses, so they default to assumptions based on isolated anecdotes rather than evidence [7][3].
By contrast, organisations that treat communication as a capability tend to measure it with the same seriousness as sales, service quality or safety. They track indicators such as employee understanding of strategy, perceived clarity of leadership messages, effectiveness of internal channels, customer satisfaction with communication, and even project overruns linked to misunderstanding [7][5].
Simple ways SMEs can start measuring communication
For an SME, this does not need to be complicated or expensive. A short, regular employee pulse survey asking whether people understand the strategy and their role in it can be revealing, particularly if you repeat it over time and correlate the answers with delivery outcomes [7]. You can also build basic communication checks into project reviews, sales pipeline reviews and customer feedback to spot recurring patterns where messages are unclear or expectations are misaligned [5].
The aim is not to create a bureaucratic scoring system; it is to move communication from “we assume it is fine” to “we have an honest view of how we are doing, where the gaps are, and whether the actions we take are making any difference” [3][7]. Once you can see the issues more clearly, you can prioritise the areas where better communication would have the greatest impact on growth, risk or cost.
How SMEs can become better communicators
Improving business communication skills for SME growth starts with leadership. If the senior team treats communication as an afterthought, the rest of the organisation will follow; if they treat it as a core part of their role, it quickly becomes part of the culture [4]. Leaders who articulate a clear story about where the business is going, why it matters and what it means for different teams create a sense of direction that makes day-to-day decisions easier and faster [3][5].
The next step is to give people practical tools and training. This can range from simple frameworks for structuring messages through to coaching on presentations, meeting management and difficult conversations, all of which have been shown to contribute to better collaboration, engagement and performance [4][8]. Even small improvements, such as agreeing standard formats for internal updates or sales proposals, can remove friction and reduce misunderstandings across the business [5].
Building everyday communication habits
One of the most powerful changes an SME can make is to build communication checkpoints into its existing rhythms. For example, you can open leadership meetings by asking how decisions will be communicated to the wider business, and you can end project meetings by confirming what will be said to customers and stakeholders, by whom and when [3]. Over time, these habits reinforce the expectation that communication planning is part of doing the work, not a separate activity to be bolted on at the end if someone remembers [5].
It also helps to normalise feedback on communication itself. Encouraging people to point out when messages are unclear and to ask clarifying questions without fear of being seen as awkward creates a learning loop that steadily raises the standard of communication across the organisation [7]. This is very similar to the way skilled public speakers refine their content and delivery over time based on audience reactions and structured feedback [8][9].
Is there a Toastmasters for business?
Many SME leaders are familiar with Toastmasters as a place where individuals can practise public speaking, receive feedback and build confidence in a supportive environment [8]. What fewer people realise is that there are corporate Toastmasters clubs that run inside companies, giving employees a structured, repeatable way to develop speaking, listening and leadership skills that feed directly into business performance [9].
Toastmasters International, hundreds of large organisations run in-house clubs to improve soft skills, build confidence and create a culture of clear communication through a learning-by-doing model [9][8]. While most SMEs will not have the headcount to justify a full internal club, the same idea can be adapted: a regular, structured communication session where employees practise presentations, client conversations and internal briefings, using feedback to improve [8].
Practical options for SMEs
SMEs that want a “Toastmasters for business” experience have several options. They can encourage staff to join local community Toastmasters clubs and then bring learnings back into the organisation, which can be a cost-effective way to raise communication capability over time [8][9]. They can also bring in external trainers to run bespoke workshops on storytelling, crisis communication or sales conversations, backed by ongoing practice sessions in-house so that skills do not evaporate after a single away day [7][4].
The key is consistency. Communication improves through repeated practice, feedback and reflection rather than one-off inspirational events, which is why programmes that run over months, and sometimes years, tend to deliver better returns on investment for organisations that commit to them [8][7]. If you treat communication as a muscle and train it accordingly, your business will be far better placed to grow, adapt and respond when things get tough.
Turning communication into a strategic asset
When you start to see business communication skills for SME growth as a strategic asset, you naturally begin to ask different questions. You stop asking “have we sent the update?” and start asking “have we equipped people with the story, messages and tools they need to make this strategy real in their teams and with their customers?” [3][4]. That shift alone can transform how initiatives land and how your organisation shows up in the market.
In practical terms, that might mean weaving communication skill-building into leadership development, onboarding, sales training and even performance reviews, rather than treating it as a standalone topic for occasional workshops [8][7]. Over time, you create a culture where clear, honest, timely communication is simply how things are done, which is one of the most reliable and underused sources of competitive advantage available to SMEs [5][6].
References and Further Reading
The Impact of Communication on Organizational Performance. SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4809789
The Role of Communication Skills in Business Success. Savvas. https://www.savvas.com/resource-center/blogs-and-podcasts/college-and-career-readiness/career-paths/role-of-communication-skills-in-business-success
Toastmasters International – Corporate Clubs. https://www.toastmasters.org/membership/corporate-clubs
Sources
[1] Do skills matter for wage inequality? – IZA World of Labor https://wol.iza.org/articles/do-skills-matter-for-wage-inequality/long
[2] [PDF] The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w21473/revisions/w21473.rev1.pdf
[3] The Impact of Communication on Organizational Performance https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4809789
[4] The Role of Communication Skills in Business Success | Savvas https://www.savvas.com/resource-center/blogs-and-podcasts/college-and-career-readiness/career-paths/role-of-communication-skills-in-business-success
[5] 11 Reasons Why Business Communication is Critical For Success https://blog.haiilo.com/blog/business-communication-success/
[6] Effective Communication, Productivity And Collaboration – Forbes https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbescoachescouncil/2024/05/20/mastering-the-art-of-effective-communication-building-productivity-and-collaboration/
[7] Mastering Communication Training Programs for Workplace https://educate360.com/blog/communication-training-programs-for-employees/
[8] Communication Training Gives Significant Return on Investment https://d42tm.org/communication-training-gives-significant-return-on-investment/
[9] corporate-clubs – Toastmasters International https://www.toastmasters.org/membership/corporate-clubs
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