Effective workplace communication is one indication of a high-performance culture and drives the sharing of information and ideas, reduces confusion, and improves accountability. In a study conducted by the Corporate Finance Institute, respondents ranked communication skills as twice as important as managerial skills.

Conversational Capacity^® refers to the ability—of an individual or a team—to engage in open, balanced, nondefensive dialogue about difficult subjects and in challenging circumstances. Its value is easy to see in teamwork: A team with high conversational capacity can perform well, remaining on track even when dealing with its most troublesome issues. A team lacking that capacity, by contrast, can see its performance derail over a minor disagreement.