How communications can break out of the order-taker trap

There are two persistent challenges communicators face year after year when carrying out their strategic plans: too few people and not enough money.

This year is no different, according to Ragan’s 2025 Communications Benchmark Report. In fact, the data shows it’s actually a little worse.

The Communications Benchmark Report, now in its seventh year, is a signature research project conducted for members of Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council. The global survey of more than 900 communicators provides in-depth analysis of the communications landscape.

Given these resource constraints, it makes sense that two of the top items on communicators’ wish lists are hiring more staff and investing in training. Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers behind the headlines.

The full Communications Benchmark Report is available to members of Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council. Non-members can download the executive summary.

The barriers to effective communication

According to the benchmark survey, communicators cited lack of staff and lack of budget as two of the top three challenges that stand in the way of more effective communications.

Just under half (45%) of communicators said staffing shortages are their biggest obstacle, closely followed by budget limitations (37%). Both constraints are up this year compared to 2024, when 41% cited lack of staff and 32% said lack of budget, reflecting a tightening environment for communicators.

But it’s not just resource limitations that hamper communicators. It’s also a lack of strategic influence and leadership.

Too many last-minute requests rounded out the top of the list (39%), reflecting the continued struggle communicators face in transitioning from order-taker mode to becoming a strategic business partner.

To that point, a quarter of survey respondents (25%) said the communications team is not involved in strategic decision-making and one in five (20%) said burdensome approval processes are what holds them back.

These data points illustrate the clear opportunity cost in not developing stronger communications leadership and influencing skills to take on more strategic roles. Investments in both would have the dual effect of clearing out the logjam of last-minute requests and unlocking the potential of communications to drive business results.

Comm’s budget wish list points to a way out of the order-taker trap

Given the flood of requests that communications teams receive, some of which fall into that effectiveness-limiting, last-minute variety, it’s not surprising that more than half of communicators would invest in content production if they received an increase in their budget.

The explosion of internal and external channels and formats has created a content demand that communications teams struggle to meet. Compound that with a volatile business environment that requires flexibility and adaptability in response and it’s a growing challenge to get out of the order-taker rut.

A glance further down the list of budget wishes illustrates a way forward. Hiring more staff, if that’s an option, is no. 2. More demand can be met with more communicators.

But that’s not an option for many given the resource constraints facing communicators this year. More viable options are team training and improved communications metrics.

Given the resource constraints communicators identified, it makes sense that two of the top four items on survey respondents’ wish lists if they had more budget would be investing in team training (33%) and better communications metrics (31%).

These pinch points hamper innovation and strategic thinking, keeping communicators caught in a self-perpetuating service cycle and reinforcing the need for cross-functional alignment and more proactive planning.

Training can upskill communicators and help the communications team develop stronger influencing and leadership skills. Improved metrics arms them with the data to determine what strategies and tools are most effective.

Both efforts help make the case to stakeholders for targeted investments – and cut down on less effective, last-minute orders that end up creating noise without adding much value.

The result is a better chance to break out of self-perpetuating order-taker mode and create a virtuous cycle of greater influence and accountability.