Related: Managers need to brush up on communication, diplomacy

Different communication styles (42 percent), unclear responsibilities (34 percent) and time pressures (31 percent) are the three most frequently cited causes of poor communication.

A third (32 percent) of respondents prefer a more personal communication style, emphasizing human relationships and personal connections; 27 percent prefer a more analytical style, supporting what they say with data and facts and using precise language; 23 percent prefer a more functional style, focusing on processes and thinking through plans step by step so that nothing is missed; and 17 percent prefer a more intuitive style, which enables them to grasp the big picture, get to the point and avoid too much detail.

"Overcoming communication barriers will ultimately have to involve not only accommodating different personal styles, but also ensuring that management's communications are effective and account for generational differences in how information is shared at work," the authors write.

A third of millennials (33 percent) call themselves functional communicators, far more than Gen Xers (15 percent) and baby boomers (21 percent), Baby boomers and Gen Xers described themselves as personal communicators (34 percent and 39 percent, respectively) more often than millennials (23 percent).

For all respondents no matter the age, 65 percent say that face-to-face meetings are a very effective mode of communication — yet only 22 percent say they have these meetings every day. Email is the most heavily used mode of communication, with 60 percent of respondents saying they use it every day. However, only 40 percent say it is a very effective means of communication.

Other modes of communication are more effective, respondents say, but they don't use them as much. Although 55 percent say video conferencing is somewhat or very effective, only 7 percent use it daily. Similarly, 60 percent see presentation decks and 50 percent see white boards and sketch pads as somewhat or very effective, but only 9 percent in both cases use them daily.

"Rather than replacing communication tools, improving daily communication at work may be more about using effective technologies more often," the authors write.

Poor communications have the largest impact on mid-level managers, according to the survey. Directors and middle managers in particular tend to get caught in the middle of those conflicting communication preferences. As a result, they are affected by miscommunication most frequently: 49 percent of directors say the consequences of poor communication occur frequently or very frequently among their colleagues. That is substantially more than the 28 percent of C-suite executives who say the same.

"Probably because of their location in the hierarchy, directors tend to be prolific users of nearly every tool and mode of communication — much more so than other seniorities," the authors write. "Furthermore, a larger share of directors finds nearly every mode of communication more effective than their colleagues of different seniorities. They are the Swiss Army knife equivalent of corporate internal communication."

The survey also found that women have unique challenges when it comes to workplace communication. When asked to define their personal communication style, over a third of male respondents (37 percent) identified as personal communicators who are focused on human relationships and connections. Only 27 percent of female respondents identified as personal communicators, defying the stereotype that women lean more towards human relationships versus analytics or data to relay complex ideas.

The two genders feel differently about sources of workplace stress, with over half of female respondents more likely to feel stressed from critical feedback from managers (51 percent), compared to only 41 percent of male respondents. Challenging performance goals are also more likely to elevate stress levels for women (45 percent) compared to men (36 percent).