Three Types of Information Voids – and How to Fill Them
April 9, 2026 | By David M. Wagner
With all due respect to the Tremelos (and Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons before them), silence is usually not golden.
In fact, silence can be downright rotten.
Imagine sending your collected income and expense documents to your accountant to prepare your tax return (happy April, everyone!).
Now imagine that, as the tax filing deadline quickly approaches, you’ve heard nothing from them.
Part of you recognizes that they’re busy, so you decide not to bother them for a status request. But the rest of you…is in pure panic mode.
Did they forget about you? Experience a technical glitch that lost all your documents? Go out of business without a peep??
The absence of information creates uncertainty. And our minds are wired to regard unknowns as threats. Our imaginations fill the void with imagined, often terrible (if unlikely), outcomes – resulting in anxiety (or worse).
Now let’s turn the tables.
Each of us has information that others might need or be waiting for. As a leader, you likely have much more of that information.
Which means you are in a position to contribute to – or to alleviate – that anxiety in others.
I want to cast a light on three different types of information that people often need and that are often withheld, if unintentionally – and what you can do to fill in those information voids.
Procedural (Status) Information
People want to know what’s going on and how it will affect them.
Like the tax return example above, procedural information includes the status or results of processes and decisions. Other examples:
Job applications and interviews (“Did you get my cover letter? Am I getting the job?”)
Survey responses (“Did you receive my response? What will you do with my input?”)
Donations (“Did you receive my gift? What did you accomplish with it?”)
To fill the void,
Communicate early and often. Automate receipt notices when possible. For long processes, establish a consistent rhythm of information flow, such as weekly or monthly updates.
Set expectations up front. If you know something will take a while, tell people that – along with when you’ll commit to sharing updates with them again.
Share something. Even if your updates are as simple as, “we’re still working on it,” that’s more information than people would have if you remain silent.
Evaluative Information
People want to know how they stack up.
Honestly, they do. Even the fiercely independent ones.
Staff want to know if they are meeting performance expectations. Volunteers and funders want to know that their gifts are contributing to your mission in a positive way. Boards want to know if they’re doing the things they’re “supposed” to be doing.
In the absence of feedback, many people assume they’re not doing well or that their efforts aren’t appreciated.
To fill the evaluative information void,
Express appreciation, even for the small things. You will lift others up in a powerful way by acknowledging their unique contributions and the impact they’ve made.
Offer formal assessments, where appropriate. Staff benefit from well-constructed performance reviews. Boards often learn a lot from self-assessments (if you’re looking for a tool, I can suggest a few options). Leaders often appreciate 360-degree reviews, whether for evaluation or coaching purposes*.
Ask for permission to give feedback. If you notice something is amiss, and it’s not clear you’re in a supervisory position to correct the mistake, ask if you can share some feedback. Even if the conversation is uncomfortable, someone who says “yes” will likely appreciate your input (if it’s delivered well).
Emotional Information
People want to know how others are feeling.
That desire manifests in questions like, “That was awkward, right?” “What are you thinking right now?” “What does that look mean?”
As a leader, you have two sets of emotions to communicate about: your own and the collective sense of those around you (such as when something uncomfortable or tragic affects your team or constituents).
To fill the emotional information void,
Call out the emotional elephant in the room. There’s no use pretending that awkward thing didn’t happen. Point it out. Name the emotion that you, and likely everyone else, is feeling.
Show up authentically and professionally. Maintaining a “professional demeanor” (a problematic concept, to be sure) does not have to mean disregarding or denying emotions. People are not robots. Share, and make space for, authentic emotions – while staying on this side of therapy.
Respond quickly. Delayed responses to emotional situations have two problems: they create more time for anxiety and catastrophizing, and the late message is more likely to come across as insincere. Early on, you might not know what to say, and information may be incomplete or inaccurate. Simply acknowledging the situation, or perhaps noting, “I’m still processing this,” will reassure others that you’re aware and that it’s important to you.
If you have information to share – procedural, evaluative, or emotional – recognize that others are anxious to hear it. That doesn’t mean sharing everything, especially when it’s sensitive, incomplete, or personal. But communicating openly and frequently will do far more to assuage others and even build trust than silence would.