Workplace Communication Issues
Discuss About The Fundamentals Of Organizational Communication.
One of the major complications that an organization of the modern world faces is the lack of communication between the higher authorities and the subordinate staffs of a company that ultimately leads to a number of hassles in terms of business and attainment of organizational goals. Effective organizational communication between different sections of employees should be encouraged by the managers on a priority basis that will be beneficial to the company in the future. This report analyses the issues related to workplace communication among different sectors of employees and investigates why managers and authorities should make effective communication among the workers a priority. The following paragraphs also highlight the topics of organizational communication, formal and informal communication channels, some strategies that are necessary for conducting downward, upward and horizontal communication channels, effects that lack of organizational communication arises and some of the benefits of having a great workplace communication within the employees.
In simple and nonprofessional language, organizational communication is defined as the study of communication done by the employees of a particular organization, either formal or informal in tone. However, on a wider perspective, organizational communication is either defined as the transmission of messages within the employees of a specific institution, verbally or written, to attain a common personal or common organizational goal (Shockley-Zalabak 2014). The concept of organizational communication is highly contextual and depends on a number of factors including the culture and environment of a particular organization. The importance of organizational communication among different members of the enterprise and even between the different level of workers is so important that most of the companies and their managers are taking up this topic on a priority basis.
Good organizational communication has a number of roles to play in any institution. The most important role is to form a stable and cordial relationship among the employees of a particular organization and with the external clients wherever necessary. An organization with effective communication among the members ensure better attainment of goals with a healthy and friendly environment that in turn increases employee motivation and loyalty to the company.
Communication channels are defined as the means and ways by which message of a particular organization is communicated among the members. It also refers to the tone and temper of communication and the positions through which it is done among members of an organization (Berger and Iyengar 2013). There are two types of communication channels that are faced by the employees of a particular organization namely Formal Communication channels and Informal Communication Channels.
Formal Communication Channels
Formal communication channels is defined as the type of communication that follows a chain of command in an institution starting from the higher authorities as managers and passing through the subordinate staffs to the employees attaining lower positions (Tenhiälä and Salvador 2014). This type of communication is primarily done to transmit information such as goals, policies and procedures in order to attain the goal of an organization. The transmission of formal communication channel follows three directions namely downward, upward and horizontal.
Downward communication is done from the people of higher authority such as managers to their subordinates (Broadbent 2013). Through this process, information such as policies and company goals are conveyed. The process can be conducted in a number of ways namely oral media (instructions, telephone conversations and lectures), written media (manuals, reports and circulars) and even video calls.
Upward communication is done from the people of the lower authority to their boss or managers. Through this mode of communication, the staffs express their problems and suggestions in a polite manner, which can help to improve the overall institutional culture and achieve profit (Miller 2013). The process can be done either in the form of written (letters and applications) or oral (meetings and appointments).
Horizontal communication is done between members or departments of the same hierarchical level within an organization. This type of communication is also known as lateral communication process (Men 2014). This type of communication is done mostly through oral process as is important in eliminating lack of knowledge, rivalry and to increase employee motivation.
Informal communication channel is defined as that type of communication that does not follow the hierarchical web of communication and is used among the workers for their personal and social needs (Mehrabian 2017). In every organization promoting formal communication, there is an existence of informal communication channel, which does not follow any rule of transmission.
Though there are a number of communication styles and processes through which the employees and their higher authorities can communicate among them, there has been a significant rise in issues at workplaces due to lack of effective communication.
Stress: One of the major effects that lack of communication fosters in the minds of employees is stress. Due to lack of needed communication, the employees feel disconnected to the rest of the office as a result of which they fail to give the desired performance leading to an increase in work stress. In addition, lack of recreational activities due to communication issues gives rise to stress that hampers the performance at the end.
Informal Communication Channels
Lack of motivation: Employee motivation is surely one of the pivotal means by which an organization attains height of success in comparison to its rivals. Lack of communication among the workers and the higher authorities and even among the members cause a lack in motivation that ultimately leads to loss of motivation to work for the institution.
Loss of Organizational culture: Organizational culture is an essential part for the steady performance of an organization. A good culture promotes a healthy working environment that helps the workers to flourish and perform better. Lack of communication plays a major part in the loss of organizational culture.
Inability to meet expected production: The workers are expected to perform a certain amount for their organization in order to retain their jobs and reputation (Quereshi et al. 2013). However, sometimes-unrealistic expectations are kept from the workers, which they fail to meet due to lack of communication between the management and the worker.
Effective communication within an organization ensures that the above-mentioned problems can be avoided and a healthy and professional working environment is maintained. There are some major reasons why maintenance of good organizational communication is of utmost importance to the manager of a firm which are as follows:
Team building: One of the primary benefits of having a good communication at workplace is the formation of good and professional teams. Each member of a particular organization has some special features or skills within him/her, which are manifested to the upper authorities through proper communication methods (Holmes and Stubbe 2015). Proper communication makes sure that there are no hidden problems and agendas in a team and the team members can perform without any hindrance.
Employee satisfaction: Proper communication ensures full working satisfaction to the employees. When the workers of a particular organization have full authority to communicate among themselves on both professional and personal front and can have a discussion with the higher authorities in terms of any problems, the employees are likely to have a good note for the institution. They feel the urge to coming to office on a regular basis and serving their company with utmost dedication.
Greater production: Good communication ensures that production is done at the desired rate at an organization. When the workers deliver good productivity report, their seniors should applaud them and when they fail to deliver the requirements, the authorities should have a word with them. In both ways, communication plays a vital role.
Effects of Lack of Organizational Communication
Organizational culture: One of the prime factors of the competitive world that companies provide in order to retain their employees from shifting to a rival brand is to enhance their organizational culture by providing different recreational activities and a friendly environment to work in. The formation of a good organizational culture lies majorly on good communication notes between different stratas of workers in a particular institution.
Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction is one of the most important reasons why businesses operate in the competitive environment. When an effective communication is maintained at the workplace, the customers find it easier to do their business as they get a cooperative response from the team. The employees behave in a professional manner in front of each other and everyone acts according to the protocol assigned to them. The customers find different sections for their work where they can do their work effectively without any hindrance.
Motivation and loyalty of the employees: One of the chief factors that keeps the employees continue their work at their specific workplace is the amount of motivation they get to perform along with their loyalty for the company concerned. With effective communication and a friendly environment, the employees find it easy to engage in their work and be profitable to the brand they are working for (Bernadette van Rijn, Yang and Sanders 2013). However, there a number of motivational factors that can affect the performance of the employees, communication surely is one of the foremost. Effective and good communication environment makes sure that all entertain no misunderstandings at the workplace leading to a healthy working environment desirable.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that workplace or organizational communication is of real importance in the companies in the competitive market without which the company suffers both loss of manpower and motivation to perform resulting in loss of profit in future. A discussion of different communication channels and their movements show the different kinds of communication that can be done by the members of the organization along with the informal mode that is necessary for the daily communication other than professional work. The report can be concluded on a note that Organizational communication does play a significant role in the overall advancement of a particular organization without which the enterprise faces a number of difficulties leading to both monetary and aesthetic loss.
References
Berger, J. and Iyengar, R., 2013. Communication channels and word of mouth: How the medium shapes the message. Journal of consumer research, 40(3), pp.567-579.
Bernadette van Rijn, M., Yang, H. and Sanders, K., 2013. Understanding employees’ informal workplace learning: The joint influence of career motivation and self-construal. Career development international, 18(6), pp.610-628.
Broadbent, D.E., 2013. Perception and communication. Elsevier.
Holmes, J. and Stubbe, M., 2015. Power and politeness in the workplace: A sociolinguistic analysis of talk at work. Routledge.
Mehrabian, A., 2017. Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
Men, L.R., 2014. Strategic internal communication: Transformational leadership, communication channels, and employee satisfaction. Management Communication Quarterly, 28(2), pp.264-284.
Miller, D.A., 2013. Establishing optimal wave communication channels automatically. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 31(24), pp.3987-3994.
Qureshi, M.I., Iftikhar, M., Abbas, S.G., Hassan, U., Khan, K. and Zaman, K., 2013. Relationship between job stress, workload, environment and employees turnover intentions: What we know, what should we know. World Applied Sciences Journal, 23(6), pp.764-770.
Shockley-Zalabak, P., 2014. Fundamentals of organizational communication. Pearson.
Tenhiälä, A. and Salvador, F., 2014. Looking inside glitch mitigation capability: The effect of intraorganizational communication channels. Decision Sciences, 45(3), pp.437-466.
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