Organizational Communication
Discsss about the various types of communication that might take place within an organization.
The effective communication refers to the processes that assist the easy understanding of the message that is put forth by the concerned communicator of the message (Lundby 2014). The effectiveness of the communication initiated by the concerned business managers is very important since the effectivity of the communication helps in the facilitation of the sharing of the concerned piece of information thereby contributing to the overall success of the concerned company (Golob et al. 2013). The following report deals with the various types of communication that might take place within an organization, majorly the formal and the informal types of communication. The report proceeds further to discuss the communicational strategies that should be adopted by the concerned management of the business organization. The report majorly focusses on the various strategies of upward communication, downward communication and the horizontal strategies of communication. The report finally nears the end with certain recommendations to the concerned management of the organization that might help in the establishment of the effective communication within the concerned business organization.
The organizational communication refers to the process of initiating the communication, connectivity and the network that is present among the various stakeholders of the concerned organization (Verma 2013). The effectivity of the communications is important since the effectivity relates to the proper functioning of the various departments persistent within the organization. The flow of the information within the organization is broadly referred to as the organizational communication (Tong et al. 2014). There are majorly two types of communication that are found to be taking place within the organization, the formal and the informal types of communication. The organizations are also known to implement various strategies in the matters that pertain to the communication that exists within the organization.
The communication channels present within the organization might refer to the medium of communication that is used by the concerned employees of the organization in order to communicate within the concerned organization. The efficiency and the effectivity of the concerned communication channel might help in the determination of the correct direction of the flow and the quality of the communication process that exists within the organization. The communications within an organization is known to follow two distinctively different channels namely the formal and the informal channels.
The formal channel of communication within an organization relates to the official channels of communication that is practiced within the organization. The formal channel of communication does, therefore, involve the formal rules and the regulations that are active within the concerned organization. The formal communication channel demands the use of the official tone of the communication along with the usage of the language and the word that are best suited for the maintenance of the formality of the structure that exists within the organization (Seidl 2016). The formal channel of communication is known to have its own advantages and disadvantages. The key advantage of the formal communication is the avoidance of any problems or glitches within the concerned organization (Durugbo, Tiwari and Alcock 2013). The rules and the regulations that need to be followed within the formal channels of communication in the organization help in the avoidance of discrepancies among the concerned stakeholders of the organization.
Communication Channels
On the other hand, the key disadvantage of the formal communication within the concerned organization also originates from the rules and the regulations that need to be followed by the stakeholders. The implementation of the various rules and regulations within the organization might lead to the creation of the numerous issues and miscommunication within the organization. This might follow due to the dilution of the main matter in the process of abiding by the various rules imposed within the organization.
The informal communication that is followed within the organization generally indicates the more casual approaches to the communication followed within the organization. The peers and the colleagues within the organization are generally observed to be engaged in the informal modes of communication that is generally non-official in nature. The informal modes of communication prevalent within the organization help in the faster transmission of the concerned message within the business organization (Sutton et al. 2013). The informal communication channels might put forth the key advantage of enabling the swiftest transmission of the message within the given organization. The informal communication does not involve as much intermediary people as the formal channels and thus might result in the faster communication. The informal mode of communication, however, might pose certain disadvantages as well. The major disadvantage of this type of communication is the presence of the unauthentic and the unreliable mediums of communication within the communicational channel. The major point of contradiction that exits between the formal and the informal communicational channels refers to the authenticity of the information that is received by the concerned authority at the end of the concerned communication channel (Men 2014). The presence of the unreliable and the unauthentic intermediaries within the communication channel tend to pose the informal communication channel to be less reliable than the formal channel.
The multitude of business organizations that are operational within the international market tend to follow certain strategies in order to deal with the communication processes that are active within the organization (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra 2014). The major strategies employed by the organizations are the upward communication strategy, the downward communication strategy and the horizontal communication strategy.
The upward communication strategy generally deals with the bottom-up approach that is maintained within the organization. The upward communication strategy holds that the communication within the concerned business organization is initiated by the lower levels of the hierarchy and is targeted at the concerned higher levels of the management of the organization (Near and Miceli 2013). The concerned communication strategy helps in providing the concerned employees with the needed motivation and engagement that they might need in order to serve the organization in a better manner. The upward communication strategy helps the concerned lower level employees of the organization to communicate their grievances and other feedback to the concerned management of the concerned organization. This also helps the concerned employees to put forth the various issues that they might be facing within the organization.
Formal Communication Channel
The downward communication, as suggested by the name, refers to the top-down communication approach that is followed by the concerned organizations. In this case, the communication flows from the top levels of the management of the organization to the lower levels of the employees of the organization. The downward strategy of communication does not allow the flow of the information from the lower levels of the concern to the higher levels. This strategy is however more effective in the matters that pertain to the management of the various conflicts and crisis that might arise within the organization (Saruhan 2014). This strategy of communication helps in the communication of the various ideas and the visions of the higher management to the lower management of the organization. This helps the concerned upper management level to exercise greater control over the concerned employees of the organization.
The horizontal communication strategy is that strategy of communication that generally refers to the communication processes that take place within the same hierarchy level in the company. Thus, in simpler words, it might be said that the concerned communication strategy is generally adapted among the members of the organization who serve in the offices of the similar ranks. This strategy is known to have involved a more casual approach to the concerned communication that takes place within the organization and involves lesser restrictions (Cornelissen and Cornelissen 2017). This strategy helps the concerned managers to collect more information during the concerned inter-organizational surveys that are conducted within the concern. The major problem that is faced in this strategy of communication is the fact that this strategy does not allow the communication among the different hierarchical levels that are present within the organization. This might lead to the conditions that might leave the various issues faced by the lower levels of the company to remain unsolved or unattended.
The concerned organization is advised to determine the concerned strategy of communication prior to the initiating the communication strategy within the concerned business organization. This might help the concerned company to ensure that the chosen communication strategy of the organization fulfils the criteria that have been set by the concerned organization. The concerned company is also advised to implement the various strategies that might be flexible enough to bring about the changes in the communication strategies in order to ensure that the concerned organization is able to deal with the current scenario that the concerned company is facing.
Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion, it might be pointed out that the communication processes and the strategies that are implemented by the concerned organization are highly dependent on the various situations that are faced by the concerned company. The various communication channels and strategies have their own benefits and drawbacks. These should be taken into consideration by the concerned organization during the selection of the concerned communication strategy. The effectivity of the concerned communication strategy is dependent on the alignment of the concerned communication strategy with the requirements that are posed by the concerned company.
References
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Mishra, K., Boynton, L. and Mishra, A., 2014. Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), pp.183-202.
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Verma, P., 2013. Relationship between organisational communication flow and communication climate. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Business Management, 1(1), pp.63-71.