Successful Organizational Communication in the Organization - Essay Example

? Organizational communication Why organizational communication is important and the issues involved for managers in creating effective organizational communication Organizational communication refers to the channels and forms used for communication among members of organizations, like businesses and corporations. According to various studies done, there is a strong relationship between communication levels and job satisfaction, as well as performance in every organization. Organizational communication can be informal or formal, can use different media and flow in different directions. Organizational communication takes place horizontally, downward and upward. Downward communication takes place from executive and managerial levels to the other staff through formal channels like organizational charts, policy manuals and rules and regulations. Upward communication takes place from the members of staff to the managers, and mainly, inform of a request or a complaint. Horizontal communication flows among colleagues, especially in a meeting, where they share information, discuss issues of common interest and resolve problems. The paragraphs below discuss the importance of organizational change and issues involved by managers in creating effective organizational communication. Organizational communication is highly essential because it improves the relationship between employees and managers in an organization. This is because; it becomes extremely hard for employees to perform their work effectively without proper communication from the manager. The manager should use the correct channels of communication, and know what he expects from the communication channel used. Indeed, most management issues arise in organizations due to ineffective communication. Proper communication system minimizes misunderstanding and misrepresentation (Smith & Turner, 1995). Organizational communication is a key tool for motivation among the employees since it improves the employees’ morale. Lack of communication or inappropriate communication in every organization causes conflicts between the employees and managers. Inappropriate communication issue is one of the major causes of conflict in the work places and eventually leads to low morale for the employees. Therefore, managers should state clearly to employees on what should be done, how perfectly it should be done, and what can be done to improve the performance. The manager can do this by clarifying to the employees the relationship between personal and company’s objectives, and incorporate the interest of the two. Effective communication within an organization leads to productivity increase. Proper communication enhances good human relation in every company because it encourages suggestions and ideas from workers and employees. Importantly, the organization is encouraged to implement the suggestions, and this increases production at a remarkably low cost. Organizational communication enables employees to submit their comments, work reports, suggestions and grievances to the management. Speedy and effective communication is highly essential because procedures and policies should be clear to avoid confusion, delays and misunderstandings, and; therefore, harmony is established in all departments, and among all people. Written communication is better in an organization than oral communication. Communication in written form should be clear and concise to avoid misinterpretation. Written communication can be used for future reference because it provides a permanent record and gives a chance to employees on writing down their suggestions and comments. Organizational communication is essential since it allows rationalization. Simply, the management clarifies and explains instructions in a way that employees can comprehend, using downward communication. On the other hand, upward communication in an organization enables workers to air their views to the management. If an employee identifies a problem in motivation, for instance, he or she may use upward communication as well as rationalization to state the actual impact of the issue on profitability of the organization. Ideology, in organizational communication, is closely associated with rationale because downward communication tends to obtain loyalty of employees. Ideology refers to philosophy of any organization. Manager’s wish is to make the employees understand the philosophy of the organization. Communication becomes remarkably easy when all employees and managers possess similar goals and ideas. Most of the organizations contain written ideology, which they submit to new employees. Organizational communication helps in problem solving because organizations hold several meetings to discuss various issues on delivery times, production cycles and price margins. Besides, meetings in an organization discuss unusual situations that affect productivity of the organization. In the meetings, organizational communication’s key role is to brainstorm potential responses, table problems and finalize solutions. As a result, the organization obtains high benefits from the abilities of those people in the meeting because communication flows horizontally and informally. Conflict in an organization leads to loss of experienced and talented employees. Besides, it leads to lawsuits and lodging of grievances. Therefore, organizational communication is highly essential in managing the conflict by assembling all parties and discussing their differences in a moderated and safe environment (Eisenberg et al, 2007). In this case, all the three communication directions are used, and discussions may be informal, but the final decisions made are usually formally communicated. Organizational communication is essential in gaining compliance of workers so that they adhere fully to the instructions. For this to become successful, management must listen to the staff’s feedback and consider their comments and ideas. Feedback encourages two- way communication through horizontal, upwards and downward directions, and communication may be informal or formal. Additionally, it is essential for an organization to allow open communication channels because they motivate the employees and organization in return gets the best performance form the workers. A manager may require giving feedback to employees on their work progress by use of organizational communication. Feedback may also be referring to various issues, such as, salary increment and notice termination. The manager may also need to give feedback on job performance, so that the employees understand what they need to change, and where they are performing the best. In essence, feedback should be appropriate, clear, and instructions for making changes should accompany it. Organizational communication is necessary on a routine basis. It gives the updates such as the reasons for policy change or the progress on fulfilling the goals of an organization. Ongoing reports from the management on business policies and procedures, for instance, show respect for the worker’s role in the success of the company and provides direction, as well as fostering trust. Additionally, new communication methods enhance retention and sharing of information. Message maps, for example, summarize the change process, and it is assembled by the leaders, who create consistence and clarity of the message. Mission statement is a vital communication channel because most organizations use it as a business strategy to create a public image, organizational values, goodwill and corporate identities (Desanctis& Janet, 1999). Organizational communication acts as a socializing tool since it captures full concentration of members in the organization. As a result, organization’s actions are well coordinated in the pursuit of organizational goals. Organizational communication that aims at socializing members, focuses on reinforcing and articulating values in the organization, and incorporates organizational goals with individual goals, which results to the establishment of an appropriate organizational climate and culture. The form of communication cannot be top –down or one-way, but rather it should reciprocally be between organizational members and leaders. Organizational communication may act as a persuasive function, whereby, the manager attempts to influence the employee to do a task. Persuasive function in organizational communication is mainly an outgrowth of the management. Issuing an order may accomplish the same function but use of persuasive approach creates better relations between the subordinates and the manager. In addition, communication in every organization helps in assisting the personnel to do the necessary. The manager knows the personnel better through communication, which helps in establishing relationships. In essence, a manager has a better chance of knowing the employees if he or she meets the understanding and interpersonal relationship goals. Issues such as low morale among the employees make the manager improve organizational communication. The manager does this in order to encourage workers’ engagement and to keep them focused, energized and productive. Besides, communication recharges the employees’ morale and supports objectives of the organization. To foster such an environment; proactive, targeted and strategic communication plan must be developed. The communication procedure must focus on goals of the organization and determine communication methods, as well as points of information for various audiences. Downward communication builds confidence among the employees, and; therefore, managers should consider involving the employees in focus groups. The communication plan should aim at explaining all aspects of change whether positive or negative. Another issue that makes the manager create organizational communication, is negative relationships among the employees. This occurs due to mistrust, dissatisfaction and lack of commitment, which leads to unhappy employees and losses in the organization. Organizational justice is a tool used to assess the relationship between employee-organizational relationships and internal communication (D’Aprix, 1996). According to research done on many organizations, one-way communication is closely associated with employees’ mistrust, lack of commitment and dissatisfaction. On the other hand, two-way communication leads to good relationships between the employees and the organization. It means that positive employee relationships in an organization are as a result of incorporating fair policies and systems, as well as management behavior. Therefore, to resolve the issue of negative relationships among the employees, managers should play a crucial role of developing a culture that involves open communication and mediating information flow from employees to the top management. Moreover, lack of employees’ voice is highly risky in any organization and may result to negative impacts; therefore, the manager should create organizational communication to curb the issue. Employee voice involves expression of ideas, opinions and suggestions concerning the organizational strategy, practices and policies. The employee voice warrants awareness and thoughtful focus by the managers and other leaders in the organization. Participatory management practices bring about opportunities for employees’ voice because they encourage upward form of communication (Conrad, 1994). Besides, they facilitate workers’ input in decisions of the organization. Managers; for instance, can engage workers through workplace committees, team briefings, regular meetings, suggestion boxes, problem-solving groups and team briefings with the senior management. According to studies done, 90% of the managers who use forms of employee feedback rates effectiveness of the interactions as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ (Argyris, 1986). In essence, employees’ voice leads to commitment and organizational satisfaction, as well as employees’ trust by the supervisors. Companies that encourage employee voice, require the senior management to follow up suggestions from the employees, and consider them while making the company’s decisions. Furthermore, use of ineffective communication channels is an issue that makes the manager to create organizational communication. Newsletters, e-mails, bulletin boards and the internet are effective in communicating certain messages in an organization (Blumer, 1972). However, face-to-face communication is the most essential form. Additionally, media such as letters and reports are less effective in communicating than dynamic channels, which involves face-to-face, meetings and corridor chats. Dynamic channels are effective since dialogue is incorporated. Meetings between the employees and managers help in building trust and affinity. Improper informative communication is an issue that the manager should address in order to ensure effective communication in an organization. Effective informative communication is well conducted using written format. In this way, all employees are informed using one message at the same time. On the other hand, managers may organize meetings once a week or month. Such meetings are necessary in disseminating information, and can also be used to discuss matters that require much clarification (Argyris, 1986). A manager may use organizational communication as a regulative function, for instance, in informing an employee about a unacceptable conduct such as of breaking a certain rule. Such communication may not be very pleasant, but it is necessary in the smooth operation of every organization (Axley, 1984). Managers in an organization must take time to learn, follow and apply communication game plans because it leads to fabulous results. Continued act of communication game plan, leads to organizational vision, clear direction and more effective work teams. This enhances communication in all levels, which brings very productive work force. Besides, there are quick and effective decisions, cohesive decisions and less wasted time. In an organization where people do not like working together, the manager can apply integrative organizational communication to curb the issue. Integrative function focuses on coordinating tasks, group coordination and work assignments. It means that organization’s units work towards a common goal, which leads to positive impacts in an organization. In conclusion, successful organizational communication leads to success of an organization in various ways. Firstly, the organization accomplishes its mission and vision, thus increasing the productivity. Secondly, standard operating procedures are followed, especially by the employees, which lead to greater compliance. Thirdly, employees enjoy their work due to the accomplishment of socializing function in organizational communication. Finally, financial objectives are met and this lead to positive impacts of the organization, which is the overall objective of the entire organization. References Axley, S. (1984). Managerial and organizational communication in terms of the conduit Metaphor. Academy of Management Review 9, 428–437. Argyris, C. (1986). Skilled Incompetence. Harvard Business Review 64(5):74-80. Blumer, H. (1972). Symbolic Interactionism. Englewood Cliffs. N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Conrad, C. (1994). Strategic Organizational Communication – Toward the Twenty-First Century. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. D’Aprix, R. (1996). Communicating for Change – Connecting the Workplace with the Market Place. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. Desanctis, G. & Janet F. (1999). Shaping Organizational Form: Communication, Connection, and Community. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage publications Eisenberg, E., Goodall, H., & Trethewey, A. (2007). Organizational communication: Balancing Creativity and Constraint. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s. Smith R. C., & Turner, P. K. (1995). A social constructionist reconfiguration of metaphor Analysis. Communication Monographs, 62,152–180. 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