1. Communications In Organizations Study Standards
2. Communications In Organizations Study Definition
3. Communications In Organizations Study Articles

The Right Message to the Right Customer Why Ole Miss? Considering a career in advertising, promotion, public relations, or brand development? As a Marketing and Communication Strategy student at Ole Miss, you will learn to build strong brands and engage customers to create imaginative, integrated campaigns that meet the needs of clients. Organizations are dynamic and are created through our communication. Organizational communication is the sending and receiving of messages among interrelated individuals within a particular environment or setting to achieve individual and common goals. Organizational communication is highly contextual and culturally dependent.

Engagement•

• Communication at work can be hard no matter what, but when you are dealing with separate languages, that can be even more challenging. Mykol July 23, 2012. I feel that clear, accurate communication is important in all areas of life, including the workplace.
• Communication is very much needed when there is a change in organizational systems, structures, processes and practices. The objectives of proposals and programmes of organizational change, its elements and implications should be communicated to the persons who are likely to be affected by it.

Communication is the cornerstone of any organization’s success; business comprises of continuous interactions with multiple parties – managers, employees and clients. Effective communication ensures the flowing of information between all relevant parties, reducing the potential for misunderstanding, dissatisfaction and lack of trust.

Communication within an organization takes many forms: from oral communication and written communication to communicate through email/intranet/IM/business networks and even body language, which can be so important in today’s increasingly multi-cultural workplace. And so, the way in which an organization communicates needs to be consistent and clear across multiple channels.

Good managers possess good communication skills

Crucially, good communication needs to come from the top down. The way a manager communicates with direct employees is generally regarded as an indicator of how an organization communicates with its workforce. As described by Bisel (2012), “the supervisor-subordinate relationship is a microcosm of the organizational universe…when supervisors communicate with subordinates their interactions are an observable manifestation of an organization in action.”

An interesting survey of 46 CEOs/ Senior Leaders in the UK by the Marketing Society (2013), revealed what they considered essential leadership skills for senior management:

1. Giving a clear sense of direction
2. Bringing the customer into the boardroom
3. Communicating clearly – both inside and out
4. Being flexible but not floppy
5. Taking risks but not ‘betting’ the company
6. Building the team around you
7. Listening with humility, acting with courage
8. Earning your reward through building trust

What’s worth noting is that communication is, without a doubt, a basic function of management. Over 90% of personnel officials at 500 US businesses said increased communication skills are needed for success in the 21st century. This is supported by the list above where we can see that all of the named skills are in some way communication related and some, for example, number 3, are wholly focused on communication.

Create a culture where communication flourishes

“A crucial, but often overlooked function of leadership is creating a culture in which effective communication can flourish,” said Greg Satell in a Harvard Business Review article citing an incident at Google where a certain style of communication is understood because it is ingrained in the specific culture of the organization.

In this instance, “THESE ADS SUCK” could have been seen as a dressing down to Google AdWords specialists by Larry Page, however, because of the culture that had been created at Google it was instead seen as a call to action to technical engineers to use their skills to fix the problem.

What we can extrapolate from this example is that an organization’s communication style is a natural extension of its culture. An open, transparent culture will naturally have an open approach to communication.

Reap the benefits of effective organizational communication

Research has consistently shown that effective communication has a significantly positive effect on an organization. Among its established benefits are:

• increased productivity
• higher quality of services and products
• greater levels of trust and commitment
• increased employee engagement and higher levels of creativity
• greater employee job satisfaction and morale of employees
• better workplace relationships
• greater acceptance of change
• decreased absenteeism
• reduced staff turnover
• less industrial unrest
• reduced costs

Broadly speaking, consistent and open communication across an organization ensures all employees, from senior management to entry-level staff, understand the company’s goals and culture, as well as how it presents itself to its customers and clients. In this open environment, feedback is encouraged and sought out, either through face-to-face meetings or regular surveys.

A Business Outlook study revealed that US workers send and receive an average of 1,798 messages each day via telephone, email, faxes, papers, and face-to-face communications, while a number of industry experts estimate that the average business executive spends three-quarters of their day engaged in oral or written communication. What we’re seeing is that the need for good communication isn’t exclusive to one or two sectors, it’s vital at every level of every role, in every organization.

We are all aware of what the word “communication” means and what happens when we do not convey our message well enough so that the receiver perceives our message accurately. I certainly have fallen into not communicating my messages effectively. I am sure that you have too and know exactly what I mean. However, in an organization, communication can make or break an organization.

With this said, what do you think an organization goes through on a daily basis when the communication process fails? You probably already have seen what happens when the communication process fails. Tasks are not done or done right.

I would like to add that with all of my education and research in business management topics over many years, I have found out why organizations fail. It is due to a lack of effective communication. It seems so trivial, but if the communication process breaks down, everything breaks down eventually. It may take many years for the communication process to break down, but it will. So, how do we fix the immense organizational communication problems we may face every day?

Functions and Processes of

Organizational Communication

First, we must understand the functions and processes of communication. Secondly, we must have the ability to communicate properly to leaders and colleagues. Third, top leaders must have the skills and abilities to convey their messages so subordinates can create a plan of action. To begin, it is important to understand the functions and processes of organizational communication. In organizations, communication can become tricky. There are functions and processes to communication in an organization that controls behavior. Functions such as:

• Motivational communication

• Emotional expression

• Information communication

Motivational communication is a type of clarification method for employees to understand what they have to do in the organization. Leaders must motivate their employees through clarifying what they want from them as well as let employees know how they are doing.

Communications In Organizations Study Standards

Communication through emotional expression occurs within social networks between employees. Employees feel that being part of a group aids them in emotional expression, whatever that might be. Emotional communication is a way to fulfill their social needs.

Communication also provides us with information. Information communication aids leaders and employees in decision making. Leaders make large and small decisions every day and they have to transmit the information to the employees in order to maintain performance.

Now that you understand the functions of communication, it is time to learn about the processes of communication. The process of communication in organizations must include both transfer and understanding of the meaning of what is being communicated. The process begins with a sender and a receiver. The communication process includes 8 steps:

• Sender
• Encoding
• The message
• The channel
• Decoding
• The receiver
• Noise
• Feedback

As the sender, we think or encode what our message will be. For example, when we speak, our speech is the message as well as our body language and facial expressions are part of the message processes. We then choose a channel to send our message also known as a formal or informal channel.

A formal channel can be a type of communication process that is established by the organization that relates to the professional activities of employees. Formal channels tend to follow the hierarchy or authority in an organization.

The informal channels in the organization are the personal or social channels that employees use to communicate. The informal channel is more of a spontaneous choice of communication.

Once the channels have been established by the sender, the receiver has to decode the message sent. Noise represents the communication barriers, such as personal perceptions or cultural differences, which can interrupt the decoding process. The last process is the loop of feedback. Feedback represents how well the message was transferred and understood by the receiver.

Now that we understand the functions and processes, how does that organization carry out communication strategies as a mechanism to create an effective communication process where sender and receiver are on the same page?

We first must understand the direction that the communication should flow. Organizations use three types of communicational directions and they are as follows:

• Downward communication
• Upward communication
• Lateral communication

Communications In Organizations Study Definition

Downward communication is how leaders and managers communicate with their employees. The purpose of downward communication is to assign goals, delegate job tasks, explanation of policies and procedures, point out issues that need attention, and offer feedback about an employee’s performance.

Upward communication is used to communicate with top-level leaders as a process to provide feedback to top leaders about the organizational progress towards goals and relay what the current problems are in the organization. The purpose of upward communication is to aid top leaders in keeping up with how employees are feeling about their jobs and to stay abreast of any other issues in the organization in general.

Lateral communication is when communication is within the same work group or department. Lateral communications purpose is for leaders, managers, and employees that are at the same job level in the organization, which aids all employees involved in what is happening in the department or within the same job levels.

Communications In Organizations Study Articles

Ok, so now that you have learned about the functions and processes of communication in organizations, maybe you will recognize them when you are communicating with your leaders and colleagues. Try and use the 8 steps and see how the receiver perceives your message. You may also want to experiment with the 8 steps in your personal life and see how your conversation goes. We all need extra work in communicating properly and effectively, so why not try out effective communication in your organization. You might become a trendsetter.