The Impact of Communication in Everyday life
What type of communication are there in your organization?
Media for communication
Types of communication
Barriers of communication
Tips for overcoming barriers
Personal life communication/barriers/overcoming barriers
Educational institution/
Recommendation/betterment/suggestion
Effective communication in organizations involves a commitment from the top down to communicate effectively. It's as simple--and as complex--as that. Organizations that communicate effectively expect strong communication from managers to employees, provide training and coaching to managers to help build their communication skills, have ample communication tools for use by managers and employees, and measure the effectiveness of their communication efforts.
Communication From Managers to Employees
When senior leaders and managers in an organization are held accountable for effective communication, the difference will be measurable. Setting the stage for managers to communicate with employees openly and honestly can make a big difference. Managers who are effective communicators should be recognized and rewarded, those who are not should receive the appropriate feedback and asked to make improvements.
Training And Coaching
Not all managers are automatically equipped with the skills they need to be effective communicators. For effective communication in organizations, managers need to have access to training and coaching to first understand the communication expectations the organization has of them and to improve skills when necessary. Training can be one-on-one, in classroom settings and increasingly online or through webinars. A wide range of training materials and information is available at little--and sometimes at no--cost.
Communication Tools
Years ago face-to-face communication was the only option for organizations. Today many options exist ranging from face-to-face, which is still the most effective form of communication, to telephone, to email to online forums and social media. Organizations should ensure that managers and employees are aware of the tools available to them and how to use them effectively.
Communication Effectiveness
The old phrase "you can't manage what you can't measure" is especially true when it comes to communication. Effective communication in organizations involves first establishing a baseline for performance, then identifying areas for improvement, then implementing improvement actions and then measuring again. It's a cycle that should be repeated regularly and the information attained should be shared widely with managers and employees alike.
Honesty Even During Tough Times
Even during tough times organizations must be committed to open and honest communication. Sometimes they are judged most harshly by employees during these times so a commitment to sharing information, even when the information is negative, can go a long way toward establishing a foundation of solid communication and trust.
Communication Strategies in an Effective Organization
Communication is a critical function in organizations, from the very small to the very large. Even one-to-one communications can be fraught with challenges and misunderstandings. By communicating purposefully and focusing on results and relationships, businesses can leverage effective communication strategies to generate solid results with multiple audiences.
Open
An open communication environment is one in which all members of the organization feel free to share feedback, ideas and even criticism at every level. Leaders who are committed to open communication build an environment of trust that can be the foundation for success.
Inclusive
An inclusive communication strategy is one in which explicit steps are taken to ensure that all employees feel they are involved in decisions that affect their day-to-day work. Organizations with a secretive communication environment shut people out, which can stifle involvement and result in lost ideas and opportunities. Employee involvement is a key factor that affects employee satisfaction and success.
Two-Way
Communication should never be one-way--either from the top-down or the bottom-up. Effective communication strategies involve two-way communication, or conversations, between members of the organization. Companies whose managers successfully engage employees in conversations about their work, their ideas and their perspectives on issues related to products, services, customers and the business environment develop a culture of inclusiveness that generates results.
Results-Driven
Business communication should be results-driven and strategically focused on achieving measurable results. Organizations need to think about what employees need to know to do their jobs effectively, to interact with customers effectively and to serve as ambassadors outside of the organization. Effective communication isn't just nice to do; it's need to do.
Multi-Channeled
Effective organizational communicators know that messages need to be delivered multiple times in multiple ways to have the most impact. Employee communication needs and preferences differ, different messages require different methods and busy business environments can mean that messages get lost. Using multiple channels to communicate with various audiences will increase the odds that communications are received and understood.
Secret to Effective Communication in Organizations
People need to communicate effectively with each other to achieve positive results. Effective communication in organizations requires, first, the recognition that communication is critical and, second, a commitment to ensuring that everybody in the organization from the top down has the skills, tools and resources to communicate effectively.
Commitment from the Top
If there is one big secret to effective communication in organizations, it is that the commitment must come from the top. The CEO and senior leadership team set the expectation for effective communication through their commitment to open, honest and timely communication. Their actions, behaviors and messages send a strong message to employees about the tone and tenor of communication in the organization. Without commitment from the top, even the most skilled of corporate communicators will be unsuccessful.
Positive Role Models
Direct supervisors and managers have the greatest influence and impact on employees. Managers who are trained in the use of effective communication with employees and who serve as positive role models make a strong impression. Employees will emulate the style and tone in communication that they receive from their managers. Training--whether in-person, online or through resources such as books and journal articles--is essential. Few people are natural communicators; they need training and education to help them improve their communication skills.
Clear Expectations for Employees
Organizations should not assume that employees will know what's expected of them when it comes to communicating with each other, their subordinates or managers. Clear expectations conveyed in policies, handbooks and through direct communications can help employees avoid innocent mistakes that don't reflect company culture. Many rules of communication are unstated. For instance, is it OK for employees to go directly to department heads or their boss' boss with comments or questions? Is email preferred over face-to-face, or vice versa? The answers to these simple questions can help communication flow smoothly and avoid unnecessary misperceptions and frustrations.
Multiple Tools to Meet Varied Needs
Because employees generally work in varying types of environments and have different jobs requirements and expectations, multiple options for communicating with and receiving communication from colleagues, managers and subordinates is important. Today's technology allows companies to offer both traditional--in-person, telephone and newsletter--and online options for communicating with employees, as well as for two-way communication.
Alignment and Consistency in Messages
Consistency and alignment in organizational communication is critical. Employees who hear different messages from supervisors than through company communications--for example, in newsletters or intranet sites--will be at best confused and, at worst, disillusioned. Carefully planned communications take into consideration both the order and timing of communication to ensure that the right people hear the message first and to ensure that the right, and consistent, message flows effectively from the top to the bottom of the organization.
How Can Communication Barriers Affect Organizations?
Effective communication is integral to the success of any organization. This is especially true in smaller organizations that usually rely on a smaller workforce to produce results. Top-down, horizontal and bottom-up communication flows are all important as every level of the small business needs to function with consistent objectives, strategies and focus.
Inaction
One of the biggest effects of communication barriers in businesses is that it causes employees to fail to deliver on requested directives. According to Better Communication Results CEO Lee Hopkins, a weak delivery of a message can cause the intended receiver to fail to act. This weakness can mean the receiver is uncertain about the request. Often, it can mean the sender has failed to present the request in a way that motivates the receiver to take immediate action and perform up to par.
Misinterpretation
Misinterpreted messages are also an effect of communication barriers in many large and small businesses. While this can stem from poor communication efforts by the message sender, the Management Study Guide website also discusses two common barriers that can lead to misinterpretation. Language and communication differences are common as companies become more diverse. Additionally, noises and distractions in the work environment can cause confusion during the reception and interpretation of messages.
Bad Work Relationships
Several common communication barriers can lead to disengaged and even conflicting relationships among colleagues, or between supervisors and subordinates. However, a barrier commonly tied to this negative affect is emotions. When a workplace becomes overly affected by the emotional state of one, a few or several workers, in can significantly affect the ability of people to work together. A supervisor who routinely expresses negative emotions can overwhelm workers. Co-workers who routinely project emotional outbursts can create hostile working relationships.
Lack of Knowledge
Improperly structured organizations and communication processes and several other common barriers can ultimately contribute to an environment in which employees generally lack knowledge about the company, its products and their jobs. This can contribute to poor production, creativity and results within the organization. It can also lead to poor communication and ineffective results during interactions with clients or customers. Top management should take on the responsibility of making certain each employee has knowledge to do his job.
Main Barriers to Communication
There are many barriers to communication that exist in any organization, but some are more pervasive and more common than others. Barriers can be environmental or personal and may include such things as noise (real or internal), bias, cultural differences or even differences in roles, or levels of authority, within the organization.
Noise
Noise can be either internal or external. Internal noise represents the internal self-talking that we all do, such as thinking about things that need to be done, wondering about what the other person is thinking about, or thinking about what we'll do when we go home for the evening. Our internal contemplations can keep us from being entirely focused on the conversations we're involved in at that moment. In addition to internal noise, we can also be impacted by external noise, or literally the noise around us. External noise can include other conversations, traffic noise or anything that interferes with our ability to maintain focus.
Culture
Culture can be a significant impact on communication. Some cultures are open and supportive of input from employees and a two-way flow of communication. Other cultures are more top-down; leaders convey messages but don't seek out input from staff, or often even customers. Culture can represent a barrier to communication when it keeps communication from happening or when employees communicate the information and input they feel they are expected to communicate, and not what they really believe.
Role
Role conflicts can create barriers to communication in organizations, particularly when they involve interactions between subordinates and superiors. Regardless of how open managers and senior leaders believe they are to employee input, employees are often hesitant to share their honest insights, especially when those insights may be perceived as critical. Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of "Employee Management for Small Business," says that small businesses are in a better position to deal with this barrier since relationships between employees and business owners can be more casual and less hindered by bureaucracy than in larger organizations.
Bias
Whether we recognize it or not, we all suffer from various biases. These biases can interfere with communication both when we're sending and receiving messages. Biases can be based on our preconceived beliefs (e.g. millenials don't respond well to criticism) or based on impressions we form of people as we interact with them. When communicating with others, it's important to be aware of, and to work to overcome, these biases.
Misinterpretation
While misinterpretation may happen most commonly in email interactions, it can also occur over the phone or in face-to-face conversations. When interacting with others, we may jump to conclusions or misinterpret something they've said. These misinterpretations then color our own responses and beliefs. It is important to be sure that the meaning behind your communication is clearly and accurately understood. When in doubt, ask for clarification.
How Communication Barriers Impact Organizations
Communication barriers are frequent occurrences in any organization, and small businesses are no exception. Sometimes, the barrier is subtle and only mildly disruptive. For example, perhaps a supervisor has difficulty motivating her team because of the geographic distance among team members. Other times, barriers create a breakdown of the company, as was the case with the lack of transparency and truthfulness between Enron and its shareholders. Communication impediments can affect a small business in several ways.
Identification
Communication barriers include any breakdown or impediment that concerns relaying information. Such communication may occur between workers or within a structural system. One example of a barrier is a lack of trust between a manager and her subordinates. This inhibits the open relaying of information, thereby creating the potential for differing expectations and misunderstandings. Barriers may also prove more tangible, such as an antiquated ordering system that fails to update deliveries in real time. This impediment would prevent streamlined communication among departments within an organization.
Vision and Mission
Communication barriers can impede a company from relaying its vision and mission. Kathleen Rhodes, author of the book, "Business Communication: Process and Product," explains weak language skills, confusing the message by using different words to mean the same thing and physical distractions all inhibit the free flow of information. Overcoming these barriers requires the management team to hold company-wide meetings, infuse employee orientations with the group's mission and welcome feedback at all levels of the organizational chart. Working through communication issues improves the likelihood that employees will be satisfied with the company's goals. Employees disinterested in the overall success of the company because of poor communication are more inclined to pursue other work opportunities and will probably take little interest in improving their skill sets.
Customer Service
Communication barriers can devastate a company's customer service division. These barriers include dismissive, rude employees, poor customer service ordering techniques and failure to relay order information to the appropriate parties -- such as delivery warehouse employees and the accounting team. In her book, "Customer Communications," Maggie Jones explains that overcoming communication barriers hinges on decoding the customer's information successfully. Jones explains how gaps occur when groups make erroneous assumptions about the decoding process. For instance, a customer may assume the package will arrive in less than a week, whereas the representative knows deliveries typically arrive in two weeks. This lack of communication can create frustration and customer dissatisfaction.
Production
The production process may suffer due to communication barriers within an organization. Charles McConnell, author of the book, "Management Principles for Health Professionals," states that formal and informal communication processes may impact production. Whereas formal communication explains the process in training manuals, directives and bulletins, informal communication relates to rumors and information that may or may not be true, but is nonetheless passed between workers. Barriers in communication can create inefficient production or even jarring halts in work flow. For instance, if a group of employees believe they may lose their jobs, yet they receive no information from the management team, their fear could transform into apathy and disinterest.
Main Barriers to Communication
There are many barriers to communication that exist in any organization, but some are more pervasive and more common than others. Barriers can be environmental or personal and may include such things as noise (real or internal), bias, cultural differences or even differences in roles, or levels of authority, within the organization.
Noise
Noise can be either internal or external. Internal noise represents the internal self-talking that we all do, such as thinking about things that need to be done, wondering about what the other person is thinking about, or thinking about what we'll do when we go home for the evening. Our internal contemplations can keep us from being entirely focused on the conversations we're involved in at that moment. In addition to internal noise, we can also be impacted by external noise, or literally the noise around us. External noise can include other conversations, traffic noise or anything that interferes with our ability to maintain focus.
Culture
Culture can be a significant impact on communication. Some cultures are open and supportive of input from employees and a two-way flow of communication. Other cultures are more top-down; leaders convey messages but don't seek out input from staff, or often even customers. Culture can represent a barrier to communication when it keeps communication from happening or when employees communicate the information and input they feel they are expected to communicate, and not what they really believe.
Role
Role conflicts can create barriers to communication in organizations, particularly when they involve interactions between subordinates and superiors. Regardless of how open managers and senior leaders believe they are to employee input, employees are often hesitant to share their honest insights, especially when those insights may be perceived as critical. Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of "Employee Management for Small Business," says that small businesses are in a better position to deal with this barrier since relationships between employees and business owners can be more casual and less hindered by bureaucracy than in larger organizations.
Bias
Whether we recognize it or not, we all suffer from various biases. These biases can interfere with communication both when we're sending and receiving messages. Biases can be based on our preconceived beliefs (e.g. millenials don't respond well to criticism) or based on impressions we form of people as we interact with them. When communicating with others, it's important to be aware of, and to work to overcome, these biases.
Misinterpretation
While misinterpretation may happen most commonly in email interactions, it can also occur over the phone or in face-to-face conversations. When interacting with others, we may jump to conclusions or misinterpret something they've said. These misinterpretations then color our own responses and beliefs. It is important to be sure that the meaning behind your communication is clearly and accurately understood. When in doubt, ask for clarification.
How do I Use Organizational Communication Techniques?
Organizational communication is the internal communication techniques you use to disseminate information and communicate with employees. Organizational communication techniques can vary from company to company, but these techniques can be used in small, medium or large organizations. The important factor in internal communication is that the employees you intend to receive the message do. Most effective techniques are free or very low cost to the company.
Step 1
Create an email program or internal newsletter. Put one of your employees in charge of creating a monthly email newsletter. Have the employee update the newsletter with important information about the company, changes to policies, special dates, health and safety tips, to feature an employee of the month and even hosting a contest, puzzle or fun game for employees to enjoy. Send out the newsletter via email to the employees on a set schedule once per month to keep them up-to-date on company happenings and news.
Step 2
Host theme meetings. Rather than the same old meeting format, plan employee meetings around a lunch theme or other theme. Bring in a catered lunch or have employees bring their own lunch to enjoy during the company meeting. Some companies conduct regular meetings this way to update employees or to have employees update management and other, once per month, or you can call a meeting when it is necessary to discuss a specific topic or issue.
Step 3
Create a social networking group. Create social networking groups for your employees on social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Not only can you post company updates and information in these groups for your members and followers (the employers), but it also a platform where employees can leave messages for you and interact with the other employees. This not only allows you to share information about the company with your employees but allows them to share information with each other.
What Are Some Communication Techniques and How Do They Work in a Team Environment?
Communication in any size team is important to the group's success, according to the employment resource website Mind Tools. Several different kinds of communication techniques are used in business every day, and each has a different result when used in a team environment. In order to communicate effectively in a team, it is important to know what techniques to use and when to use them.
Verbal Communication
With verbal communication, team members can project emotion and intent through vocal inflections and proper use of words. According to career resource website Work911, using techniques such as open-ended questioning (i.e., asking questions that require more than a yes or no answer) can allow all parties of a conversation to give their opinions on a subject. This technique can make verbal communication among team members more effective.
Email
Email communication is a way to convey an instant message to team members, but an email should give only basic information and call for a verbal followup for more detailed data. According to Mind Tools, a poorly worded email can cause confusion. Email works best when team members use good spelling and proper grammar, and make the message clear. Email is a good way for teams to circulate meeting minutes, arrange meetings and share data, but using email for group conversation is often less effective than discussing things in person.
Body Language
According to the Small Business Management website, several aspects of body language can be effective in a group setting. How close a team is seated together can indicate whether or not the members feels cohesive. Slumping posture by some people in the group can indicate disinterest in the topic being discussed. Physically touching team members can convey a feeling of intimacy and confidence. By watching body language when interacting, team members can determine how well they are working together and if some people within the group are not comfortable with the environment.
Organizational Structure & Communication
In many companies, organizational structure defines the modes and the tone of interpersonal communication. Highly stratified organizations may use more formal methods of communication between managers and employees. Meanwhile, smaller companies may leverage the relatively flat nature of their organization charts to keep communication relatively terse and informal. Effective leaders must learn how to match appropriate communication styles to company norms.
Function
Effective business communication relies on a feedback cycle that involves listening, speaking and confirming what has been heard, according to author and lecturer Asha Kaul. Parties engaged in highly interactive communication use the feedback cycle to reach mutually beneficial decisions. When communication happens across different levels within an organization, the type and time frame of the feedback cycle can determine that organization’s overall effectiveness.
Features
Teams can blend various kinds of written and spoken communication to encourage change throughout a company’s organizational chart. For instance, written memos denote less urgency, but sometimes more importance, than email. Email rarely takes precedence over direct spoken communication, except when a company’s culture promotes continuous email monitoring and nearly instant replies. Speaking on the phone increases the urgency of communication, but a face-to-face meeting imbues a conversation with significance.
Benefits
Company leaders who take the time to identify their most effective form of organizational communication often run some of the teams with the most impact. Likewise, team members that adapt their communication styles to fit those of their managers usually accomplish more than peers who mismatch modes of writing and speaking. The most effective organizations manage to balance communication with action to avoid the pitfalls of “analysis paralysis.”
Considerations
Kaul and other authors caution business professionals to avoid communication cycles that emphasize speaking over listening. Email may have streamlined communication flow in many organizations, but it also provides some employees with a soapbox upon which to shout their opinions without an ample opportunity for feedback. Managers who make extra time to listen to the concerns and the ideas of their teams often succeed at meeting project goals while building highly collegial environments in which to operate.
Potential
Understanding how managers and executives communicate within an organization can help entry level workers get ahead, according to Mary Ellen Guffey and Richard Almonte, authors of “Essentials of Business Communication.” Sincere, spontaneous and short messages tend to transcend organizational and cultural barriers, even in companies that seem to thrive on complex communication. Using email and voicemail as supplements to conversations can cement professional relationships.
How Does the CRM Address Communication Problems & Organizational Goals?
Customer relationship management, or CRM, aligns closely with organizational goals of client-driven companies. It does so largely by enhancing internal communication as well as communication between company employees and customers. Driven by software database applications, CRM enables the use of data to track and manage relationships with key clients.
Customer Goals
A common theme among consumer resellers is how to attract and retain high-value customers. Over time, companies have often either failed to build relationships with core customers, or they have wasted money marketing to customers that were among the most profitable. CRM greatly impacts customer acquisition and retention by allowing your business to keep track of customer activities over time. This enables market segment analysis, which helps you better understand your core customers. Software programs also offer tons of customer data and tools, which help your sales and service employees more easily retain customer information and better resolve conflicts.
Marketing Goals
Operating an efficiency business where revenue is optimized and costs are minimized is the general objective of most organizations. CRM helps improve efficiency by allowing for more cost-efficiency in marketing. By developing direct mail, email and other campaigns that target individual customers as opposed to a general audience, you can ensure more bang for your buck on the response. Targeted direct marketing has a much higher response rate than reaching out to general populations. As an example, in promoting a new product, you can send campaigns only to customers who have purchased certain other products in a given time frame.
Internal Communication
Enterprise-wide CRM is intended to bring together all functional areas in your company for the common purpose of optimizing the customer experience. An effective CRM tool allows sales, marketing, service, shipping, logistics, IT and finance employees to see what stage a prospect or customer is in and what tasks need to be completed in a given time frame. Shippers, for instance, will get alerts from salespeople when orders are complete and can make similar notations in return once orders are shipped. This not only aids in customer service, but it allows each employee to answer customer questions on what is going on with their products.
Customer Communication
Sales and service employees benefit from enhanced customer communication with CRM. Salespeople can keep profiles on customers, monitor their buying activity and keep notes on each meeting. This helps with customer rapport and communication efficiency in the sales process. Service employees can better aid customers by having an accurate depiction of the customer's history with the company. This avoids time wasted gathering data from customers during service resolution processes. CRM programs also allow you to schedule automated follow up emails and phone calls.
Barriers to Communication That Detract From Organizational Effectiveness
Unclear Message
The message delivered may lack clarity, which can especially be true if it is being delivered to more than one person. The message may be filled with industry jargon that not all recipients may be familiar with, or it may contain terminology that is understood by one department and not another. The message also may not be clear as to what, if any, action needs to be taken by the recipients.
Cultural Differences
As society becomes more culturally diverse, it also may mean a further diversification of a company's workforce. This can lead to cultural barriers to effective communication due to lack of understanding or even personal prejudices. This can also be true when a company attempts to expand to a foreign country, as simple language barriers can hinder the organization's ability to communicate its message effectively.
Workplace Stress
A workplace can be a stressful environment, especially when deadlines are tight or when a large volume of customer interaction is taking place. Workers may be so focused on the task at hand that they don't heed or don't hear what is being communicated. If the message is of great importance, it is better that it is communicated at a time when activity levels are lower.
Poor Listening Skills
Some individuals within the organization may not be proficient in the art of listening. At a meeting, an individual may be so focused on getting her point across that she is oblivious to questions or feedback from others. During a one-on-one interaction with an employee, a supervisor may be intent on providing direction without giving the opportunity for employee input, leading to a project being completed incorrectly.
Incorrect Mode
Sometimes the mode chosen to deliver a message can lead to ineffective communication. For example, a tersely-worded email may make the reader believe that he is being reprimanded, when in fact it was simply meant to communicate a bit of information. The misunderstanding could lead to a lowering of the employee's morale, reducing his effectiveness. If the message had been delivered by telephone or in person, the recipient may have better understood the sender's intentions.
Types of Communication Medium
We divide the different types of communication medium into two different categories:
1. Physical media
2. Mechanical media (everything that is not No. 1)
This site focus on the internal communication. Our listings of types of communication medium therefore exclude external media.
Physical media
With physical media we mean channels where the person who is talking can be seen and heard by the audience. The whole point here is to be able to not only hear the messages but also to see the body language and feel the climate in the room. This does not need to be two-way channels. In certain situations the receiver expect physical communication. This is the case especially when dealing with high concern messages, e.g. organizational change or down sizing. If a message is perceived as important to the receiver they expect to hear it live from their manager.
Large meetings, town hall meetings
Department meetings (weekly meetings)
Up close and personal (exclusive meetings)
Video conferences
Viral communication or word of mouth
Large meetings
Large meetings have got great symbolic value and should be used only at special occasions. This channel works very well when you need to get across strategic and important messages to a large group of people at the same time, creating a wide attention, get engagement or communicate a sense of belonging. Large meetings are excellent when you want to present a new vision or strategy, inform about a reorganisation or share new values. The opportunity for dialogue is limited at large meeting, of course but you can create smaller groups where dialogue can be performed.
Weekly departmental meetings
In the weekly meetings you and your group communicate daily operative issues, gives status reports and solves problems. Weekly meetings are also used to follow up on information from large meetings, management team meetings etc from a “what’s-in-it-for-us-perspective”. This type of smaller group meetings gives good opportunities for dialogue. This channel is often the most important channel you have as a manager, because that’s where you have the opportunity to build the big picture, you can prepare for change, you can create ownership of important strategies and goals etc. This is a favourite among the types of communication medium.
Up close and personal
This is a form of meetings where, often, a senior manager meets with a “random” selection of employees to discuss and answer questions. Some managers use this as a on going activities on a monthly basis. It can also be used in specific projects or campaigns e.g. launching new strategies.
Viral communication
Or viral marketing as it is also called works external as well as internal and refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in awareness or knowledge through self-replicating viral processes. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of social media.
Mechanical media
The second of the two types of communication medium is mechanical media. With mechanical media we mean written or electronic channels. These channels can be used as archives for messages or for giving the big picture and a deeper knowledge. But they can also be very fast. Typically though, because it is written, it is always interpret by the reader based on his or her mental condition. Irony or even humour rarely travels well in mechanical channels.
E-mail
Weekly letters or newsletters
Personal letters
Billboards
Intranet
Magazines or papers
Sms
Social media
E-mail
E-mail is a good channel for the daily communication to specific target groups. It is suitable mainly for up-to-date and “simple” messages and where there is no risk of misunderstanding, E-mail is an important supplement to weekly meetings and the Intranet. Invitation to and agenda for meetings can with advantage be sent out with e-mail before the meeting, while background facts and minutes from meetings is well suited to be stored on the Intranet.
Some short e-mail tips:
Write short and to the point.
Target your messages to the audience and avoid sending unnecessary all-employees-e-mails.
Set up your subject line to describe what the e-mail is about.
Clearly state if the message is for information or for action.
Avoid attaching large documents if possible. Post a link or direct to the source instead.
Weekly letters
Managers that have large groups of employees and who has difficulties in meeting all of them often choose to publish a personally weekly letter. It is sort of a short summary of news with personally reflections. Many employees often appreciate it because it has the potential to give the “what’s-in-it-for-us” angle. They can also contain summaries and status in tasks, projects or issues – yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Personal letters
At special occasions it can be justified to send a personal letter to employees in order to get attention to a specific issue. E.g. pat on the back letter after extra ordinary achievements. Or it can be a letter with your personal commentary on an ongoing reorganisation that affects many employees. One other example is a letter that summarizes the past year and wishes all the best for the holidays.
Billboard
One of the most forgotten types of communication medium is clearly the billboard. Especially today, when everything is about social media. But the good thing with the billboard is that you can use billboards to inform people who does not have computers and/or access to the Intranet or to reach people that work part time and does not attend weekly meetings.
News summary
Weekly letters
Minutes from meetings
Schedules
Holiday lists
You can also use the billboard to gather ideas e.g. for items for upcoming meetings
Intranet
The Intranet is of course one of the most used types of communication medium and a very important communication channel and work tool for you as a manager, but it is also your job to help your employees prioritise and pick out the information on the Intranet, as well as translating messages into local consequences. Ask your self: what information concerns you employees? In what way are they concerned? How do I best communicate this to my employees? Weekly meeting or your weekly letter can be a suitable channel to discuss or inform of information found on the Intranet.
Employee magazine
A Magazine offers the opportunity to deepen a specific issue, explain context, describing consequences or tell a story. It also has the opportunity to reach many employees. If you want to create a broad internal understanding of strategic messages the magazine can be a good vehicle to use e.g. by writing an article based on an interview with you. As were the case with the Intranet you also have to “translate” the information in the magazine to your employees. You can ask yourself: What does the content in a specific article mean to us? How shall I best communicate it to the employees?
Sms
Or text messaging to the mobile phone is one of the new types of communication medium and not a very widely used channel but where it is used it is proven very effective. Some companies use it as an alert system e.g. for giving managers a head start when something important will be published on the Intranet. The advantage with Sms is that it is fast. But it should be used rarely as an exclusive channel. Some companies use it as a subscription tool where you can subscribe to e.g press-releases.
Social media
Wikipedia describe social media as “Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).”
More and more companies are using social media in their external marketing, setting up twitter and Facebook accounts etc. But these channels are also used internal where managers become “friends” on Facebook with their employees or where managers use blog and twitter targeting their employees.
Push or Pull
You can also divide the different types of communication medium in Push or Pull channels.
Push channels are channels where the sender are pushing the message to the receiver. Meaning it is up to the sender to control the communication.
E-mail
News letters and letters (if sent out)
Magazines (if sent out)
Meetings
Telephone
Sms
Pull channels on the other hand is when the receiver is pulling the message from the sender. It is up to the receiver when he or she wants to take in the message.
Intranet
Billboards
New letters and letters (if not sent out)
Magazines (if not sent out)
Social media
Push channels are often regarded as having higher reliability than pull channels because of the fact that it is more active in the communication.
Media for communication
Types of communication
Barriers of communication
Tips for overcoming barriers
Personal life communication/barriers/overcoming barriers
Educational institution/
Recommendation/betterment/suggestion
Effective communication in organizations involves a commitment from the top down to communicate effectively. It's as simple--and as complex--as that. Organizations that communicate effectively expect strong communication from managers to employees, provide training and coaching to managers to help build their communication skills, have ample communication tools for use by managers and employees, and measure the effectiveness of their communication efforts.
Communication From Managers to Employees
When senior leaders and managers in an organization are held accountable for effective communication, the difference will be measurable. Setting the stage for managers to communicate with employees openly and honestly can make a big difference. Managers who are effective communicators should be recognized and rewarded, those who are not should receive the appropriate feedback and asked to make improvements.
Training And Coaching
Not all managers are automatically equipped with the skills they need to be effective communicators. For effective communication in organizations, managers need to have access to training and coaching to first understand the communication expectations the organization has of them and to improve skills when necessary. Training can be one-on-one, in classroom settings and increasingly online or through webinars. A wide range of training materials and information is available at little--and sometimes at no--cost.
Communication Tools
Years ago face-to-face communication was the only option for organizations. Today many options exist ranging from face-to-face, which is still the most effective form of communication, to telephone, to email to online forums and social media. Organizations should ensure that managers and employees are aware of the tools available to them and how to use them effectively.
Communication Effectiveness
The old phrase "you can't manage what you can't measure" is especially true when it comes to communication. Effective communication in organizations involves first establishing a baseline for performance, then identifying areas for improvement, then implementing improvement actions and then measuring again. It's a cycle that should be repeated regularly and the information attained should be shared widely with managers and employees alike.
Honesty Even During Tough Times
Even during tough times organizations must be committed to open and honest communication. Sometimes they are judged most harshly by employees during these times so a commitment to sharing information, even when the information is negative, can go a long way toward establishing a foundation of solid communication and trust.
Communication Strategies in an Effective Organization
Communication is a critical function in organizations, from the very small to the very large. Even one-to-one communications can be fraught with challenges and misunderstandings. By communicating purposefully and focusing on results and relationships, businesses can leverage effective communication strategies to generate solid results with multiple audiences.
Open
An open communication environment is one in which all members of the organization feel free to share feedback, ideas and even criticism at every level. Leaders who are committed to open communication build an environment of trust that can be the foundation for success.
Inclusive
An inclusive communication strategy is one in which explicit steps are taken to ensure that all employees feel they are involved in decisions that affect their day-to-day work. Organizations with a secretive communication environment shut people out, which can stifle involvement and result in lost ideas and opportunities. Employee involvement is a key factor that affects employee satisfaction and success.
Two-Way
Communication should never be one-way--either from the top-down or the bottom-up. Effective communication strategies involve two-way communication, or conversations, between members of the organization. Companies whose managers successfully engage employees in conversations about their work, their ideas and their perspectives on issues related to products, services, customers and the business environment develop a culture of inclusiveness that generates results.
Results-Driven
Business communication should be results-driven and strategically focused on achieving measurable results. Organizations need to think about what employees need to know to do their jobs effectively, to interact with customers effectively and to serve as ambassadors outside of the organization. Effective communication isn't just nice to do; it's need to do.
Multi-Channeled
Effective organizational communicators know that messages need to be delivered multiple times in multiple ways to have the most impact. Employee communication needs and preferences differ, different messages require different methods and busy business environments can mean that messages get lost. Using multiple channels to communicate with various audiences will increase the odds that communications are received and understood.
Secret to Effective Communication in Organizations
People need to communicate effectively with each other to achieve positive results. Effective communication in organizations requires, first, the recognition that communication is critical and, second, a commitment to ensuring that everybody in the organization from the top down has the skills, tools and resources to communicate effectively.
Commitment from the Top
If there is one big secret to effective communication in organizations, it is that the commitment must come from the top. The CEO and senior leadership team set the expectation for effective communication through their commitment to open, honest and timely communication. Their actions, behaviors and messages send a strong message to employees about the tone and tenor of communication in the organization. Without commitment from the top, even the most skilled of corporate communicators will be unsuccessful.
Positive Role Models
Direct supervisors and managers have the greatest influence and impact on employees. Managers who are trained in the use of effective communication with employees and who serve as positive role models make a strong impression. Employees will emulate the style and tone in communication that they receive from their managers. Training--whether in-person, online or through resources such as books and journal articles--is essential. Few people are natural communicators; they need training and education to help them improve their communication skills.
Clear Expectations for Employees
Organizations should not assume that employees will know what's expected of them when it comes to communicating with each other, their subordinates or managers. Clear expectations conveyed in policies, handbooks and through direct communications can help employees avoid innocent mistakes that don't reflect company culture. Many rules of communication are unstated. For instance, is it OK for employees to go directly to department heads or their boss' boss with comments or questions? Is email preferred over face-to-face, or vice versa? The answers to these simple questions can help communication flow smoothly and avoid unnecessary misperceptions and frustrations.
Multiple Tools to Meet Varied Needs
Because employees generally work in varying types of environments and have different jobs requirements and expectations, multiple options for communicating with and receiving communication from colleagues, managers and subordinates is important. Today's technology allows companies to offer both traditional--in-person, telephone and newsletter--and online options for communicating with employees, as well as for two-way communication.
Alignment and Consistency in Messages
Consistency and alignment in organizational communication is critical. Employees who hear different messages from supervisors than through company communications--for example, in newsletters or intranet sites--will be at best confused and, at worst, disillusioned. Carefully planned communications take into consideration both the order and timing of communication to ensure that the right people hear the message first and to ensure that the right, and consistent, message flows effectively from the top to the bottom of the organization.
How Can Communication Barriers Affect Organizations?
Effective communication is integral to the success of any organization. This is especially true in smaller organizations that usually rely on a smaller workforce to produce results. Top-down, horizontal and bottom-up communication flows are all important as every level of the small business needs to function with consistent objectives, strategies and focus.
Inaction
One of the biggest effects of communication barriers in businesses is that it causes employees to fail to deliver on requested directives. According to Better Communication Results CEO Lee Hopkins, a weak delivery of a message can cause the intended receiver to fail to act. This weakness can mean the receiver is uncertain about the request. Often, it can mean the sender has failed to present the request in a way that motivates the receiver to take immediate action and perform up to par.
Misinterpretation
Misinterpreted messages are also an effect of communication barriers in many large and small businesses. While this can stem from poor communication efforts by the message sender, the Management Study Guide website also discusses two common barriers that can lead to misinterpretation. Language and communication differences are common as companies become more diverse. Additionally, noises and distractions in the work environment can cause confusion during the reception and interpretation of messages.
Bad Work Relationships
Several common communication barriers can lead to disengaged and even conflicting relationships among colleagues, or between supervisors and subordinates. However, a barrier commonly tied to this negative affect is emotions. When a workplace becomes overly affected by the emotional state of one, a few or several workers, in can significantly affect the ability of people to work together. A supervisor who routinely expresses negative emotions can overwhelm workers. Co-workers who routinely project emotional outbursts can create hostile working relationships.
Lack of Knowledge
Improperly structured organizations and communication processes and several other common barriers can ultimately contribute to an environment in which employees generally lack knowledge about the company, its products and their jobs. This can contribute to poor production, creativity and results within the organization. It can also lead to poor communication and ineffective results during interactions with clients or customers. Top management should take on the responsibility of making certain each employee has knowledge to do his job.
Main Barriers to Communication
There are many barriers to communication that exist in any organization, but some are more pervasive and more common than others. Barriers can be environmental or personal and may include such things as noise (real or internal), bias, cultural differences or even differences in roles, or levels of authority, within the organization.
Noise
Noise can be either internal or external. Internal noise represents the internal self-talking that we all do, such as thinking about things that need to be done, wondering about what the other person is thinking about, or thinking about what we'll do when we go home for the evening. Our internal contemplations can keep us from being entirely focused on the conversations we're involved in at that moment. In addition to internal noise, we can also be impacted by external noise, or literally the noise around us. External noise can include other conversations, traffic noise or anything that interferes with our ability to maintain focus.
Culture
Culture can be a significant impact on communication. Some cultures are open and supportive of input from employees and a two-way flow of communication. Other cultures are more top-down; leaders convey messages but don't seek out input from staff, or often even customers. Culture can represent a barrier to communication when it keeps communication from happening or when employees communicate the information and input they feel they are expected to communicate, and not what they really believe.
Role
Role conflicts can create barriers to communication in organizations, particularly when they involve interactions between subordinates and superiors. Regardless of how open managers and senior leaders believe they are to employee input, employees are often hesitant to share their honest insights, especially when those insights may be perceived as critical. Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of "Employee Management for Small Business," says that small businesses are in a better position to deal with this barrier since relationships between employees and business owners can be more casual and less hindered by bureaucracy than in larger organizations.
Bias
Whether we recognize it or not, we all suffer from various biases. These biases can interfere with communication both when we're sending and receiving messages. Biases can be based on our preconceived beliefs (e.g. millenials don't respond well to criticism) or based on impressions we form of people as we interact with them. When communicating with others, it's important to be aware of, and to work to overcome, these biases.
Misinterpretation
While misinterpretation may happen most commonly in email interactions, it can also occur over the phone or in face-to-face conversations. When interacting with others, we may jump to conclusions or misinterpret something they've said. These misinterpretations then color our own responses and beliefs. It is important to be sure that the meaning behind your communication is clearly and accurately understood. When in doubt, ask for clarification.
How Communication Barriers Impact Organizations
Communication barriers are frequent occurrences in any organization, and small businesses are no exception. Sometimes, the barrier is subtle and only mildly disruptive. For example, perhaps a supervisor has difficulty motivating her team because of the geographic distance among team members. Other times, barriers create a breakdown of the company, as was the case with the lack of transparency and truthfulness between Enron and its shareholders. Communication impediments can affect a small business in several ways.
Identification
Communication barriers include any breakdown or impediment that concerns relaying information. Such communication may occur between workers or within a structural system. One example of a barrier is a lack of trust between a manager and her subordinates. This inhibits the open relaying of information, thereby creating the potential for differing expectations and misunderstandings. Barriers may also prove more tangible, such as an antiquated ordering system that fails to update deliveries in real time. This impediment would prevent streamlined communication among departments within an organization.
Vision and Mission
Communication barriers can impede a company from relaying its vision and mission. Kathleen Rhodes, author of the book, "Business Communication: Process and Product," explains weak language skills, confusing the message by using different words to mean the same thing and physical distractions all inhibit the free flow of information. Overcoming these barriers requires the management team to hold company-wide meetings, infuse employee orientations with the group's mission and welcome feedback at all levels of the organizational chart. Working through communication issues improves the likelihood that employees will be satisfied with the company's goals. Employees disinterested in the overall success of the company because of poor communication are more inclined to pursue other work opportunities and will probably take little interest in improving their skill sets.
Customer Service
Communication barriers can devastate a company's customer service division. These barriers include dismissive, rude employees, poor customer service ordering techniques and failure to relay order information to the appropriate parties -- such as delivery warehouse employees and the accounting team. In her book, "Customer Communications," Maggie Jones explains that overcoming communication barriers hinges on decoding the customer's information successfully. Jones explains how gaps occur when groups make erroneous assumptions about the decoding process. For instance, a customer may assume the package will arrive in less than a week, whereas the representative knows deliveries typically arrive in two weeks. This lack of communication can create frustration and customer dissatisfaction.
Production
The production process may suffer due to communication barriers within an organization. Charles McConnell, author of the book, "Management Principles for Health Professionals," states that formal and informal communication processes may impact production. Whereas formal communication explains the process in training manuals, directives and bulletins, informal communication relates to rumors and information that may or may not be true, but is nonetheless passed between workers. Barriers in communication can create inefficient production or even jarring halts in work flow. For instance, if a group of employees believe they may lose their jobs, yet they receive no information from the management team, their fear could transform into apathy and disinterest.
Main Barriers to Communication
There are many barriers to communication that exist in any organization, but some are more pervasive and more common than others. Barriers can be environmental or personal and may include such things as noise (real or internal), bias, cultural differences or even differences in roles, or levels of authority, within the organization.
Noise
Noise can be either internal or external. Internal noise represents the internal self-talking that we all do, such as thinking about things that need to be done, wondering about what the other person is thinking about, or thinking about what we'll do when we go home for the evening. Our internal contemplations can keep us from being entirely focused on the conversations we're involved in at that moment. In addition to internal noise, we can also be impacted by external noise, or literally the noise around us. External noise can include other conversations, traffic noise or anything that interferes with our ability to maintain focus.
Culture
Culture can be a significant impact on communication. Some cultures are open and supportive of input from employees and a two-way flow of communication. Other cultures are more top-down; leaders convey messages but don't seek out input from staff, or often even customers. Culture can represent a barrier to communication when it keeps communication from happening or when employees communicate the information and input they feel they are expected to communicate, and not what they really believe.
Role
Role conflicts can create barriers to communication in organizations, particularly when they involve interactions between subordinates and superiors. Regardless of how open managers and senior leaders believe they are to employee input, employees are often hesitant to share their honest insights, especially when those insights may be perceived as critical. Lin Grensing-Pophal, author of "Employee Management for Small Business," says that small businesses are in a better position to deal with this barrier since relationships between employees and business owners can be more casual and less hindered by bureaucracy than in larger organizations.
Bias
Whether we recognize it or not, we all suffer from various biases. These biases can interfere with communication both when we're sending and receiving messages. Biases can be based on our preconceived beliefs (e.g. millenials don't respond well to criticism) or based on impressions we form of people as we interact with them. When communicating with others, it's important to be aware of, and to work to overcome, these biases.
Misinterpretation
While misinterpretation may happen most commonly in email interactions, it can also occur over the phone or in face-to-face conversations. When interacting with others, we may jump to conclusions or misinterpret something they've said. These misinterpretations then color our own responses and beliefs. It is important to be sure that the meaning behind your communication is clearly and accurately understood. When in doubt, ask for clarification.
How do I Use Organizational Communication Techniques?
Organizational communication is the internal communication techniques you use to disseminate information and communicate with employees. Organizational communication techniques can vary from company to company, but these techniques can be used in small, medium or large organizations. The important factor in internal communication is that the employees you intend to receive the message do. Most effective techniques are free or very low cost to the company.
Step 1
Create an email program or internal newsletter. Put one of your employees in charge of creating a monthly email newsletter. Have the employee update the newsletter with important information about the company, changes to policies, special dates, health and safety tips, to feature an employee of the month and even hosting a contest, puzzle or fun game for employees to enjoy. Send out the newsletter via email to the employees on a set schedule once per month to keep them up-to-date on company happenings and news.
Step 2
Host theme meetings. Rather than the same old meeting format, plan employee meetings around a lunch theme or other theme. Bring in a catered lunch or have employees bring their own lunch to enjoy during the company meeting. Some companies conduct regular meetings this way to update employees or to have employees update management and other, once per month, or you can call a meeting when it is necessary to discuss a specific topic or issue.
Step 3
Create a social networking group. Create social networking groups for your employees on social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Not only can you post company updates and information in these groups for your members and followers (the employers), but it also a platform where employees can leave messages for you and interact with the other employees. This not only allows you to share information about the company with your employees but allows them to share information with each other.
What Are Some Communication Techniques and How Do They Work in a Team Environment?
Communication in any size team is important to the group's success, according to the employment resource website Mind Tools. Several different kinds of communication techniques are used in business every day, and each has a different result when used in a team environment. In order to communicate effectively in a team, it is important to know what techniques to use and when to use them.
Verbal Communication
With verbal communication, team members can project emotion and intent through vocal inflections and proper use of words. According to career resource website Work911, using techniques such as open-ended questioning (i.e., asking questions that require more than a yes or no answer) can allow all parties of a conversation to give their opinions on a subject. This technique can make verbal communication among team members more effective.
Email communication is a way to convey an instant message to team members, but an email should give only basic information and call for a verbal followup for more detailed data. According to Mind Tools, a poorly worded email can cause confusion. Email works best when team members use good spelling and proper grammar, and make the message clear. Email is a good way for teams to circulate meeting minutes, arrange meetings and share data, but using email for group conversation is often less effective than discussing things in person.
Body Language
According to the Small Business Management website, several aspects of body language can be effective in a group setting. How close a team is seated together can indicate whether or not the members feels cohesive. Slumping posture by some people in the group can indicate disinterest in the topic being discussed. Physically touching team members can convey a feeling of intimacy and confidence. By watching body language when interacting, team members can determine how well they are working together and if some people within the group are not comfortable with the environment.
Organizational Structure & Communication
In many companies, organizational structure defines the modes and the tone of interpersonal communication. Highly stratified organizations may use more formal methods of communication between managers and employees. Meanwhile, smaller companies may leverage the relatively flat nature of their organization charts to keep communication relatively terse and informal. Effective leaders must learn how to match appropriate communication styles to company norms.
Function
Effective business communication relies on a feedback cycle that involves listening, speaking and confirming what has been heard, according to author and lecturer Asha Kaul. Parties engaged in highly interactive communication use the feedback cycle to reach mutually beneficial decisions. When communication happens across different levels within an organization, the type and time frame of the feedback cycle can determine that organization’s overall effectiveness.
Features
Teams can blend various kinds of written and spoken communication to encourage change throughout a company’s organizational chart. For instance, written memos denote less urgency, but sometimes more importance, than email. Email rarely takes precedence over direct spoken communication, except when a company’s culture promotes continuous email monitoring and nearly instant replies. Speaking on the phone increases the urgency of communication, but a face-to-face meeting imbues a conversation with significance.
Benefits
Company leaders who take the time to identify their most effective form of organizational communication often run some of the teams with the most impact. Likewise, team members that adapt their communication styles to fit those of their managers usually accomplish more than peers who mismatch modes of writing and speaking. The most effective organizations manage to balance communication with action to avoid the pitfalls of “analysis paralysis.”
Considerations
Kaul and other authors caution business professionals to avoid communication cycles that emphasize speaking over listening. Email may have streamlined communication flow in many organizations, but it also provides some employees with a soapbox upon which to shout their opinions without an ample opportunity for feedback. Managers who make extra time to listen to the concerns and the ideas of their teams often succeed at meeting project goals while building highly collegial environments in which to operate.
Potential
Understanding how managers and executives communicate within an organization can help entry level workers get ahead, according to Mary Ellen Guffey and Richard Almonte, authors of “Essentials of Business Communication.” Sincere, spontaneous and short messages tend to transcend organizational and cultural barriers, even in companies that seem to thrive on complex communication. Using email and voicemail as supplements to conversations can cement professional relationships.
How Does the CRM Address Communication Problems & Organizational Goals?
Customer relationship management, or CRM, aligns closely with organizational goals of client-driven companies. It does so largely by enhancing internal communication as well as communication between company employees and customers. Driven by software database applications, CRM enables the use of data to track and manage relationships with key clients.
Customer Goals
A common theme among consumer resellers is how to attract and retain high-value customers. Over time, companies have often either failed to build relationships with core customers, or they have wasted money marketing to customers that were among the most profitable. CRM greatly impacts customer acquisition and retention by allowing your business to keep track of customer activities over time. This enables market segment analysis, which helps you better understand your core customers. Software programs also offer tons of customer data and tools, which help your sales and service employees more easily retain customer information and better resolve conflicts.
Marketing Goals
Operating an efficiency business where revenue is optimized and costs are minimized is the general objective of most organizations. CRM helps improve efficiency by allowing for more cost-efficiency in marketing. By developing direct mail, email and other campaigns that target individual customers as opposed to a general audience, you can ensure more bang for your buck on the response. Targeted direct marketing has a much higher response rate than reaching out to general populations. As an example, in promoting a new product, you can send campaigns only to customers who have purchased certain other products in a given time frame.
Internal Communication
Enterprise-wide CRM is intended to bring together all functional areas in your company for the common purpose of optimizing the customer experience. An effective CRM tool allows sales, marketing, service, shipping, logistics, IT and finance employees to see what stage a prospect or customer is in and what tasks need to be completed in a given time frame. Shippers, for instance, will get alerts from salespeople when orders are complete and can make similar notations in return once orders are shipped. This not only aids in customer service, but it allows each employee to answer customer questions on what is going on with their products.
Customer Communication
Sales and service employees benefit from enhanced customer communication with CRM. Salespeople can keep profiles on customers, monitor their buying activity and keep notes on each meeting. This helps with customer rapport and communication efficiency in the sales process. Service employees can better aid customers by having an accurate depiction of the customer's history with the company. This avoids time wasted gathering data from customers during service resolution processes. CRM programs also allow you to schedule automated follow up emails and phone calls.
Barriers to Communication That Detract From Organizational Effectiveness
Unclear Message
The message delivered may lack clarity, which can especially be true if it is being delivered to more than one person. The message may be filled with industry jargon that not all recipients may be familiar with, or it may contain terminology that is understood by one department and not another. The message also may not be clear as to what, if any, action needs to be taken by the recipients.
Cultural Differences
As society becomes more culturally diverse, it also may mean a further diversification of a company's workforce. This can lead to cultural barriers to effective communication due to lack of understanding or even personal prejudices. This can also be true when a company attempts to expand to a foreign country, as simple language barriers can hinder the organization's ability to communicate its message effectively.
Workplace Stress
A workplace can be a stressful environment, especially when deadlines are tight or when a large volume of customer interaction is taking place. Workers may be so focused on the task at hand that they don't heed or don't hear what is being communicated. If the message is of great importance, it is better that it is communicated at a time when activity levels are lower.
Poor Listening Skills
Some individuals within the organization may not be proficient in the art of listening. At a meeting, an individual may be so focused on getting her point across that she is oblivious to questions or feedback from others. During a one-on-one interaction with an employee, a supervisor may be intent on providing direction without giving the opportunity for employee input, leading to a project being completed incorrectly.
Incorrect Mode
Sometimes the mode chosen to deliver a message can lead to ineffective communication. For example, a tersely-worded email may make the reader believe that he is being reprimanded, when in fact it was simply meant to communicate a bit of information. The misunderstanding could lead to a lowering of the employee's morale, reducing his effectiveness. If the message had been delivered by telephone or in person, the recipient may have better understood the sender's intentions.
Types of Communication Medium
We divide the different types of communication medium into two different categories:
1. Physical media
2. Mechanical media (everything that is not No. 1)
This site focus on the internal communication. Our listings of types of communication medium therefore exclude external media.
Physical media
With physical media we mean channels where the person who is talking can be seen and heard by the audience. The whole point here is to be able to not only hear the messages but also to see the body language and feel the climate in the room. This does not need to be two-way channels. In certain situations the receiver expect physical communication. This is the case especially when dealing with high concern messages, e.g. organizational change or down sizing. If a message is perceived as important to the receiver they expect to hear it live from their manager.
Large meetings, town hall meetings
Department meetings (weekly meetings)
Up close and personal (exclusive meetings)
Video conferences
Viral communication or word of mouth
Large meetings
Large meetings have got great symbolic value and should be used only at special occasions. This channel works very well when you need to get across strategic and important messages to a large group of people at the same time, creating a wide attention, get engagement or communicate a sense of belonging. Large meetings are excellent when you want to present a new vision or strategy, inform about a reorganisation or share new values. The opportunity for dialogue is limited at large meeting, of course but you can create smaller groups where dialogue can be performed.
Weekly departmental meetings
In the weekly meetings you and your group communicate daily operative issues, gives status reports and solves problems. Weekly meetings are also used to follow up on information from large meetings, management team meetings etc from a “what’s-in-it-for-us-perspective”. This type of smaller group meetings gives good opportunities for dialogue. This channel is often the most important channel you have as a manager, because that’s where you have the opportunity to build the big picture, you can prepare for change, you can create ownership of important strategies and goals etc. This is a favourite among the types of communication medium.
Up close and personal
This is a form of meetings where, often, a senior manager meets with a “random” selection of employees to discuss and answer questions. Some managers use this as a on going activities on a monthly basis. It can also be used in specific projects or campaigns e.g. launching new strategies.
Viral communication
Or viral marketing as it is also called works external as well as internal and refer to marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in awareness or knowledge through self-replicating viral processes. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of social media.
Mechanical media
The second of the two types of communication medium is mechanical media. With mechanical media we mean written or electronic channels. These channels can be used as archives for messages or for giving the big picture and a deeper knowledge. But they can also be very fast. Typically though, because it is written, it is always interpret by the reader based on his or her mental condition. Irony or even humour rarely travels well in mechanical channels.
Weekly letters or newsletters
Personal letters
Billboards
Intranet
Magazines or papers
Sms
Social media
E-mail is a good channel for the daily communication to specific target groups. It is suitable mainly for up-to-date and “simple” messages and where there is no risk of misunderstanding, E-mail is an important supplement to weekly meetings and the Intranet. Invitation to and agenda for meetings can with advantage be sent out with e-mail before the meeting, while background facts and minutes from meetings is well suited to be stored on the Intranet.
Some short e-mail tips:
Write short and to the point.
Target your messages to the audience and avoid sending unnecessary all-employees-e-mails.
Set up your subject line to describe what the e-mail is about.
Clearly state if the message is for information or for action.
Avoid attaching large documents if possible. Post a link or direct to the source instead.
Weekly letters
Managers that have large groups of employees and who has difficulties in meeting all of them often choose to publish a personally weekly letter. It is sort of a short summary of news with personally reflections. Many employees often appreciate it because it has the potential to give the “what’s-in-it-for-us” angle. They can also contain summaries and status in tasks, projects or issues – yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Personal letters
At special occasions it can be justified to send a personal letter to employees in order to get attention to a specific issue. E.g. pat on the back letter after extra ordinary achievements. Or it can be a letter with your personal commentary on an ongoing reorganisation that affects many employees. One other example is a letter that summarizes the past year and wishes all the best for the holidays.
Billboard
One of the most forgotten types of communication medium is clearly the billboard. Especially today, when everything is about social media. But the good thing with the billboard is that you can use billboards to inform people who does not have computers and/or access to the Intranet or to reach people that work part time and does not attend weekly meetings.
News summary
Weekly letters
Minutes from meetings
Schedules
Holiday lists
You can also use the billboard to gather ideas e.g. for items for upcoming meetings
Intranet
The Intranet is of course one of the most used types of communication medium and a very important communication channel and work tool for you as a manager, but it is also your job to help your employees prioritise and pick out the information on the Intranet, as well as translating messages into local consequences. Ask your self: what information concerns you employees? In what way are they concerned? How do I best communicate this to my employees? Weekly meeting or your weekly letter can be a suitable channel to discuss or inform of information found on the Intranet.
Employee magazine
A Magazine offers the opportunity to deepen a specific issue, explain context, describing consequences or tell a story. It also has the opportunity to reach many employees. If you want to create a broad internal understanding of strategic messages the magazine can be a good vehicle to use e.g. by writing an article based on an interview with you. As were the case with the Intranet you also have to “translate” the information in the magazine to your employees. You can ask yourself: What does the content in a specific article mean to us? How shall I best communicate it to the employees?
Sms
Or text messaging to the mobile phone is one of the new types of communication medium and not a very widely used channel but where it is used it is proven very effective. Some companies use it as an alert system e.g. for giving managers a head start when something important will be published on the Intranet. The advantage with Sms is that it is fast. But it should be used rarely as an exclusive channel. Some companies use it as a subscription tool where you can subscribe to e.g press-releases.
Social media
Wikipedia describe social media as “Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers. Businesses also refer to social media as user-generated content (UGC) or consumer-generated media (CGM).”
More and more companies are using social media in their external marketing, setting up twitter and Facebook accounts etc. But these channels are also used internal where managers become “friends” on Facebook with their employees or where managers use blog and twitter targeting their employees.
Push or Pull
You can also divide the different types of communication medium in Push or Pull channels.
Push channels are channels where the sender are pushing the message to the receiver. Meaning it is up to the sender to control the communication.
News letters and letters (if sent out)
Magazines (if sent out)
Meetings
Telephone
Sms
Pull channels on the other hand is when the receiver is pulling the message from the sender. It is up to the receiver when he or she wants to take in the message.
Intranet
Billboards
New letters and letters (if not sent out)
Magazines (if not sent out)
Social media
Push channels are often regarded as having higher reliability than pull channels because of the fact that it is more active in the communication.
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Communication is important in every aspect of our lives. This is also true for the communication used in our professional lives. When at work we “depend on cooperation with others to accomplish our goals, and communication is the critical human process we use to promote such cooperation.” (Kreps, 2011; sec. 1.1) Understanding communication is the best way to make sure it is being used effectively correctly. When communication is effective then organizational components will run smoother and efficiently. Smoother and effective communication means that an organization has a greater chance of following its mission and achieving its…
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Communication plays a vital role in an organization. communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication. By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you convey do not necessarily reflect your own, causing a communications breakdown and creating roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals.…
- 575 Words
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Way for an organization to communicate to their employees is to be open and honest and let what is going on see the best. Good communication throughout a business remains an integral part of a company's culture. Effective communication skills keep a strong running smoothly and strengthen relationships with employees.…
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Effective organizational communication is a powerful tool in that is used in every successful company. Communication is a Managers best tool for planning, promoting, organizing, inspiring and altering individual beliefs, perceptions and altitudes. Productive organizational connections are a result of successful utilization of the communication concepts such as active listening, organizational culture, conflict resolution, and leadership strategies. These also include Formal and informal communication.…
- 397 Words
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The importance of effective communication for managers cannot be emphasized strongly enough, everything a manager does involves communicating. Good communication is important for managers to organise their staff, their staff must be able to understand them to be able to perform well and also to know that they can also communicate back to them with problems and comments.…
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In today’s competitive business environment, enterprises that can effectively communicate, collaborate, and respond rapidly to change are most likely to succeed. However, while enterprises have access to more sophisticated communications tools than ever before to keep employees connected, there is still no substitute for face-to-face meetings, which present a major drain on travel budgets and employee quality of life.…
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Communication is one of the basic functions of management in any organization and its importance can hardly be overemphasized. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions, and plans between various parts of an organization. It is not possible to have human relations without communication. However, good and effective communication is required not only for good human relations but also for good and successful business (Thomson, 2007).…
- 1903 Words
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There are a number of reasons for communicating as a manager and leader such as delegation of work, supervision, building a team, interviewing, etc. As well as the need to communicate in many different levels of communicators such as clients, family members, staff, senior staff, other managers, other professional. Different mix of people require a different type of communication. Throughout the duty manager might be undertaking the variety of roles when advising, instructing, welcoming, assessing, observing, informing and counseling. Whatever the communication need or type, a good working relationship, trust and ability to talk openly are essential and therefore the need to adjust the communication to each circumstance. in supporting others to became effective communicator, it is necessary for leader to be an effective role model and where able to reflect effectively on how you communicating your messages. If we support all our communication by accepting and valuing the people with whom we interact in the expression of warmth and a non- judgemental attitude, we will improve our communication skills no end.…
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Effective communication is vital in assuring the message is interpreted correctly. Listening openly, understanding the intent of the message and using proper body language in receiving and delivering the message is positive in communication. Preventing negative communication is the ultimate goal for organizations in order for them to succeed. Applying the proper techniques of communicating continues to be a challenge among organizations in today’s…
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There are many factors to consider when promoting effective communication, the way in which I like to approach and identify them are as follows:-…
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Hargie O, Dickson D and Tourish D (2004) Communication Skills for Effective Management. New York, Palgrave Macmillan…
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To explain the importance of effective communication it is important to understand what effective communication is. Effective communication us when the receiver (i.e. employee) understands the message just as the sender (i.e. leader) intended. An easy way of ensuring the receiver has understood the message is in a simple conversation by where the sender can ask clarifying questions or ask the receiver to repeat the message back. This allows the receiver to reiterate the message if it was not received correctly preventing problems further down the line.…
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Communication is one of the main planks on which organizational success rests in today 's tough business environment. As a result effective communication skills have become essential to enable professionals to achieve the exact levels of performance demanded by them. Apart from the practical aspects if one has a grasp on basic concepts of communication, it can further assist professionals to communicate skillfully and persuasively (Rai & Rai, 2002). Suggesting that the saying "It 's not what you say, it 's how you say it" rings true for effective communication. Possessing the quality of effective communication heads toward a high quality leader because it enables one to express ideas successfully (Rolle, 2002).…
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While decision making may require good leadership skills not good communication skills, communication in an organization is very important it affects how decisions are made and the quality of those decisions at every level of the organization. Decisions are based on information and information is gathered by management through all types of communication. Without effective communication how will the organizations vision be translated to the employees? And for the organization to be successful, management and leadership must communicate effectively to their employees and teams.…
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