The Most Effective Type of Communication in an Organisation Is Informal Communication (Through the Grapevine)’ Do You Agree or Disagree with This Statement?

|Assessment item 3 - Group Report | 2009 |

Management Principles

|Assessment item 4 - Group Report | |
| | |
| | |
|Topic: ‘The most effective type of communication in an organisation is informal communication (through the grapevine)’ Do | |
|you agree or disagree with this statement? Support your perspective. | |

Student Name: YIFAN GUO Student Number: S0179376

Student Name: TERRY IAN Student Number: S0176863

Course Code: MGMT11165 Course Name: Management Principles

Contents

Executive Summary and the Aim of the Report 2

Role communication 2

For manager: 2

For employees: 3

Kinds communication 3

Informal communication 3

Formal communication 3

How communication 4

Write communication 4

Oral communication 5

Advantages and Disadvantages 6

Formal advantages 6

Formal disadvantages 7

Informal advantages 7

Informal disadvantages 8

Conclusions 8

Reference List 9

Executive Summary and the Aim of the Report

The topic of our report is support the most effective communication is very important for successful working of business whatever is informal or formal. We are going to start with a general overview and then focus on each one of communication with advantages and disadvantages. Any problems identified within the program will be highlighted and analyzed.

Finally, we summaries this report with a conclusion, restating the points analyzed in the discussion section.

Role communication

Communication is one of the basic functions in business. It is a process of transmitting information, ideas, thoughts, opinions and plans between various parts in business. You cannot 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.

Effective written communication of information and decision is an essential component for management-employee relations. The manager cannot get the work done from employees unless they are communicated effectively of what he wants to be done? Most of management problems arise because of lack of effective written communication. Chances of misunderstanding and misrepresentation can be minimized with effective written communication.

For manager:

With the effective communication, the manager may be made the leading, organizing, planning controlling. The Communication may be made through oral or written. In oral communication, manager can make out what they want to controlling, but in written communication, text in the message is a reflection of manager’s planning. So, written communication or message should be clear, purposeful and concise with correct words, to avoid any misinterpretation of manager’s message. Written communications provides a permanent record for future use and it also gives an opportunity to employees to put up their comments or suggestions in writing.

For employees:

It is through the communication that employees submit their work reports, comments, grievances and suggestions to their seniors or management. Business should have effective written communication to avoid delays, misunderstandings, confusion or distortions of facts and to establish harmony among all the concerned people and departments. (Wentling, M. 1987)

Kinds communication

Informal communication

Informal communications builds relationships among staff members and volunteers, and face-to-face interaction is the primary way people communicate informally. Informal organisational communication exists outside the formal lines of the organisational structure. An example of this is friendship groups. The informal communication channel serves two main purposes: it permits employees to satisfy their need for social interaction in the workplace and it can improve an organisation's performance by creating alternative, and frequently faster and more efficient, channels of communication (Robbins et al. 2000).

Formal communication

In the business, formal communication is not only important, and also required. Formal communication is required not only for business or government but also for everyone. Formal communication is that which is connected with the formal organizational arrangement and the official status or the place of the communicator and the receiver. It moves through the formal channels authoritatively accepted positions in the organization chart. For example, a organization want a employ a new staff, that should be have a face on face interview.

How communication

Write communication

In today, formal written communication has played a more and more essential role in business and also writes formal paper is one communication skills at people’s life. It is known that written communication is essential in everyday life. However, why is effective written communication important in business? It is important because it is a form of marketing and is also a way for businesses to build their brand-image and promote their products. This is done through written advertising such as brochures, pamphlets and information leaflets. According to Thomson Gale (2005), Effective and accurate records of job descriptions, employee manuals and the like, help in organising the operation of the business, and thus, eliminate future confusion. Moreover, written communication also has a huge impact on the livelihood of businesses in many other ways, discussed further below, therefore making it important for businesses to emphasise on effective written communication.

Effective communication is very important because according to Niurka Inc. (2007), a common way of stakeholders communicating is by verbal communication. However, today, technology has enhanced; businesses rely more on written communication and hence, the value of effective written communication has soared. Some of the many forms of written communications include business proposals, e-mails, customer documentation, technical support, or status reports. “Reports, for instance, aid in decision making by providing relevant information, which users can obtain quickly” (Mc Millan, 2006). With effective written communication, both parties will then understand the message, thus the business would then receive a positive response. And therefore it is essential for businesses to maintain an effective written communication so that accurate information can be passed on fluently.

Another important point that influences the effectiveness of written communication is that it has to obey to the law. It has to be truthful and to the point, to prevent confusion. This would enable a better understanding for the end information users as well. Therefore, it is important for the business to comply and go accordingly to the law. If for example, financial reports are not written correctly, are false, or are not interpreted accurately, it will mislead the users as well as breaching the law. This might further result in monetary losses for the business.

If business written communication is not effective, it will be a barrier for the growth of the business as the information passed on might not be accurate. Hence, stakeholders might wrongly interpret the information that the business is trying to pass on and it will eventually, mislead or confuse them. If some contract segments about employee job responsibilities are not specific enough, it could cause employees to misunderstand their responsibilities, which might further have a bad impact on industrial relations. “When choosing or reading any contract, one must careful; maybe there are some disagreeable or bad consequences if you do not look carefully,” (Mc Millan, 2006).

Herewith, we can conclude that effective written communication is crucial in the business world as it is involved in almost every activity from daily operating to advertising. Some of the information of the business (For example: financial report, business proposals, contacts) is passed on through written form and therefore, the business has to realise the importance of effective written communication, as feedback from stakeholders that businesses receive through the information produced by the business which affects the life of the business. Written communication is important for a business, but what use is it, if it is not clear and legible.

Oral communication

Oral communication is a language for the media to disseminate the message of the form mainly of presentation, telephone, such as a meeting. The oral communication is a more economical means of communication, Oral communication is generally not long, and the communication cost is relatively low. This communication can use anywhere and are therefore widely used by business. However, in much times, some people are accustomed to work with phone conversation or over-confident that the oral communication function, the results tend to delay things. Effective Communication is also a basic tool for motivation, which can improve morale of the employees in business. Oral communication among employees or between manager and his subordinates is the major cause of conflict and low morale at work. Manager should clarify to employees about what is to be done, how well they doing and what are can be done for better performance to improve their motivation. He can prepare a written statement, clearly outlining the relationship between company objectives and personal objectives. Let’s talk about what are advantages and disadvantages with each communication in business.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Formal advantages

1. Formal communication can give staff an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to research a specific aspect of the topic set in the business. Staff can divide the available time into convenient working periods and decide how much time they wish to allocate to each aspect of the task. For example, staff can decide when they plan to analysing the task, what time they plan to doing preliminary reading, planning the response to the task and what time they plan to doing supplementary reading. If the staffs use formal communication they can also need good planning ensures that they can realistically complete the work before the deadline. Because a good plan is one part of the formal communication. (Faris, K. 1984)

2. Formal communication can make leader be able to comfortably express their meaning. Words can be subject to careful scrutiny, but also continuously changing, until satisfied with the expression. For example, leader can use a very long time to prepare their task paper; they can always continuously changing their words in period of time. At final time, they can give a careful scrutiny takes to their staff.

Formal disadvantages

1. It is too rigid, in that it limits information within the department to that sanctioned by the chief or supervisor.

2. It follows a classic format commonly referred to as "bureaucratic jargon," the cautious phraseology of which is not conducive to true understanding and often serves to obscure the real meaning of a communication. (Curtis, B. 1989)

3. It fails, in most cases, to identify the reasons behind the message; and this lack of explanation can be very frustrating to the recipient.

4. It is costly in terms of secretarial effort, reproduction costs, and delivery time.

5. It smacks of authoritarianism, since orders descend to a much greater extent than reports and feedback ascend to leadership positions.(Curtis, B. 1989)

6. It fails to motivate employ, since it is usually impersonal and fnal.

7. It often underestimates the intelligence of recipients by focusing on elementary or trivial matters.

8. It can be divisive, separating personnel into "recipients" and "no recipients." (Bowman, P. 1988)

Informal advantages

1. People like to talk to one another; whether they talk about work or family, or anything. Teams become more cohesive when members talk to one another outside of the project or assignment they may be working on. Informal communication lends itself to bonding. 2. The informal communication fills in a gap that is left when official information is missing. Even in organizations where management is very proactive about keeping employees informed, the grapevine helps to fill in the blanks. 3. The grapevine in many ways helps keep people honest. It can dissuade people from engaging on behavior that they don’t want others to know about. This is a two edge sword. On one hand, people will think twice about taking what they know is a wrong course of action. On the other hand, they may also think twice about taking a necessary risk and doing the right thing, fearful that appearance that may give rise to rumors.

Informal disadvantages

1. The informal disadvantage is that much of the information that gets spread through the grapevine is not verified. Some of the information is likely false and difficult, if not impossible, to verify. To justify our participation in spreading the rumor, we tell ourselves that part of it must be true. The main reason why we give credence to a rumor is that it seems to match what we think about the situation or person that the rumor is about. We also tend to believe the person sharing the rumor with us. (Cushman 1997)

Conclusions

To sum up, Effective communication is having many advantages: Can be formal or informal, can be shorter or longer periods. Writing can make people be able to comfortably express their meaning. Words can be subject to careful scrutiny, but also continuously changing, until satisfied with the expression of a personal style. Written materials are accurate and credible evidence. Written text can be copied, sent to many people simultaneously to convey the same information. Effective oral communication is a basic of human communication tool. In organization, the oral communication can improve the relationship between employees and employer. Also that can improve the employee’s morale. Actually, oral communication is a very effective communication in organization. The leader can improve the communication to staff immediately. Formal communication is a basic of human communication tool. In organization, the formal communication can improve the relationship between employees and employer. Also that can improve the employee’s morale. Formal communication is a very effective communication in organization. The leader can improve the communication to staff immediately. Actually, informal communication can make a private for people. Also informal communication make people can keep contact with difference place. All these things considered, although using informal communication is that much of the information that gets spread through the grapevine is not verified. Some of the information is likely false and difficult, if not impossible, to verify, but the advantages that essay has brought to us is very important, and necessary. So, effective communication is very important for successful working of business whatever is informal or formal.

Reference List

Buinan, J. 1989, Communication competencies as discriminators of superiors’ ratings of employee performance. Journal of Business Communication, no. 26, pp.217-229 (online ProQuest).

Bowman, P. 1988, Are we teaching communication skills for the next decade? Business Education Forum, no.42, pp.17-18 (online ProQuest).

Curtis, B. 1989. National preferences in business and communication education, Communication Education, no.38, pp.6-14 (online ProQuest).

Cushman 1997, Communication and High-Speed Management. State University of New York Press (online ProQuest).

Faris, K. 1984, Integrate communication skills into all business classes. Business Education Forum, no.38, pp.51-57 (online ProQuest).

Mc Millan, 2006, the Smart Student: STUDY SKILL&STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS AT UNIVERSITY, Pearson Australia, Sydney p. 355

Niurka Inc. 2007, ‘The Importance of Business Communications’

Thomson G. 2005, Access my library 2008, ‘Written communications’

Wentling, M. 1987, Employability skills: The role of business education. Journal of Education for Business, no.62, pp. 313-317 (online ProQuest).

Wilmington, C. 1989, Oral communication for a career in business. The Bulletin, no. 52, January, pp.12. (online ProQuest).