Transcript Organizational Communication

•Communication network
Lets compare two communication situation in an
organization
•First Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla chairman of Aditya
Birla Group announces new product plans to the
stockholders of his company
•Second –one day in the lunchroom two office
assistants of Aditya Birla Group gossip about heir
colleagues whose service s have been terminated
recently
contd
 The first situation describes a situation in which the
chairman shares official information which the
stockholders need to know
 Second situation involves the sharing of unofficial
information about what is going on in the company
 As both are very common forms of communication in
organization set ups
 Beneficial to know the ins and outs of formal and
informal communication networks existing in
organization
 Organizations are often described in the way they
dictate who may or may not communicate with who
 The organizational structure of a workplace is the
formally prescribed pattern of inter- relationships
existing between its various units
 This structure influences in many ways the various
forms of communication in the organization
Organization Chart
Instructions
Directives
President
Information
Vice
President Mkt
Manager
Vice
President Opr
Manager
Manager
Efforts at Co ordination
Manager
Contd
-An organization chart provides a graphic representation of
an organization’s structure and an outline of the planned
/formal /connections between its various units
-The organization structure depicts a small part of an
organization and an overview of the types of
communication expected to occur within it
-Each of the boxes shown in the chart represents a particular
business function and the lines connecting the boxes
represent the formal lines of communication between the
individuals performing these functions
-the lines indicate flow of information in the organization or
who is supposed to communicate to whom
Contd
 People in organization communicate formally with
those immediately above them and below them as well
as those at their level
 Formal communication between people several levels
apart occurs rarely
 In Present times highly restricted hierarchical
structures are giving way to more open forms of
organizational structures
Contd
 The nature of formal communication differs according
to people’s position in an organization chart
-Information about policies & procedures originates
from executives and flows down through managers to
supervisors and finally to lower level employees
-Many organizations have formulated official
communication policies that encourage regular and
open communication
-suggest means for achieving it and spell out
responsibilities
 Official information among the people of an
organization typically flows through formal channels
-The organization chart clearly reveals that information
flows in an organization in three different directionsupward/downwards & sideways
Organizational commnication
 Information to be communicated in an organization
 To reduce the chances of misinformation by the
grapevine /an organization keeps all its employees
informed about every happening and future plan
 The content of information is usually a mix of fact
/opinion/attitudes and interpretation
 All business communication can be divided into five
types of information
1.Statutory information: Information such as terms and
conditions of service is communicated to all employees
as a statutory requirement
2.Regular information: Information regarding normal
work situations has to be regularly communicated
through routine formal briefing sessions or through
informal chat sessions between the manager and
various group members or colleagues
3.Major policy or operational change information: which
can effect employees/meetings/notices
4.Information Bulletin: To keep people informed about
events and happenings taking place in the
organization/provide periodic information-news
letters-communicated to all employees-creates
involvement/belongingness
5.Communication by expectancy: information of critical
changes should be carefully and gradually
communicated to those who are going o be directly
affected by he decision
-before the decision is taken and implemented the
people concerned must be mentally prepared for he
event/involvement- representatives-head /less shock if
negative communication
Contd
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN
MANAGEMENT
 Communication skills constitute an important aspect
of effective management
-managing is a complex process
-in simple terms it can be described as the organization
of capital/labour and material to achieve production
and distribution of particular goods or services
 First the management fixes its objectives in terms of
what to do and how to form its policy issues
-T here has to be a system through which the production
and distribution process/guided/
co -ordinated and controlled to ensure that the
management operation operates smoothly(supply
chain management
• Managing is a unified /organized and co-operative
system committed to the achievement of common
goals
 The sense of unity of purpose and commitment to a
single organizational goal can be developed only
through the inspiring and persuasive power of
communication/Manager needs to have
communication skills of a high order
-to structure the information according to its
negative/affirmative nature
-to use words and tones which suit the purpose of
communication
-the manager should be able to create a desired
relationship with audience/workers to produce the
needed response
-For training & development programmes
-For appraising employees/performance standards must
be properly and clearly communicated-feedback-scope
for improvement/failure in communicating the
performance feedback-cause emotional
problems/dissatisfaction /low morale
-for explaining disciplinary rules & procedures-for
ensuring proper implementation
 Example HR manager has to have good negotiating
skills to arrive at an agreement during collective
bargaining process
-for fostering effective participative & collaborative work
culture in the organisation
 Problems/ suggestions/opinions/recommendations of
employees are transmitted through communication
channels of the organization
 Communication has a direct link with
motivation/morale/absenteeism and productivity of
employee
-A leaders failure or success depends upon how well he
communicates his plans vision and ideas to his
followers
-Management as a discipline includes every conceivable
form of communication
Organisational pyramid
Board of directors
MD
Senior Management
Middle level mgmt
Senior Supervisors
First line Supervisors
Employees/shop floor employees
Vertical Communication
 In organization there are well defined lines/route for
passing on communication
 At the boardroom level/policy decisions are taken
-from there downward information and instructions are
sent to senior managers or a group o managers
-they ensure that policy decisions are
understood/implemented/sustained/monitored/
reviewed/reported as feedback-performance
data/employees experience /expectation/suggestions
sent upward
-In this organizational system of communication the key
links are managers and supervisors
 In all large organizations the HRD/HRM or personnel
department manages the circulation of information
among employees
-They are able to identify needs/guide on policy matters
and supervise infrastructural arrangement
-when organization has too many hierarchical levels
managers face a lot of difficulty to reach the ground
level employees/shop floor employees
 This slows the communication in reaching /delayed in
getting absorbed and acted upon
 Peter Drucker holds-organizations would move
towards a flat system of management and executives
would walk down he jobs
-to facilitate communication flow downward –prevent
employees –getting frustrated by their sense of
isolation
• HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
- Also known as peer communication /it is needed
within the organisation in relation to
-Geographical location of division
-Functional basis of division
 Geographical organisation :In large setup divisions may be
based on geographical areas
-such divisions may be known just by number or single
letters/example-at TISCO (Jamshedpur)we have G blast
furnace having its own division with full fledged hierarchy
of employees & executives/other furnaces located
separately on he vast Tisco site
-other departments like Research and Development/Total
Quality Control Division
 FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION
- Business and industrial organisations form divisions on the
basis of different functions
-production /marketing/finance/personnel and training &
development
-They function independently /linked - peer group comm&
workflow information-raw material-finished goods-service
 Internal communication system in organisation
Management
Line/functional
Staff
Finance
Marketing Dept
Marketing Mgr
Personnel
Administration
Public Relation
Prod
Mgr
Sales mgr
Area sales
mgr
Mkt research
Mgr
Grapevine
Across all levels &
dept
 Communication and the line and staff management
 Line and staff management is a system of management
in large organization comprising line managers and
staff managers
 Line managers are responsible for the main activities
of the company /manufacturing /sales
 Staff managers control the support and service
areas/accounting/distribution/Personnel/HR
 A network of relationships between members in the
line (functional) mgmt and staff(support) mgmt is
created by means of effective internal communication
system
 FORMAL COMMUNICATION
1.Line relationship
2.Functional relationship
3.Staff relationship
LINE RELATIONSHIP:
-Is the line of authority which sets down the path of
communication from boss to subordinate and vice
versa
-all official communication /orders/instruction move
from seniors to subordinates
-follow up actions/ compliance/info/report move
upward
-Organizations insist on respecting the practice /normal
chain of authority/one position to next position/example
“Through proper channel”
-If communication is oral communicated o immediate boss
2.FUNCTIONAL RELATIONSHIP:
-Is the communication that occurs when departments inform
work and related organizational matters to each other
3.STAFF RELATIONSHIP:Is the communication which
supports the line management/mkt/prod/does not carry
the executive authority of line relationship
Contd
 Informal communication in an organization usually
flows through chat and grapevine
 The creation of a grapevine may create complications
for the information system of organizations
• The grapevine is a fact of all work places
- it is an informal adjunct or extension of the
organizational communication
Merits: uniting force/speed/creating of ideas/good
personal relations/
Demerits: Rumours/inadequacy/Changing
interpretations
Contd
 Some important functions of managing
-Forecasting: Determines organizational objective and
policies/communicate
objectives/policies/programmes/procedures/
budgetary provisions
-planning:Prepares programmes/procedures and
budgets
-Organizing-Sets the organizational
structure/determines the formal and informal
relationships within the organization & outside it-this
relationship is developed through interpersonal
communication
 Instructing: provides the bed rock of organization
performance/it depends upon interpersonal exchange
of information regarding products/processes and
targets
 Co-ordination: Ensures all efforts are directed towards
organizational goals/most demanding of all functions
-it requires excellent communication skills to ensure
that all efforts are directed towards the achievement of
single organizational goal
-To see that diverse activities are unified into a single
whole/manager should relate with all people formally
& socially
 Controlling: checks results and receive feedback/for
effective control over organizational functioning and
planning the manager should have the requisite
competence to receive information and to respond
quickly
-Active communication system is vital for the good
health of an organization
-if continuous sharing of ideas and interaction between
management and workers takes place
-there will be an overall atmosphere of understanding
and goodwill prevail at the workplace
-If decision making is transparent employees would
understand and accept even if they affect adversely
NEED FOR COMMUNICATION IN MANAGEMENT
• Today from the small to multinational enterprise every
organisation needs an effective communication system
to enable it to function and flourish
• In an organisation communication is a means –
-to ensure employees job performance and effectiveness
by updating their knowledge
-To promote employees sense of belonging and
commitment
-to effect changes smoothly
contd
-to motivate and create a sense of identification with
the organizational goals
-to inform and convince employees about decisions and
reasons behind those decisions
-to develop employees clear understanding of their roles
and future growth opportunities in the organization
- empower employees with information on development
and activities
 CORPORATE MANAGEMENT
 In the changing business environment of
multinational competition and globalisation
communication tends to become an important
component of an organization
-like the functional areas of production /marketing and
finance communication too is shaping into a distinct
area in the form of corporate communication
 Several changes in the modern socio-technological age of
information have made people pay more attention to
communication as an important tool of successful management
these changes are:
-Size of organization/increased production-multinational
collaboration
-New developments in information technology/new attitude
towards knowledge and value of sharing /knowledge based
company’s
-The concept of human capital-their attitude /interest/welfare
important to achieve targeted goals & objective
-Need to learn corporate etiquette /greet/shake hand/dress/how to
present cards/listen/converse with seniors/ladies/clients
 WHY MANAGERS NEED COMMUNICATION SKILLS
As analysed by Henry Mintzberg of MIT managers
need effective communication skills to perform the
inter-relational roles:
-Interpersonal
-Informational
-Decisional
 All these functions require the manager to handle
people and situations with knowledge of human needs
Maslow’s pyramid of human needs
Self
actualising
needs
Ego needs
Social needs
Security and safety needs
Physiological needs
Contd
 Mc Gregor’s X and Y Theories(book The human side of
enterprise)
 Theory X –through close control and concern for the job
rather than for the doer of that job-workers motivation was
assumed to act as imposed from outside through
supervision/promise of rewards/or fear of punishment
 Theory Y-is the emerging style /it enunciates a balance
between control and individual freedom to actualise the
individuals potential and evolve as a mature and
responsible being/the communication focus to motivation
& persuasion rather than control & information
 Communication training for managers
-It provides the network of sustenance essential for the growth and
smooth functioning of the organization
-How do we put it across?
-What are the strategies of communicating effectively?
-How one can learn them?
-Can communication be taught?
 Today communication has become a buzzword
 Lot of emphasis is being given to training aimed at developing
skills to write letters/memos/reports/participate in
seminars/GD/interviews/make presentations
 Your success as a manager depends on how you present
yourself/your ideas before others/verbal/non verbal(body
language)Communicative competence is an aspect of one’s
personality
Contd
 Strategies for improving organizational communication
 Encourage open feedback
-360 degree feedback
-suggestion system
-Corporate hotlines(AT &T used it during its anti trust
divestitute-1980)
 Use simple language
 Avoid overload-rely on gate keepers/practice queing
 Walk the talk
 Be a good listener