ORGANIZATIONAL

COMMUNICATION
 DEFINITION
• An organization is a social collective or a group in which
activities are coordinated to achieve both individual and
collective goals.
• Examples: The family, a business unit, a school etc.
• A bureaucracy is an organizational structure characterized by
the rational coordination of the activities of a number of people
for the achievement of some common explicit purpose through
division of labour and function and through a rigid hierarchy of
authority (Lines of authority or the Chain of Command).
 WHAT AND WHY
• Organizational communication is the way through which
a group of people maintain structure and order through
their interactions and allow individual actors the
freedom to accomplish their goals.
• We study organizational communication because we all
have organizational affiliations as students, lecturers,
employees, supervisors, children, wives and husbands.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
• Information flow is important for every organization.
• Management Information System (MIS) is designed and
implemented to help manage the organization’s information needs.
• The official line or channel of communication follows the chain of
command. A superior deals his immediate subordinates and vice
versa. The line is either vertical or horizontal.
• In urgent situations, the official channel may be bypassed by simply
leaving out the middle man. It should be the exception not the rule.
• Diagonal communication is generally discouraged.
 COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
• There are three main communication systems:
• Downward communication
• Upward communication
• Horizontal communication
• Informal communication
• External Communication
• Negative Communication
 DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION
• This is communication from superiors to subordinates. It
is done through written memos, training manuals,
newsletters, bulletins, circulars.
• It helps employees to do their job.
• It helps in the explanation of policies
• It gives instructions, procedures and motivations of
employees.
 PROBLEMS
• Management assumes that employees will not be interested in
certain issues.
• Management assumes that workers will not be able to
understand and they are not prepared to make issues easier to
understand.
• Management – especially middle management – may not have
the information.
• Individual managers are not skilled, trained or confident in
communication.
• Some managers show their power through withholding
information.
Improving Downward Communication
• Establish systems of downward communication.
Durbars, seminars, workshops, meetings, etc.
• Establish an organizational culture in which
communication is accepted and valued.
• Discourage excessive status consciousness among
managers, e.g. separate canteens.
• Train managers to communicate more effectively.
 UPWARD COMMUNICATION
• This is communication from subordinates to superiors.
• It is used to:
• Solve problems.
• Make intelligent decisions.
• Report on problems, progress, grievances, performance
• To help management get information as to what is going on at
the workplace.
 PROBLEMS
• Subordinates think that managers will not be interested in or
understand their problems.
• They think that managers will be too busy.
• Subordinates fear to report their mistakes.
• They think that management will blame the one who reports a
problem.
• They fear that workmates will think they are trying to curry favour
with superiors and give them the silent treatment.
• In some cases there are no genuine avenues for upward
communication.
 Improving upward communication
• Formal channels for upward communication should be
improved.
• Suggestion Schemes: Employees who submit good
suggestions should be publicly honoured.
• Open door policy: Managers should always be accessible or
they should institute hours for consultation.
• Management should find out and address workers’ perception
of management, accurate or inaccurate.
• Management by working around.
 HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION
• This is communication between individuals of the same rank
and the flow of communication from one department to the
other.
• Problems: One manager thinks that another is encroaching on
his area of expertise.
• There are conflicts between managers and financial controllers
or between practical or field managers and administrators.
• General interpersonal problems arising out of perceived ideas
of competence and qualification.
Improving Horizontal Communication
• Set up interdepartmental teams, committees and
meetings.
• Job rotation where possible
• Conflict resolution mechanisms and counselling
• Interdepartmental newsletters or bulletins
• Computer networking
 INFORMAL COMMUNICATION
• Every organization has an informal communication network –
the grapevine – which supplements official channels.
• Problems: It might be malicious and full of inaccurate rumours
and half-truths.
• It is corrupted in retelling.
• It is selective and told to a network of interested parties. It works
well on don’t-say-I-told-you basis.
• It sometimes has negative effects on morale.
 How to Deal with the Grapevine
• Managers should learn to accept the grapevine.
• There should be no official attempt to abolish or suppress it for
it would have the opposite effect.
• Since it increases when official channels are closed, every
attempt should be made to keep information flowing.
• Managers should learn as much as they can about what is
going on in the organization through the grapevine.
• Managers should identify those who are active in informal
communication and use them to feed information to the
organization.
 EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION
• The organization communicates with the public through
letters, emails, adverts and information on the website.
The information given out must be very clear and
correct.
• We should have an internal system of editing and
correction of information we put out. It has everything to
do with the image of the university.
 NEGATIVE COMMUNICATION
• Aggressive Communication: Workplace aggression includes all
communication by which individuals attempt to harm the
organization and other workers.
• Examples include arson, violence, use of offensive language,
sabotage, destruction of property.
• Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for
sexual favours and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature if submission is made a condition for employment or if
submission or rejection is made the basis for an employment
decision.