Formal Methods For Communicating

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Communication is the process by which people are linked together, how they function in to achieve a common goal. Communication is transactional, involving two or more people interacting within a defined environment. The organization needed to enhance its communications with its internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders are those individuals and groups within the organization. They include the employees, the managers and directors of the business and its owners or shareholders.

Communicating with stakeholders:

Communications with internal stakeholders help to develop a positive attitude within the organization. This is particularly significant when times are tough as employees may become de-motivated if they see negative stories about their organization in the media.

One of the most important groups of external stakeholders is customers. However, other important external stakeholders include the government and regulatory bodies, the company's suppliers, the media and the communities that live close to the organization and operations.

Formal Methods for Communicating:

Usually organizations use the following formal method to communicate with stakeholders:

1. Meetings – One of the most common and easy ways to communicate. They can vary from only one person to thousands based on message and audience appropriate.. It is the best way as organizations have the verbal and non verbal cues that enhance the communication and avoid misinterpretation.

2. Conference Calls– These days this is the most common as it does not need the time and expense of travel. The dialogue can take place though its dependant on voice intonation and clarity of the verbal message. They only require cost of phone call and there are many paid and free services that will facilitate use of a conference call line for many people to dial into. It’s also a common way for classes to be recorded and replayed when it’s convenient for the organization.

3. Newsletters/ Email/ Posters – This strategy is one way communication and utilizes emailed updates, hard copy brochures, posters, newsletters mailed or emailed. One of the weaknesses is that messages are delivered and one cannot gauge if they were read and understood, deleted as sometimes there is no feedback. That immediate feedback is valuable for strengthening message and making sure impacts and feedback are quickly received.

Informal Methods for communicating:

It is important to not only rely on formal channels but to utilize informal communication as well. The spontaneous channels are often more information rich and critical for relationship building.

1. Hallway Conversations, Bathroom conversations – These meetings are great for one on one communication, but also be clear and do not establish false expectations with casual comments dropped.

2. Lunch Meetings, Drink at the bar after work – These casual environments can be great for connecting, getting feedback, ideas, and work to build support

3. Sporting events – Tennis, golf, etc are an easy forum to get the input on what support exists, feedback on ideas, brainstorming to strengthen your communication and build stakeholder support

4. Voice mail – This is often underutilized since email is so common but still shown to be more often listened to than an email will be read. By using voice intonation for excitement, urgency, etc it can be more compelling. This can be a solo voice mail, a voice mail broadcast to large team.

Project Communication Plans

It’s not enough to just have a plan. It is critical to seek to understand what stakeholders desire both spoken and unspoken. The expectations must be carefully managed from beginning to end. Every team and project varies in its rate of change, so organization need to pick the most advantageous communication channel, frequency and should make sure it’s effective. Just as having the plan is important, monitoring its effectiveness, adding and canceling supplemental ways of communicating will be required.

The use of technology in communication process:

Emerging communication technologies ,for example internets are not only changing how small groups in an organization interact, but are also speeding up decision making amongst these small groups in an organization. Technologies like internet are easy to utilize and they cost less yet they speed up communication within an organization.

It is very important for an organization to encourage effective communication and speed up the productivity of an organization. This does not matter if the size of the organization is small or big. For an organization to achieve its goals in this age of information technology, it must equip and train its employees on how to use various communication technology tools. These tools can include things like video conferencing; Bluetooth enabled printers, remote databases etc.

Email: This is the most used mediums of communication across the globe by all organizations. It is very essential for both big and small business to have an email address.

Instant Messaging:  Instant messaging (IM) services deliver messages faster than email. A manager can easily hand over work to employees through text messaging. The same does for employees within an organization, they can ask a question from their superiors via text messaging and they will get replies on the instant. Today this has been simplified; big services like Skype, Yahoo messenger and other text messaging Apps have played this role.

Using computer: In an organization there will be information that is sensitive and private in nature stored on the computer network. Most organizations have a restricted agreement that employees sign when they first join the company.

Customize office software: There are a lot of customize office software like MS Office, MS Excel, MS Word etc. that make communication process interactive and effective more than ever.

Hindering communication:

We are in danger of becoming a race of keyboard tappers unable to communicate with each other, meaningfully, in a natural manner, face to face. There is an assumed premise for all emails and other forms of virtual communication. That every recipient will read same and think it is as important as the sender thinks it is. It's part of the illusion of communication. Overuse of email, over dependent on power point may result in inefficiency in communication process.

The communication policies and procedures and their effectiveness:

Organization should develop and execute a set of comprehensive communication policies to make communication process more effective. Communications plans should aim to convey simple messages based on the WHY – WHAT – WHEN – WHO – HOW principles :-

WHY: Why should administrative staff change their working and learning practices?

WHAT: What should administrative staff change in their working and learning practices?

WHEN: When best to make changes?

WHO: Who needs to be involved in the change?

HOW: How to make the changes?

Rodney Gray, communication specialist develops the following ten point policies. However, such a policy is just the start – it needs to be consistently modeled and supported by senior management of the organization.

1. The exchange of meaning.

Top management of the organization should keep in mind that Communication is the effective exchange of meaning or understanding in formal and informal communication. It applies to communication up, down and across the organization.

Everyone in the organization is liable for the effectiveness of his or her own communication. This especially applies to those who manage others within organization.

2. Open communication.

One of the key values of an organization is open communication. Unless something is commercially confidential, it can be communicated in a complete, unambiguous and timely manner. Unless told otherwise, managers are authorized to communicate.

Credibility and trust of managers will only come with consistently truthful and open communication.

Communication about significant happenings needs to be thoroughly planned. Being too busy is not an acceptable excuse for inadequate or ineffective communication.

Care should be taken to decide what requires formal communication and by whom, and what can be communicated informally.

Important information should show who has authorized its release and be released in all locations at the same time.

3. Face-to-face communication.

There is unlikely to be a fruitful exchange of meaning or understanding unless there is discussion and the opportunity for questions to be asked and answers received. This is best channel in face-to-face communication. The needs of various internal audiences should be taken into account when planning communication. Some audiences will be satisfied with simple verbal presentations while others will require documentation of significant information and stats. Face to-face communication includes team leader, supervisor, manager and general manager briefings and discussions as appropriate.

4. Feedback is encouraged.

Obtaining feedback and listening effectively are critically important for good communication.

Effective communication will only come if communicators at all organizational levels seek out feedback and take appropriate action to ensure the intended meaning is passed on to the relevant audience. Employees should always be able to say what's on their minds without hesitation.

5. Information is not communication.

Written or electronic messages should be complemented by face-to-face communication where feasible.

6. Focus on local issues.

In communicating, organization should focus on local issues, especially serious business issues (such as business results, customer feedback, and the future of the business).

Communication issues that arise at a local level (e.g. cross-functional issues, and rumors) should be addressed by those involved without delay. Effective communication requires the active involvement of at least two parties.

7. The team leader is critical.

Significant information must be made available to team leaders in a timely manner to enable them to relay it to their teams. Information should be overflowed down the organization and communicated direct to team leaders as appropriate.

It is better to over-communicate than under-communicate. Team leaders should make clear what information is available and communicate as requested.

Effective team leaders regularly communicate with their team members on a formal and informal basis, and actively seek feedback from their teams on the effectiveness of their communication with them.

8. Training will be provided.

Training in effective communication will always be available to team leaders, supervisors and managers.

Communication materials and support will be provided to managers, supervisors and team leaders as appropriate.

9. Communication will respect individuals.

All communication must be truthful and ethical. The impact and consequences of communication determined in advance must be taken into account.

It also means effective communication of job requirements and standards, and keeping everyone informed of how they are performing. There should be "no surprises" when it comes to individual performance feedback.

Information provided to any one person should be also provided at the same time to all others involved or likely to be interested.

The special communication needs of shift employees or employees located in remote locations should always be considered.

Mischievous communication (eg. starting or spreading rumors known to be untrue) should not be tolerated.

10. We communicate both positive and negative news.

Organization should be committed to communicating both good and bad news quickly, in advance if possible, even if the full impact of the decision or message may not be clear. Rumors in the workplace should be addressed with effective communication as soon as is practicable.

Communicating on a "need to know" basis, avoiding controversial issues, or delaying communication "until all details are clear" are contrary to this policy.

Communication problem:

Communication is the key to company's success. Organization may face problem in executing different communication process. But there are respected solutions to these problems too. Employees and managers have to be willing to investigate and solve such problems within an organization. Poor communication may result in many negative results including low morale, poor productivity, interpersonal conflicts and high turnover. Therefore, an effective organization needs to explicate its communication process and figure out if improvements need to be made.

Communication involves at least two parties--the speaker and the listener. Sometimes there are third parties: in-between people who carry messages from one person to another, or the media, for example, which has such transmission of information as its primary goal. Problems can develop at all three of these sources. There are severals reasons for communication problem. Such are:

Lack of Personal Contact:

With the use of cell phones, e-mail and telephones more than ever, personal contact is at an all-time low. The same goes for managers. Managers with substandard communication skills communicate through email or phone messages rather than by personal contact. There are some times when email and phone calls are appropriate for business communication; however, managers need to always discuss personal matters face to face. Personal communication is the only way to resolve the true meaning of an important matter as it is easy to misinterpret the tone of an email or phone message.

Lack of Feedback:

One-way communication can become an inefficient way to exchange information throughout the organization. Employees and managerial staff should provide feedback at all times to enhance the quality of information diffuse and the tone in which the information is delivered.

Language Barriers:

A diverse workplace has several benefits to a business but the language barrier that can sometimes occur in a diverse workplace, or any workplace, may become a communication problem. There might be language impediment between people of different ethnic backgrounds, people of different ages and people with different levels of industry experience. Any language barrier is going to slow communication or create misunderstandings that make communication unsuccessful.

Ambiguous expectations:

Top management does not discuss expectations with mid-level managers. Therefore, they do not have the same expectations nor do they agree on how to accomplish strategic goals. Because of this, employees do not have clear goals and benchmarks to guide their development.

Contradictory experts:

Conflicts often involve when different experts making contradictory statements about important issue. Because the general public lacks technical expertise, it has no way to figure out who to believe. As a result, people tend to deny expert analysis and believe what they want to believe.

Values and cultures of the organization:

Organizational culture refers to the beliefs and values that have existed in an organization for a long time, and to the beliefs of the staff and the foreseen value of their work that will influence their attitudes and behavior. Management usually adjust their leadership behavior to achieve the mission of the organization, and this could influence the employees' job satisfaction. It is therefore important to understand the relationship between organizational culture, leadership behavior and job satisfaction of employees. The culture within an organization is very important, playing a vital role in whether it is a happy and healthy environment in which to work.

Evidence shows that organisations who have strong cultures are capable of increasing revenue, profitability and shareholder value. Likewise organisations with weak cultures find it tough to change and adapt to market demands. With the growing increase in globalisation, organisations face far more competition than ever before. Having a strong culture which supports and establishes an organisation's brand proposition helps businesses build and maintain competitive advantage - witness organisations such as Sony, Samsung, Disney and Orange.

Organization culture reflect the assumptions and values that guide an organization. They are intangible but powerful influences on employee behavior. Because it is a dynamic systems concept, culture is also affected by almost everything that occurs within an organization.

Characteristics of cultures:

There are several characteristics of organization culture. Such as:-

Distinctive

Stable

Implicit

Symbolic

Integrated

Accepted

Subcultures

Of varying strength

A reflection of top management

Communicating and changing culture:

If organizations are to consciously create and manage their cultures, they must be able to communicate them to employees, especially the newly hired ones. People are generally more willingly to adapt and learn when they want to please others, gain approval, and learn about their new work environment.

Employee learn about their organization’s culture through the process of socialization and influence it through individualization. Organizational culture can be changed, but the process is time consuming.

Conformity

Creative individualism

Isolation

Rebellion

High

Socialization

(impact of organizational culture on employee; acceptance of norms)

Low

Low High

Individualization

(impact of employee on organizational culture; deviation from norms)

Figure: Four combinations of socialization and individualization

An effective and efficient communication system requires managerial proficiency in delivering and receiving messages. A manager must discover various barriers to communication process and analyze the reasons for their occurrence and take preventive steps to avoid those barriers. Thus, the primary responsibility of a manager is to develop and maintain an effective communication system in the organization.