Communication Management
Introduction
Communication is a medium of conveying one’s point of view to another through some channel. Communication is defined as the transfer of information from sender to receiver. The effective communication is that in which the receiver comprehends the communicated message effectively. It is essential for achieving goals and targets. In today’s globalized world, communication has taken an eminent position (Adler & Lawrence, 139). If said specifically then the organizational communication is the process in which the receiver stimulates the information or message in other person’s mind. This message can be in form of verbal or non-verbal.
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Organizations need to have a clear and cost effective way of conveying message from one place to another. Businesses consider communication mediums and process as the source of their success. Communication has two types: internal and external, managers need not to just focus on the external communication but also internal communication has the same significance. Communication is only effective if it is managed and the medium of conveying information is properly selected. Globalization has brought numerous changes in the business environment. Organizations are more concerned towards attaining competitive edge over other businesses and for that, modern communication technologies have been introduced. It is a challenging task for the managers to manage those communication technologies effectively (Bell & Dayle, 227). Organizations use different mediums for communication. They enable communication through numerous directions, which may include downward communication, horizontal communication, upward communication and diagonal communication. These directions will be discussed in this paper in detail just to find out through which direction organizations can manage communication effectively. The purpose of this study is to find out the role and significance of communication in an organization. This study also highlights how managers can effective manage their communication mediums and processes. The paper will do critical analysis of the skills required by the manager for effective communication, communication management constraint s, how theories support effective organizational communication etc.
Discussion
Communication Management Process
Communication Management is a systematic approach that involves planning, implementation, and evaluation of all the communication material within and outside an organization. The flow of communication is essential for any organization to implement the planned strategies. Any loopholes in communication can cause an organization to drift from its direction. There are five basic steps of communication management process. The first one is the Identification of Stakeholders. This involves processing relevant information based on their involvement, interest, and impact in the project. The second step is the communication planning. Here the information needs are identified and a clear communication approach is determined. The third step refers to the Distribution of Material, which is followed by managing the expectations of stakeholders and Performance Report (Chopra 24). The performance report is quite significant for an organization to be able to evaluate the impact of the communication. It identifies the rights and wrongs of the strategy. The insights gained from it can be used to improve the future course of actions that can be beneficial for the organizational strategy.
At an organizational level, there are two basic types of communication. The first one is top-bottom communication and the second one is bottom-top communication. The first communication approach that is top-bottom approach comes from higher management to the lower management. This type of communication involves policies, rules, procedures, benefits, and general announcements. The second type of communication is bottom-top communication, which refers to the communication in which the flow of communication is from lower-level staff to the upper management. This kind of communication includes the articulating of grievance, feedback, sales figures, market research and more. For any successful organization, both kind of communication is pertinent for the steady growth.
In traditional organizations, the upper management is less concerned about listening to the concerns and feedback on the lower management. They rely on one-way flow of communication and base these decisions on their gut feeling. Sometimes, such gut feelings turnout to be in the benefit of an organization and sometimes the result is contrary. As the first element of communication deals with the notion of planning, the communication strategy should minimize the associated risks. The one-way of communication augment these risks and create problems for both the higher management and lower management. According to research, an organization that wants its customers to be happy then it must make efforts to make their employees happy first. The ideas and efforts of an employee is a pivotal element that results in customer delight. An organization that does not have loyal employees cannot make loyal customers.
An organization, which sells consumer goods must have clear upwards communication medium because it is necessary for it to get feedback about its products. Due to globalization and easy communication means, the attitudes and behaviors of customers are changing at a rapid pace. To understand the psyche of consumers, the upper management should be aware of what the customers have in their minds. Sales personnel are the primary individuals of an organization who are in touch with customers. If the upper management is willing to improve their services and products then they must device a mechanism through which all the necessary information can easily flow upwards. The easiest way to do it is through customer feedback form. These feedback them must be interpreted that can be sent to the higher management to judge the insights. Based on these insights, the company can make systematic improvements.
Like Upwards communication, downwards communication is of immense significance to any organization. For an organization to grow and to motivate its employees, it is significant to it to present the required information to lower management. The company must not restrict the plans with only the higher management. The downwards flow of this information will allow individual to know in what direction the company is going. Human being has a natural willingness to be with an organization that grows (Cartwright 55). The employees will feel motivated if they know the future direction of the company. It will also allow the organization to avoid any grievances generated through miscommunication.
External and Internal Communication
The type of communication can also be bifurcated into two based on the audience it addresses. At an organizational level, there are two major audiences for communication. The first one is the internal communication and the second one is external communication. Internal Communication refers to the communication that occurs within the internal stakeholders or more specifically, the employees. While the external communication refers to the external stakeholders like customers, vendors, shareholders, legal authorities, and public. Although both are important for an organization, but both require a different strategy for planning and its execution. Not anything that can be communicated internally might be something that can be communicated externally. The major purpose of internal communication is dissemination of information, while the external communication is primary done for relationship building. The internal communication has two basic classes that are top-bottom and bottom-top, while in the case of external communication there are no such classes (Guffey 144).
An organization must be extra cautious when it communicates with the external audience because alterations and revisions are not possible with them. The image of an organization is the biggest asset for it. This image is primarily responsible for its business operations and its success in the market. A bad external communication can tarnish its image in the eyes of public. Clear internal communication allows a company to avoid any sort of misunderstanding between the management and employees. Clear and concise communication helps the employees to understand what the organization expects from employees. A proper understanding of the expectations of employer helps the employee effectively work according to the expectation. If the company fails to communicate, what are the goals of an organization then employees of that organization will be like misguided missile. No matter what sort of talent the organization might have, they will not be able to reach the goals. If the communication is clear, not only the employees will be motivated, but also they will have a feeling about the future course of actions that they must take.
Theoretical Perspectives
The study of communication is being guided via three theoretical perspectives. The first one is technical, the second one is negotiated and the third one is contextual perspective. The technical perspective includes information theory, which discusses how information can be conveyed to the required destination effectively. The information theory depicts communication as the mechanistic system. This communication system includes both human and elements of interpersonal person’s feedback. The below mentioned figure depicted how information can be reached to the required destination. The desired message (horizon of experience sender includes thoughts and feelings) is transmitted (in coded form) via different channels to the receiver, where he/she decodes the message and provide feedback (Gerson 122). This process requires proper transference of the message to the receiver. The organizations today are facing this challenging situation where they implement different strategies so that information can be interpreted by the receiver accurately.
On the other hand, the contextual perspective not just focuses on the content but in large communication context. This perspective suggests that to make an effective communication, it is required not just to focus on the verbal content but non-verbal content as well. In this type of communication, symbols are used for conveying the information accurately to the receiver.
The third perspective suggests that negotiating is an eminent part of communication. It is not not just important to examine how discourse assists in maintaining, creating and giving meaning to some social relations rather it focuses on how communication context can be negotiated. The effective communication is only possible if feedback is provided on the received information. The exchange of feedback is seen as the process of interpersonal negotiation.
The three perspectives depicted that organizations need to use these perspectives for managing communication within and outside organization effectively. Organizations must focus on communication content as well as on symbols and information.
Communication and its Function
Organizations must comprehend first the significance and functions of communication. After understanding the aforementioned things, only then managers can be able to manage internal and external information. According to Neher () following are the key functions of organizational communication:
- Motivating, leading and influencing
- Decision making and problem solving
- Compliance gaining and
- Conflict management
Two researchers Neher and Rogers and Rogers did not focus on any specific communication exchanges but on the social and organizational functions of communication. The above-mentioned points are their focus for making communication effective. The other researchers Myers and Myers use Neher and Rogers primary functions of communication and suggested their other three functions of communication. According to them, communication is important for the companies in coordinating and regulating the production activities. In order to have a healthy working environment, the organizations need to the build effective communication medium. The second function of communication is socialization, where employees communicate and interact with each other positively so that organizational performance can be improved.
The function of communication is to bring innovation. Organizations in this competitive world can only take advantage over others if they have effective internal and external communication. , managers need not to just focus on the external communication but also internal communication has the same significance. Communication is only effective if it is managed and the medium of conveying information is properly selected. It is eminent for the organizations to expand the communication system. Before taking any decision, managers must know the necessary information.
Communication Technologies
The world is witnessing the sea change not in communication studies and theories but also in communication technologies. Different researches have been conducted on the fact that if organizational size, structure and other factors vary than how these factors affect organizational communication (Jensen 116). As discussed above, globalization actuates organizations to implement modern technologies and improved business processes in order to take competitive advantage. These communication technologies have created a challenging task for the managers to manage them effectively and efficiently. Companies are using latest and modern technologies like Skype, viber, webcam, emails and other modes of communication. Traditionally, when a company is operating globally it had to communicate with their foreign clients through long distance calls. However, such mode of communication increases hazels in conveying the exact information to the client (Sharma 116). Now, companies are using web emails and video conferencing in interacting with the foreign clients, which assist them in making their modes of communication more easy and understandable. Companies have proper check and balance on all the modes of communications, which their employees use for conveying their companies information to the foreign clients.
Conclusion
Briefly, it can be concluded that effective communication management is of sheer significance to an organization. The image of an organization is the biggest asset for it. This image is primarily responsible for its business operations and its success in the market. A bad communication strategy can tarnish its image in the eyes of public. All the stakeholders must be taken in consideration while planning, implementation, and evaluation communication. The communication must not end with the mere transfer of message, but adequate evaluation should be made to correct future course of actions. The theories and studies suggested that organizations in order to compete in this modern world need to the effectively manage information.
Works Cited
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Bell, Arthur H., and Dayle M. Smith. Management Communication. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2006. Print.
Cartwright, Roger. Communication. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub., 2002. Print.
Chopra, R. K. Communication Management. Mumbai [India: Himalaya Pub. House, 2009. Print.
Gerson, Sharon J., and Steven M. Gerson. Workplace Communication: Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007. Print.
Guffey, Mary Ellen. Business Communication: Process and Product. 3rd ed. Cincinnati: South-Western College Pub., 2000. Print.
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Sharma, Sandhir, and P. P. Singh. Communication Management. New Delhi: Deep & Deep Publications, 2005. Print.
