Communication in Organizations

Communication in Organizations

• Communication flows vertically (superior to subordinate), horizontally (peer to peer) and diagonally (manager to employees of other work groups)
• Communication can serve as a tool to appraise the individual or team, and their contribution to the organization.
• The purpose of communication is to evaluate one’s own inputs or other’s outputs, or to evaluate ideological scheme

Communication Channels

• Downward communication is communication from superiors to subordinates in a chain of command.
  • Downward communication is used by managers to provide feedback on employees’ performance, give job instructions, communicate the organization's mission and vision to the employees, and highlight areas of attention.
• Upward communication provides feedback on how well the organization is functioning.
  • Subordinates use upward communication to convey their problems and performances to their superiors.
• Lateral/ Horizontal communication occurs at the same levels of hierarchy in an organization (i.e., communication between peers).
  • Lateral communication is time-saving, facilitates task coordination, provides emotional and social assistance to organizational members, and can be used for resolving conflicts of a department with other departments or conflicts within a department.
• Diagonal or Crosswise communication is communication between a manager and employees of other work groups, and can lead to conflict if there is a misleading picture of the employees’ assumptions.

Paralanguage in Business Organizations

• Paralanguage is nonverbal communication, like language; it convey the message about what people are communicating, even without hearing the words.
• Voice is the first thing that comes out when we utter something, and it can reveal gender, background, temperament, and more.
• Clarity in voice is essential for effective communication, especially in jobs requiring clear and pleasant voice, like in call centers or for radio jockeys.
• Tone can be harsh, soft, pleasing, or sharp, and is used to convey an Outlook consciously or unconsciously.
• Intonation helps to refer to the pattern of sounds that are felt during communication.
• Mastering tone and intonation is important for effective communication and can make speeches more influential and interesting.

The Business Writing Process in the Digital Age

• Businesses communicate digitally, orally, or in print.
• Business writing differs from other forms of writing in its purpose, economy, and audience-orientation.
• Business writing is:
  • Purposeful, solving problems and conveying information.
  • Economical, presenting ideas clearly and concisely, length is not rewarded.
  • Audience-oriented, concentrating on looking at a problem from the perspective of the audience instead of seeing it from your own.
• Business writing should be concise and clear.
• The ability to prepare purposeful, concise, and audience-centered messages does not come naturally, but can be achieved through practice and study.
• The business writing process includes 3 stages: prewriting, drafting, and revising.

Prewriting

- **Analyze** your purpose,  your desired outcome or belief from the receiver, and the communication channel to be used (face-to-face conversation, group meeting, e-mail, letter etc.).
- **Anticipate** your audience by profiling them.
- **Research**  to gather data to provide facts.

Drafting

- **Organize** your information by researching company files, previous correspondence, and the internet.
- **Adapt** your message to suit your audience.

Revising

- **Edit** your message to be sure it is clear, concise, conversational, and readable.
- **Revise** to eliminate wordy fillers, long lead-ins, redundancies, and trite business phrases.

Developing the “You” View

• Focus on the benefits to the receiver rather than yourself, creating an empathetic message.
• Use second-person pronouns (you, your) instead of first-person pronouns (I/we, us, our) in your business writing.