by Pang DX
Organizational communication in the workplace is crucial to both individual and organizational workflows. Organizations interact significantly with various functional and project stakeholders of diverse structures and cultures in the global economy. Thus, our fluency in conveying our messages affects the fluidity of the messages’ transmissions, and thus the effectiveness of their intentions.
This article outlines a few fundamental factors of communication, and explores how to improve communication by understanding their appropriate approaches and consequent impacts and effects. We will study the appropriate approaches to use based on the consideration of these factors, the probable impacts of the approaches, and the knock-on effects on individuals and teams.
The factors covered in this article include: efficiency and effectiveness, purpose and importance, sensitivity nature, structure and culture, and understanding the audience. The common approaches to communication explored include: push, pull, mass, interpersonal, and interactive. With the myriad choices of mediums available for organizational communication, it is inevitable that how we approach communication will affect the fluency of how we communicate, which impacts the fluidity of transmission flows. This, in turn, impacts the understanding of senders’ and receivers’ intentions and perspectives.
Following that, there are knock-on effects on colleague relationships, superior-subordinate relationships, and cross-functional collaborations and contributions, which can produce effects on the productivity of project teams.
Efficiency and Effectiveness Efficient transmission conveys a message promptly, whereby the sender moves on to other tasks after sending the message. Text messages, emails, and voicemails may all be viable methods, as they permit senders to complete the intended communication conveniently and swiftly.
However, it is important to note that the use of efficient communication methods in terms of transmission speed does not necessarily render effectiveness, due to the absence of feedback loops and acknowledgment in person. When intended recipients did not receive the message on time and in the intended manner, effectiveness is lacking.
When the task is critical, one useful assurance is to engage more than one medium. Following up an email message with a telephone call may take time, but this is more assuring and effective than requesting a "read" receipt. When recipients and senders nurture a mutual understanding and vision, fluent and fluid communication flows are enabled, which, in turn, enables mutual understanding.
Subsequently, the impacts of this entail the positive effects of nurturing a strong and healthy working relationship between both parties. Hence, both parties are able to secure agreement and cooperation with a willingness to share pertinent information and follow up closely, thus improving productivity. This takes time and effort, but is effective in the long term.
We must consider some possible unforeseen technical glitches, such as email messages that end up in a junk or spam folder, a collaborative platform where the video is not connecting, or data storage issues for project communications. This can not only compromise efficiency, but is also ineffective, and thus affects working relationships and causes a decrease in work productivity. Alternatives such as emails and printouts will come in handy in the event of collaborative platform malfunctioning, especially in remote project teams.
Communication Purpose and Importance The degree of efficiency and effectiveness of the transmission depends on the sender to determine the purpose of engaging with the receiver. Topics that are either routine or non-urgent that need to be distributed directly to specific recipients may benefit the most from the push method that addresses the targeted mass audience (PMI, 2017, pp. 374). Push communication does not mean pushing or forcing the information on recipients. Rather, senders initiate delivering messages to recipients when the purpose is to distribute information that does not require an immediate response or the nature of the message is not urgent.
However, verbal or email acknowledgment and follow-up actions from recipients after viewing the messages will be required. Emails, memos, and bulletin posts are examples of the push method, which is used to convey information efficiently for purposes such as disseminating project milestones and updates and issuing reminders about company policy for using up balanced annual leave to employees. There is little need to extend the communication to an interactive approach when the intention is to disseminate routine information.
The pull method is optimal when the purpose is for recipients to access content at their discretion, such as self-directed learning, accessing project knowledge, and retrieving project tasks (PMI, 2017, pp. 374). Pull communication does not mean to pull or demand that recipients read messages. Rather, the pull approach provides equal or common access for recipients from a large audience to retrieve required information for use in their preferred time and location.
Thus, this enables them to optimally study and understand the messages. When a receiver does not read the message initially, it does not affect the project. The nature of the message is informational and users may retrieve the messages when the need arises. Examples of the pull method include e-learning, knowledge repositories, and scheduling software.
Crucial internal or external organizational changes require stakeholder buy-in, and thus active participation and evaluation are important activities that necessitate a thorough discussion with an appreciation of both verbal and nonverbal communication. Discussing and implementing organizational changes is beyond the dissemination of information; it requires managing and controlling the change process.
For this, regular communication with feedback loops and follow-up tasks is essential, as it provides an effective opportunity for others to discuss the impacts of the changes on their work routines, even though this may not be efficient in terms of time consumed. This valuable employee input will consequently increase the satisfaction of individual contribution and organizational life.
Communication tools in the workplace are more diverse and sophisticated than ever. Interactive tools such as discussion forums, communication applications, and social intranet software have comprehensive and interactive features that allow user participation, thus driving employee engagement (PMI, 2017, pp. 374). Development in computer and telephone technologies expands the range of options to facilitate sending and receiving messages. The tools for transmitting updates and reports to colleagues, superiors, customers, and suppliers in real time, virtual time, and present time are vital to successful delivery and the receipt of intended messages.
Sensitivity Nature When the purpose of the communication concerns a sensitive matter, it is advisable to seek out a more private form of communication that allows the parties to seek and deliver feedback between themselves only. Sensitive messages should be handled delicately in a more direct way, either in person or by telephone in a private conversation. Some examples include appraising employee performance, notifying those who missed out on promotions, and investigating employees for policy violations. Elder colleagues may perceive receiving information through technological devices as disrespectful, particularly when it is of an important and sensitive nature.
However, sensitive messages are subjective to individuals, as one may have a different perspective on sensitivity nature. Hence, take consideration of the recipient’s perspective. While it is difficult to convey bad news, we need to adhere to the business and social protocol of having a private conversation with active listening. This involves clear understanding, clarifying and confirming, and acknowledging each other to remove barriers (PMI, 2017, pp. 386). This allows the two parties to interact in a real-time and richer manner with the use of body and nonverbal language that carry emotional cues (Kourdi, 2015, pp. 128).
Failure to use appropriate communication channels and address sensitive topics diplomatically will lead to distrust and can subsequently harm the working relationship.
Organizational Structure and Culture When the hierarchical level of the organizational structure is high, the communication is likely to go through several levels according to the hierarchical chain. Information may become outdated or distorted as it flows up and down the hierarchy, and thus affect the visibility (Kourdi, 2015, pp. 129). Hence, there is a need to check and ensure the information we have on hand is the latest and most accurate before sending it to the next recipients. When the organization has multiple functions, each with its own hierarchy, the functions develop different subunit orientations, and thus become distant from one another and cause communication problems.
The engineering function’s priority is to enhance a product’s technical sophistication with optimized configurations and materials. The sales function’s priority is the need to adapt to the customers’ fluctuating demands and satisfy them quickly to hit sales targets and increase revenues. Logistics’ priority is to ensure that there is an optimal quality and quantity of raw materials in the plant to be manufactured into finished goods and delivered to customers on time.
Hence, we need to put ourselves into the recipients’ perspectives and think of a common organizational goal or vision before shaping our message. Robbins and Judge (2014, pp. 261–262) suggest that organizations can develop or change toward a more organic and decentralized structure to encourage people to be more proactive and put in more effort in communication.
Robbins and Judge (2014, pp. 297) state that organizational culture is the set of shared values and employee behaviors that direct organizational members’ interactions with internal functions and external parties. The structure, policy, and people of the organization shape and control its culture. High bureaucratic structure, complex policy and network, and people from different countries or different time zones influence the working culture with diverse motivational factors and coordination issues.
Hence, developing a cohesive environment with healthy communication channels will lead to fostering mutual synergy that encourages working toward the common vision. Fostering such a positive culture enables mutual understanding and thus creates some flexibility in transmission approaches. Nevertheless, we should be as consistent as possible in using the approaches to sustain cross-functional collaborations and contributions.
Understand the Audience
i) Personal Characteristics It is common to interact with people via communication mediums in which both or all parties are most comfortable. If we prefer interpersonal communication when interacting with others, we will be inclined toward face-to-face conversations with a personal touch (PMI, 2017, pp. 374). Conversely, if the senders and receivers prefer the convenience of using a smartphone, the sender will be likely to pick up the device to reach out to the receivers.
Before doing so, it is important to consider the intended recipients of the message. Is the visit usually prescheduled or impromptu? Do they typically send messages to you by email, phone call, or approach you directly? As these behaviors suggest the communication approaches and timing preferences that others are more comfortable with, a combination of following their lead and seeking consensus helps facilitate a smoother communication flow. It will be easier to convey and comprehend correspondences that are of a complicated nature and maintain mutual trust when conveying messages in a manner that is comfortable for the recipient.
ii) Age Diversity The age diversity of today’s workforce presents an opportunity for employees to explore digital competency and extend their communication repertoire. Millennials, or generation Y, are employees in their mid-twenties to late-thirties, who are generally more accustomed to a digital mindset than other age groups.
Hence, they are more likely to embrace the latest communication technology, such as social intranet software with interactive multimedia creation and file-sharing capability or artificial intelligence (AI) chat-bots with machine learning capability. Even though some millennials may be less skilled and less comfortable with direct and in-person conversation, they do seek coaching and mentoring on the topics and skills they desire.
Generation X, employees in their forties to mid-fifties, are comfortable with using standard organizational methods as a routine form of communication with an emphasis on results. They have experience working with younger and older colleagues and have gone through several technology developments. Tailoring both traditional and modern communication for this generation has the potential for a positive effect on the individual, team, and organizational productivity.
Baby boomers, those employees in their mid-fifties to mid-seventies, possess a mindset of hard work and paying one's dues. Employees in this cohort value the professional courtesy of face-to-face conversations and receiving news in a way that enables two-way traffic with nonverbal communication from body language. One thing to take note: We should view the different age group characteristics as a reference instead of stereotyping them, as individuals’ characteristics and values vary.
iii) Cultural Diversity Consider also the cultural diversity among the project team members. Communication styles have different interpretations, depending on the national cultures (Steers, Nardon, & Sanchez-Runde, 2013, pp. 191). For example, the use of eye contact projects confidence, respect, and attentiveness in American culture, but is seen as disrespectful in Asian cultures, especially when communicating with someone of higher status.
Americans are more likely to be comfortable with direct communication, which differs from other cultures that prefer to use body language and nonverbal cues rather than direct statements. Hence, cultural diversity will influence communication approaches and timing preferences.
Diversity in cultures may affect the fluency of each communication approach with varying degrees and understanding of each other’s intentions, concerns, and perspectives. This, in turn, affects the relationships among colleagues and between superiors and subordinates. Note: We should view the different culture traits as a reference instead of stereotyping them, as individuals’ characteristics and values vary.
Closing Thoughts As organizations’ structures and cultures vary, we need to shape our message to meet the common organizational goals and develop a positive working environment with the mutual synergy that entails communication to be engaging. Messages that are of an important, sensitive, or complex nature require richer forms of interaction that encompass exchanging information and processing emotional cues, along with two-way or multiple-way feedback. This will ensure that the communication exchange is effective, even if not efficient in the short term.
Checking with the recipients before or upon sending the message may be a hassle and inefficient, but this can ensure a clear message and commitment from both parties. Preparation of communication alternatives will come in handy in the event of collaborative platform malfunctioning. As each of us is different in personal characteristics, age, and national culture, we need to be astute observers of those with whom we plan to interact, and listen carefully and tailor communication methods to our intended recipients.
Other factors such as the senders’ and receivers’ emotional states, writing skills, speaking abilities, and knowledge of the message topic, etc.—not covered in this article—are essential as well. Factors of communication intertwine with each other and influence our choice of communication methods and mediums, which subsequently causes impacts in mutual understanding and effectiveness of transmission. In turn, the impacts ultimately accumulate to bring significant knock-on effects on working relationships and work productivity.
Therefore, learning the relationships between factors, approaches, impacts, and the effects of communication can help to improve our communication and correspondence skills in listening, writing, and conversation.
References
Kourdi, J. (2015): Business strategy: A guide to effective decision-making (The economist series), (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Public Affairs Publishing.Project Management Institute (PMI). (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK® guide) – Sixth edition. Newtown Square, PA: Author.Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2014). Organizational behavior. (12th ed.). Essex,UK: Pearson Education Limited.Steers, R. M., Nardon, L., & Sanchez-Runde, C. J. (2013). Management across cultures: Developing global competencies. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
About the Author Pang DX's past experience is in logistics and supply chain, including SAP ERP, order fulfillment, warehouse operations, and continuous improvement projects. He is currently pursuing freelance work in business writing and ad hoc projects.
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