Organizational Communication

I. ABSTRACT

Nowadays, in the interconnected era, human-beings conduct their relationships with others and organizations implement their procedures with the assistance of communication. Communication alleviates the initiation, operation and completion of most processes of the world. Human beings are connected each other in the practice of communicating, so that the framework and system of the world can function properly. Communication is inevitable for every man, especially when they are facing tasks that have to be done.

II. INTRODUCTION

Organizational communication is a core element of any organization. Any task cannot be well-accomplished when communication does not exist in an organization. This is the reason why organizational communication becomes a vital element to the organization and its members. The following sections of the paper underline factors which make organizational communication successful or unsuccessful. Then, the paper is going to determine the types of organizational communication, how interpersonal communication is implemented and the relationship between organizational communication and factor of cultural diversity.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Factors That Influence Organizational Communication to Success or Unsuccess

There are many factors that can effect the result of a particular task due to the way how the management build organization communication:

1. Factors which may cause unsuccessful communication

Organizational communication has higher possibility to fail if the relation between employer and employees is governed in dictatorship style. When management just gives instructions to employees and does not listen to their perspectives, problems may arise. In addition, communication should be conducted and adopted as an unwritten rule to connect various degrees of the management level with the employees. When this way is applied, the harmful gaps might not occur in the communicational hierarchy and the problems of employees may be left unattended. Two sides of a coin, when communication is obscure, it can create a substantial number of problems. An example can be a project management environment. If the flow of communication is too unidirectional, it can lead to a stiff communicational sphere and if misunderstandings are regarding how a project should unfold or be carried out, then project development or outcomes can also suffer (Mann & Atkins, 2005).

Because of the important role effective communication plays in the managerial and organization’s success, cons to organizational communication are factors that stems from the fact that effective communication is a major problem that most managers face in today’s workplace. In many circumstances communication has been used as an easy scapegoat to blame about every problem that occurs within an organization, ranging from personal, national, to far as, an international situation (Mann & Atkins, 2005). According to Mann & Atkins (2005), “Communication can obviously play an important role in this regard, but it is definitely not a so-called ‘cure-all’ for all problems which humankind experiences” (p. 80).

2. Key Areas of Focus that lead to Success

Successful communication occurs when all parties, whether they are formed by various employees or an employer-employee combination, pay heed to the viewpoints of each other and respect it. In addition to giving the other party ample time to express its opinion and views, it is also required that the parties should follow that with an emphatic statement about their own point and feel they can communicate safely without reprisal. Also, it should be noted that while coordinating efforts on a project or task, various employees should compile and organize their views and perspectives in a proper manner in advance so that no questions are left unanswered during communication and all parties covey their points to the other in the best possible manner (Mann & Atkins, 2005).

The pros of effective organizational communication originate from the specific detail that when this category of communication is successful, the general performance standards of an organization and its outcomes are improved and the quality is better all around. It should also be noted that this type of communicational practices and outcomes will give rise to improved “productivity” and employee satisfaction (Cushman & Cahn, 1985).

When an organization can create a balanced and effective communicational structure and process, this enjoying environment might help people more willing to coordinate various works to find out the best possible solution rather than just sharing and imposing their opinion.

B. Types of Organizational Communication

Organizational communication exist not only for the goal to provide a channel for employees to communicate with each other. There is a deeper purpose behind this communication and that purpose can be defined to as the aim for accomplishing those conditions which can help coordinate all processes of the organization in such a manner that its operations can be carried out in a structured manner and the outcomes, products or services are of the highest quality. Therefore, communication can also be defined as a catalyst for the success of an organization.

The types of organizational communication are divided into four categories. These categories can be defined as upward, downward, business, and informal communication (Aamodt, 2012).

1. Upward Communication

In this type of communications, the route of the flow of communication is upward i.e. from staff to supervisors. This communication can be very effective because it means that employees are conveying their point directly to management, but it cannot be considered to be very pragmatic because too much communication will take place and the higher level managers will be burdened. A method to do this communication another way is by serial communication in which an employee conveys the message to his supervisor who passes it to his manager and so on. A drawback is that by going through so many channels, the message gets altered or modified (Aamodt, 2012). The most important aspect of this type of communication is that it provides great feedback (i.e., problems exist at lower level, suggested improvements, etc.) to the organization’s hierarchy (Mann & Atkins, 2005). One of the ways to stimulate upward communication is by asking open-ended and nonjudgmental questions. For instance, a manager

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