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Organizational communication consists of all the ways leaders communicate with those in their area of influence.
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Section 8.2 Leading an Effective Organizational Communication System
Consequently, various means of communication begin to appear with no apparent design or coordination. As a result, an important role of leaders is to design and continuously improve an organizational communication process. An effective organizational communication system can be designed by each leader by involving the appropriate people and working to improve both the formal and informal systems, beginning with the culture present in the company.
Communication Culture
An organization’s culture plays a major role in how communication takes place. Leaders are the primary shapers of organizational culture (Pentland, 2008), so they need to be aware of the type of culture they are creating as well as the implications and of the changes they need to make to better align the culture with the desired behaviors, results, and communication dynamics.
The wide diversity of people working in almost all organizations today makes the creation of an open, accessible, and transparent organizational communication system even more criti- cal. One study of large organizations concluded that 92% of organizations find that the big- gest challenge in working with outsourcing providers is communication (Shivapriya, 2007). Multicultural communication is a term used to describe communication between people from different countries or nationalities. Differences in languages, the meaning of terms, cultural practices, and how verbal and nonverbal communication takes place are prevalent. There is no pat answer for dealing with multicultural communication challenges. The issue is important enough that organizations need to consider training their people who are involved in multicultural communication in the essentials they need to be aware of. Company leaders also need to consider hiring or engaging people familiar with various cultures so they can be involved in multicultural communication and activities.
Formal Communication Channels
A communication channel is made up of all of the ways organizations communicate with peo- ple. Another term that is used in describing organizational communication is channel rich- ness, which people use to evaluate the capacity of different channels to convey different types of information based on how important the information is. One of the major changes over the last decade in how organizations operate is the explosion of communication channels avail- able to organizations.
For example, in communicating with people, organizations must consider a wide variety of channels such as face-to-face interactions, face-to-face large or small meetings, virtual large or small meetings, teleconferencing or video conferencing, email, voicemail, texting, blogs, social media, newsletters, mailings, reports, and more. People can be reached 24/7 around the world. There is almost no end to the options.
The point of understanding communication channels is so that we can give thought to what works best for different situations. With new alternatives constantly becoming available, it is also important to provide training on the various forms being used and new forms that are added, and to work at keeping the channels as simple, useful, and easy to use as possible. A major challenge for leaders is to design the channels so that employees do not suffer from information overload and have little time to do their work.
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Section 8.2 Leading an Effective Organizational Communication System
Formal Communication Patterns
Each organization is unique. Company leaders design communication systems suited to the organization’s unique needs. Four of the more common in business settings include the chain, wheel, circle, and all-channel communication patterns, as Figure 8.2 displays (Guetzkow & Simon, 1955).
Chain The chain approach to management communication reflects “chain of command” or “hier- archy of authority.” Messages flow primarily in two directions: upward and downward. Top managers issue orders and relay decisions to middle managers. Middle managers transfer the information to first line supervisors. First line supervisors inform entry-level workers. Ques- tions, inquiries, and requests for clarification follow the reverse order. Lower-level employees become “order takers” and “order followers” in such a system. Managers and employees who violate the chain of command by communicating directly with other departments “walk the gangplank,” by going around the designated communication system.
The chain design offers benefits to certain types of organizations. The model fits situations in which precision in carrying out tasks or assignments holds high priority. Military and police organizations serve as prime examples, although the chain only works well within the orga- nization rather than when one unit (police) must coordinate with other units (fire, storm cleanup departments, etc.). We also see the chain model in companies that produce standard- ized products, with few needs for innovation or change.
Wheel In a wheel arrangement, a manager or supervisor becomes the center of the wheel, with indi- vidual spokes, or communication channels, connecting the manager to subordinates. In such a system, the manager retains information and dispenses it to employees as needed, serving as a control center. Individual employees communicate only with the manager and not with one another.
The wheel approach does not fit most managerial circumstances. It works best when opera- tions are geographically dispersed but not as well in other situations. In most companies, employees are not isolated from each other on a continuing basis. Exceptions are possible, such as when a series of park rangers reports to a central office regarding fire threats and other activities in the park system.
Circle A circle resembles the wheel approach, only without the central hub. In a circle system, mem- bers communicate freely with other members, even when one member of the circle is the formally designated leader. The flow of communication, however, goes around the wheel, clockwise or counter-clockwise. This method matches work that takes place sequentially. One member’s end product becomes the beginning point for the next member.
Figure 8.2: Patterns of managerial communication
The four most common patterns of managerial communication include the chain, wheel, circle, and all- channel forms.
Adapted from G. Moorhead & R.W. Griffin (2003). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations (7th ed.) Independence, KY: Cengage Learning, pp.231-237.
