Organizational Communication

Good evening people, here I am for the second post. First of all, let me ask you some questions. How many of you have worked in an organization before? Organization meaning social unit of people, systematically arranged and managed to meet goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and positions, roles and responsibilities. Examples, working as a lecturer in SEGi College or working as an insurance sales consultant for Great Eastern are working for organizations. I am pretty sure most of you do have such experiences. However, are you aware that actually working in any organization involves both formal and informal communication? I shall explain briefly the difference between formal and informal communication in steps with examples based on my previous working experience.

Three Types of Formal Communication:

1) Downward Communication

• Definition: Messages are passed down from employer to employee. Employer is the one who gives instructions and the employee would be at the receiving end.
• Example : I worked as a temporary primary teacher before. Obviously, the headmaster is my boss and I would follow his instructions accordingly.

2) Upward Communication

• Definition: Messages flow upward from employee to employer. Employer could present reports, opinions, ideas, feelings, and problems to his/her employer.
• Example : As a temporary teacher, I have never been trained. Hence, I bound to encounter problems especially while teaching pupils. I then would seek advice from the headmaster regarding my problems for solutions.

3) Horizontal Communication

• Definition: Messages flow between people of the same rank.
• Example : In my case, the other teachers in my workplace are my colleagues. We are at the same rank of position, hence we communicate in a horizontal manner during working hours.

Informal Communication:

• Definition: Informal communication is an informal network. It is also known as The Grapevine. Informal communication indicates concerns that would be voiced out in a formal meeting. Informal communication can occur among employees during lunch time or after work time where they discuss (gossip) about matters happening inside their company.
• Examples: I would go out for lunch or dinner with the other teachers and talk about our boss who is demanding and selfish as well as other stuffs.

Hopefully, my brief explanations have granted you rough understanding of what formal and informal communication are. I shall continue with the five main organizational models which have been introduced by theorists. Different models are used by different organizations. It is up to you to think and choose which model is more suitable and appropriate to keep a company running well.

Five Types of Organizational Model:

1) Traditional Model

~Background:

• Also known as Classical model
• Introduced by Taylor, Fayol and Web
• Focusing more on how to reduce production costs then the workers

~Employees:

• Expected to work like machines in order to maximize production
• Cannot voice out to stand for themselves but to follow orders accordingly
• Those who fail to achieve what they are expected to do will not be rewarded

~Employers:

• Always think that they are superior
• Unfriendly with workers to show they are in control, otherwise workers will take advantage
• They think employees are basically lazy and therefore need to be guarded

*Disadvantage: Workers are treated like machine

2) Human Relations Models

~Background

• Initiated by Mayo and Barnard
• Pay fully attention with the social and psychological needs of employees

~Employees:

• Given tender loving care
• They would perform well if they are treated well
• Supported well by supervisors

~Employers:

• Would convince workers that they are important members of the company
• Treating the workers nicely to them is vital and could result in a more productive employee
• An organization should be like ''one happy family''

*Disadvantage: Workers tend to take advantage and grow lazy.

3) Human Resource Model:

~Background:

• Founded by McGregor, Likert, Blake and Miles
• Focus on workers and management as both are essential

~ Employees:

• Given certain goals for them to achieve
• Will motivate themselves by allowing them to participate in decision making
• Get well treated but in a more balance way

~Employers:

• Think that workers can maximize their potential by setting goals for them
• Flexible, allow workers to make mistakes
• Allowing workers to involve in problem-solving in order to develop their potential

4) Systems Model

~Background

• Introduced by Katz
• Concerned with the organization as a whole
• There is no single or best way to manage an organization
• Any of the models used could be successful depending on the internal and external factors
• Anyone in the organization can affect the entire organization

* Managers and employees must take note that every part of the organization is interdependant and affecting each other.

5) Transformational Model

~Background

• Introduced by Poole
• Concern with IT and flexibility in management
• In order to compete in global markets, flexibility is more essential than large organization
• Most communication occurs through the Internet and video-conferences
• Operates in different business units, smaller units and faster compared to bureaucratic structure

*Encourage to use all five models as each has its best way to do things, and each has its strength and weaknesses. However, transformational model suits the current global market better.

That is all for I want to say about organizational communication. Hope, you will find this post informative. Would come up with the following post soon.