improving organizational comm

Dept. of English, CUTM

Module – I, UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION IN BUSINESS

Module– I : Understanding Communication in Business by Dr. Anubha Ray



Chapter - 6

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION

“Communication is at the heart of the organization. It is the key to organizational success. It exists in everything we say and do, and also in tings we don’t say and don’t do. It is the essence of the organization, it is all pervasive”. – Eileen Scholes

Chapter-1

Communication is a critical function in organizations, from the very small to the very large. Even one-to-one communications can be fraught with challenges and misunderstandings. By communicating purposefully and focusing on results and relationships, businesses can leverage effective communication strategies to generate solid results with multiple audiences.

6.1. Open Feedback

An open communication environment is one in which all members of the organization feel free to share feedback. Now-a-days organizations are adopting inclusive communication strategy to encourage feedback from the employees. Inclusive communication strategy is one in which explicit steps are taken to ensure that all employees feel they are involved in decision that affect their day-to-day way. Organization with secretive communication environment can stifle involvement and that results in lost ideas and opportunities. Employee involvement is a key factor that affects employee satisfaction and success. Several successful techniques for opening feedback channels have been already used by corporates.

These problems can be coped and curbed out by following some techniques:

1. 360-degree Feedback: This is a formal system where people are free to give and receive feedback from insiders as well as outsiders including customers and suppliers. This technique is used in companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and others.

2. Suggestion Systems: Many organizations have “suggestion boxes” as well as question boxes placed around the organization and encourage employees to provide suggestions, so that new ideas are implemented. Question boxes provide an opportunity to the employees to ask questions and request for information. For example, the idea of mounting

Objective: To know the strategies for

improving organizational communication.



film boxes onto cards that hang from display stands, which is common today, originally came from a Kodak employee.

3. Corporate Hotlines: Organizations now-a-days have installed corporate hotlines ready to answer questions and listen to comments. This is useful during times of change when employees have a lot of questions.

6.2. Use simple language

Use of simple language and use of jargons wisely can facilitate communication. Whenever a specialized language is used, the speaker must be familiar with the audience. Simple and straight forward yet polite language is bound to be effective. Speakers must speak the language of their audience. Follow the KISS rule (Keep it short and simple).

6.3. Avoid Overload

When people are confronted with more information than they can process at any given time, their performance tends to suffer. They are not able to concentrate on any one information. This condition is known as overload of information. Although to survive in a competitive world requires doing many things at once – but it should take place without threatening the performance of the employees. Fortunately, several things can be done to avoid, or at least minimize, the problem of information overloaded.

6.3.1 Some of these are given below:

1. Rely on Gatekeepers: There are people who control the flow of information to potential overloaded individuals, groups or organizations. They are known as gatekeepers.

2. Practice Queuing: People must line up incoming information so that it can be attended in an orderly way and prevent them from overloading or blocking the way.

6.4. Walk the talk

Now-a-days the CEOs of the organization practice “walk the talk” that is to match their actions to their words. A Company Head will lose trust from his employees if “my door is always open to you” is written in front of his door, but is never available for discussion. Effective communication demands consistency in words and actions. Both words and actions must match. 6.5. Good Listener

The golden rule to an effective communication is to listen attentively. Since communication is a two way process, it involves more than just presenting one’s message. It is equally important to be able to comprehend the message sent by others. Effective listening is an important skill which has to be practiced and developed within us.

Some of the tips to improve effective listening are as follows:



Try to understand what the speaker wishes to say or convey. Never stop the speaker in between or rush with your question and statements. They

will come at the end of the conversation. Avoid communicating at a noisy place like crowded bus, market place, construction

site, railway station, busy streets as noise over- power the actual content. Stop being judgmental while listening. suspension of your judgment either on the

topic or the speaker is important for attentive listening. You should encourage the speaker with non-verbal cues and signals so that he/she

continues to speak.

Conclusion

Communication has been called the glue that holds organization together to the electricity that power- up a place. It remains a vital and crucial tool in building, sustaining and protecting corporate reputation. It is also necessary to understand and deal with communication failures arising out of certain factors.



PRACTICE

Long Answer Type Questions:

1) Discuss the strategies to bringing about effectiveness in communication for business purposes.

2) Give 3 ways in which you might encourage your employees to give your feedback on daily operation.

3) Discus any 3 barriers that lead to miscommunication in an organization. 4) Write short notes on

a. Open feedback b. Walk the talk c. Communication overload 5) Managers spend 40% of the time listening 6) Write the 3 important elements for effective listening?

Short Answer Type Questions:

a) When the process of communication is hierarchical, information flows through a number of _________________ points.

b) _________________ communication is the richest medium because it is personal.

c) Telephone line staffed by corporate officials ready to answer question and listen are called ___________.

d) The formal system of communication where people give feedback to others at different levels and receive feedback from them as well as outsiders are called ___________.

e) When communication channels are over loaded, _________ and _________ can be done to minimize the problem of information overload.

improving organizational comm

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