INTERACTION FORMAT OF ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION

INTERACTION FORMAT OF ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION

BY 

Ifedayo Akinwalere

August 9, 2017

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development,

Department of Communication and General Studies.

Course Title:  Advanced Organizational Communication

Course Code:             COM 912

Topic: Interaction Format of Organisation Communication

Candidate: Akinwalere, Ifedayo

PG15/0039

Course Lecturer:    Prof. H. Bodunde

August, 2017.

INTERACTION FORMAT OF ORGANISATION COMMUNICATION

Introduction

Communication is derived from the Latin words communis, and communicare which translate as common and to share respectively. This means that communication aims at the sharing of information, ideas and messages and making them universal. It would appear that this sense of sharing is easy to achieve in human interaction. This is not always the case in the complex business world (Ogbulogo, 2004). Communication can also mean two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning.

Communication can be defined as the exchange of information, ideas, thoughts, opinions etc accompanied by full and correct understanding between one person or persons or one side and another person or persons on the other side. In other words, communication is effective if the receiver has the same impression or perception as the sender intended him or her to receive. In this wise, one can communicate only in the recipient’s or receiver’s language or in his or her terms and the terms have to be experienced based.  There has to be feedback to ascertain the degree of understanding on the part of the recipient. The communication course is not complete until it is certain that the other person (receiver) understands. This does not mean that the two parties have to reach agreement.

In general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. In organization, communication is a key function of management. An organization cannot operate without communication between levels, departments and employees. Ogbulogo (2004) defined Communication as a process of transmitting messages from a source to receivers using a signaling system. Communication is simply the act of transferring information from one place to another. Communication can be spoken or verbal communication: face-to-face, telephone, radio or television and other media. Non-Verbal Communication: body language, gestures, how we dress or act - even our scent.

Communication facilitates sharing of common experiences with others. Communication is a polymorphous concept; as a result its definitions vary with its diverse forms. It involves sharing of an idea, thought, feeling or information in order to make things of common knowledge. Thus, the scope of communication is very wide. Communication is not a static act but a dynamic process, which is continuous in nature and vital in every human activity. It involves the usage of a channel. This channel could be signs, symbols or verbal/written language. For communication to be complete and effective it has to achieve the desired objectives as intended by the communicator and there must be feedback. According to Soola (2000) in Obe (2008), communication is the process by which any person or a group shares and impacts information with/to another person (or group) so that both people (and groups) clearly understand one another.

Essentially, five steps are involved in effective communication process:

1. The sender has an idea.
2. The idea becomes a message.
3. The message is transmitted.
4. The receiver gets the message.
5. The receiver reacts and sends feedback to the sender.

Moemeka (1994) cited in (Ajibade, 2003) argued that communication is not synonymous with the mechanical transfer of facts and figures (i.e. information dissemination).To him, communication is not talking at people; instead, it is an interactive process that involves talking with people. The element of feedback (i.e. response of the receiver) is very crucial in any act of communication because communication involves sending forth and back of message between the sender and the receiver. Communication is an ongoing process. Moemeka further explained that there is no permanent sender and no permanent receiver in the process of communication, as the role keeps changing “depending on who is talking and who is listening at any given time.

Many businesses and government programmes have failed in the past because of the failure to recognise the role and importance of communication. An organization’s effectiveness hinges on good communication and so does the effectiveness of groups and individuals inside the organisation.  Groups are able to achieve their goals and perform at a very high level only when group members communicate as needed.  Similarly, individual learning, motivation, and job satisfaction centre on good communication. To communicate effectively, it is essential to understand that communicating can be very complex process.  Each communication is different and will call for a unique response, which is why it is so important to have a solid understanding of the communication fundamentals and tools (Holmes, 2004).

Organization

Organization, according to an anonymous author, is a social unit of people, systematically structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue collective goals on a continuing basis. All organizations have a management structure that determines relationships between functions and positions, and subdivides and delegates roles, responsibilities, and authority to carry out defined tasks. Organizations are open systems in that they affect and are affected by the environment beyond their boundaries.

Organisational Communication

Organizational communication can be defined as the communication that takes place within and among organizations. Organization is combination of groups formed in such a way that large tasks may be accomplished. Organization communication can either be a written or oral or both but usually, it is written (Daramola, 2012). That is, all the communication activity taking place in organization today such as sending emails, phone call, whatsapp group chat, writing memos, talking on the phone, having meetings, teleconferencing, video conferencing, speeches, presentations, and so on. Organization can be viewed as something like a container, and communication is what flows within the container. If this metaphor is extended, it can be seen how communicating is then shaped by the structure of the organization, in the same way liquids take the shape of their physical containers. And by the “shape” of the container can mean the physical shape of the organization. The key here is that the organization is seen as something that exists separately from communication. Communication is “organizational” when it happens within these separate structures called organizations. This relates to what scholars call an informational view of communication, because communication is all about transmitting information throughout the “container” of the organization, and “ineffective communication” or “communication breakdowns” are seen as technical problems (Koschmann, 2012).

Ogbulogo (2004) stated that it has been strongly speculated that more than 80% of the Executive time is spent on communication within and outside the organisation. Communication is employed for task co-ordination, problem solving, and information sharing and conflict resolution.  It has also been pointed out that any movement from the bottom to the top requires a great ability to reach others through the spoken or written word.  Indeed, the further one moves away from manual job, the greater the need to convey thoughts, desires and attitudes in language.  Thus, one of the most desire skills for the efficient executive is the ability for self expression. The Executive, according to Ogbulogo, must be able to speak and write clearly forcefully to be able to obtain maximum results.  He should be able to inculcate in his subordinates the skills for effective communication and a desire for feedback.  The Executive should be able to evaluate a great deal of articles, letters, proposals, reports and presentations for his organisation and prospective clients. Communication is essential for the survival of any human system. Effective communication evidently determines the success or failure of the organizational goals and objectives. For any organization to achieve optimum output, its communication must be effective and dynamic. The organization must strengthen its communication network for better participatory decision making, develop more open interaction among the employees and create mutual confidence among workers, because the effectiveness of any superior manager depends largely on how well he communicates and relates with the subordinates and even his peers in the organization. Communication as a process is the transmission of messages from a source to a receiver.

Every organisation has a life. It passes through the normal life cycle-birth, growth and decline and perhaps “death”. Through the process of effective communication in management, the life of an organisation can be prolonged indefinitely. Therefore, communication in the right direction and at the right time is of tremendous importance to all existing organisations. Organization sets itself specific objectives in order to meet the better business success, and to gain comparative advantage over the competitor. For these objectives to be achieved, of crucial importance is organizational communication per se which implies communication among employees, as well as communication between different hierarchic levels in the same organization.

Business communication is usually divided to the one within the organization, and the one outside the organization. Communication is the process of conveying the message from one person to the other (Weick and Browing, 1986) cited in Turkalj and Fosić (n.d), however it is very important that the receiver of the information understands the content and the meaning of the message. The function of communication in the organisation is to connect the employees of that organisation in order to reach mutual goals.

THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANISATIONS

Communication in organisation is meant to inform, teach or explain, transact, reassuring, convince and persuade. Communicating to inform is aimed at changing understanding of situation and at making people aware of new development and relationship. It is the act of announcing, revealing, notifying, reporting and conveying Ogbulogo (2004).  This can be communicated by mass media via adverts. Communicating to teach is aimed at influencing behaviour in a permanent form.  In this case, the message should be clear, concise and logical by employing simple words and short sentences.

In communicating to transact, there are legal implications as in agreements, contracts, receipts and confirmations. When communication is used for transaction, there is the need to avoid misinterpretation and misrepresentation. Avoidance of legal jargon, correct spelling of words, dating every page, indicating stakeholders et cetera are measures to be taken to avoid misinterpretation. Misinterpretation can also be avoided by specifying functions, avoiding abbreviations, indicating the relevant law guiding the transaction and stating action standards. Communicating to reassure is meant to allay fears.  It should be clear, honest and down-to-earth.  In addition, the support of the third party evidence is necessary. Persuasive communication is used in advertising, motivating employees, convincing clients and customers, selling, ensuring social responsibility and guaranting peaceful work environment. A great deal of business communication hinges on persuasive communication.

INTERACTION FORMATS IN ORGANISATIONS

Interaction format in organisation simply means the plan, design or arrangement of communication flow within organisations. Communication format in the organisation can be grouped into different categories depending on the structure, objectives, location, size, and members that make up the organization. Communication format in the organisation can be formal and informal, intra, inter, open, closed, verbal, non-verbal, vertical and horizontal depending on the policy of the organization. Internal communicational flow/format in the organisation can be classified as: upward communication, downward and horizontal communication. In addition, interaction format in organization can also be grouped according to communication network, a communication network is made up of all the routes through which information, messages pass through in organizations, according to (Ogbulogo, 2004), these networks are: The circular network, the chain network, the “y” network and the star network.

Formal Communication in Organizations

This kind of communication format is a systematic and formal process of information transmission in spoken and written form planned in advance, and adjusted with the needs of the organisation. While informal communication does not follow the line determined in advance, but there is an undisturbed communication between particular groups within the organisation. In organization, formal communication follows the chain of command. Communication flow from top executives to subordinates to operative employees in what is commonly called downward communication. It is the management that provides the channel through which communication flows downward and upward. Both in the upward and downward communication, the management are involved for it creates the favourable climate for free flow of ideas and information (Daramola, 2012).

Downward communication flows from the higher to the lower levels in the organisation. It is characteristic for giving orders, broadening of ideas and communicational knowledge. It takes up a lot of time, but its most common problem is the loss or denying of information on the path through the chain of command; very often there is misunderstanding of the directions, therefore backward connection has to be established in order to confirm the transmission of correct and full information. Weihrich and Koontz (2012) term the horizontal and diagonal flow of information aside ward communication, because of their generic joint features. Fox (2001) cited in Turkalj and Fosić (n.d) stated that communication in the organisation represents a complex system of the flow of information, orders, wishes and references made out of two partially complementary systems.

The Major Channels Used in Downward Communication in Organizations Include:

• Chain of command
• Company periodicals
• Posters and bulletin boards
• News flash
• Letters
• Memos
• Employee handbooks and pamphlets
• Annual reports
• The organization grapevine
• Intercom system and loud speaker
• The labour union
• Social media such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Email etc.

It is the function of management to select the channels best suited for the transmission of intended message(s)/information.

Upward communication is the type of communication that goes up the official hierarchy, from the lower to the higher level within an organisation. Information goes from the subordinates to the superiors. It is mostly used for sending information associated with the proposals system, employees’ opinion, work insight, attitudes and problems of the employees. It is important to secure the freedom of communicating (undisturbed information flow) since the main drawback of the upward communication is message filtering. Upward communication which deals with communication from subordinates to the superior should be kept open to encourage subordinates to use them. Some of the channels for upward communication are:

• Chain of command
• The grievance procedure
• Moral questionnaires
• Exit interview
• Labour unions
• Counseling
• An open door policy
• The organization grapevine
• Social media such as Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Email etc.

Upward communication is very necessary in order to promote good human relations. It is through this means that management keeps an eye on the feelings of employees and takes appropriate action to correct what could otherwise lead to costly labour management dispute. Employees who believe that management maintains a policy tend to have feeling of belonging and of being appreciated. Daramola (2012) opined that where the stated scenario is not the case, employees believe that they are mere members, or a cost of production. And that they often seek for the opportunity to give vent to their pent-up emotion by frequent complains thus promoting labour management conflicts.

Horizontal Communication: In organization, there is communication among people on the same rank in the organizational hierarchy. Horizontal communication appears among people of the same status within a department or among different working units, whereas the diagonal communication appears among people of the different status who are not formally connected in the organisational communication system. This communication is very important if work processes are to be facilitated. In some instances there is more interaction between people on the same level in the organization than there is between them and their immediate boss especially in a decentralized organization. Horizontal communication can occur between members of an organization of the same rank. It includes communication between members of the same division of an organization, for example Vice Chancellor’s office can call on all the deans to meet the VC for an emergency meeting. Horizontal communication is that which flows across and between departments at one or less the same management level. The system operates through internal communication channels such as internal telephone, memoranda or face-to-face communication.

The purpose of this is to achieve the following:

• Task coordination
• Problem solving
• Information sharing
• Conflict resolution
• Building rapport

Informal Communication in Organizations

Informal communication takes place when there is no strict or fixed rule in packaging the information. Informal communication occurs as a conversation when two or more people meet in a social gathering to discuss subject of personal or business nature (Daramola, 2012). Much information take place over the meal tables at canteen lunch, work lunch or social occasions. Any type of social gathering can be a vehicle for informal communication. Such occasions which are also a channel for grapevine can offer a manager the opportunity to acquire information about the way workers are thinking and as to their feelings, attitudes and grievances.  Unlike formal relationships, informal communication networks consist of interaction patterns that are not designed by management. That is, this does not follow the line determined in advance, but there is an undisturbed communication between particular groups within the organisation. Kraut, R. E., Fish, R. S., Root, W. R. & Chalfonte, B. L. (2002) argued that informal communication, generally mediated by physical proximity, is crucial for coordination to occur. Informal communication is frequent in organizations, it aids organizational members in learning about each other and their work, it supports both production work and the social relations that underlie it, and it provides a critical facility that collaborators rely on to start joint work, maintain it, and drive it to conclusion. Without informal communication, much collaboration would undoubtedly not occur and others would break up before becoming successful.

Theorists have long recognized that organizations make use of communication methods varying in formality that they deploy these different methods for tasks varying in uncertainty, and that matching the informality of the methods with the uncertainty of the task leads to better organizational outcomes. At both the organizational and the small group level, the coordination of activity is the production-oriented task that has been examined in most detail. Coordination is the activity of directing individuals' efforts towards achieving common and explicitly recognized goals (Blau & Scott, 1962) cited in Kraut et. al. (2002). They stated that coordination means to link together different parts of an organization to accomplish a collective set of tasks. Explicit coordination is indispensable in part because individuals within an organization have only partially overlapping goals. Thus, one of the aims of coordination is to insure that the disparate individuals come to share the same goals. But even if this aim was achieved, and their goals were identical, the input-output dependencies among individuals require that their efforts be sequenced and interrelated efficiently.

The coordination mechanisms used by organizations differ in their degree of formality. That is, in their degree of pre-specification, conventionality, and rule-boundedness. At the formal end of the dimension, coordination is accomplished by adherence to common rules, regulations, and standard operating procedures, through pre-established plans, schedules, and forecasts, and through memos, management information reports, and other standardized communications. These formal coordination mechanisms have in common communication that is specified in advance, is unidirectional, and is relatively impoverished. Informal communication is a loosely defined concept and is often treated as the residual category in organizational theory. According to this perspective, informal communication is that which remains when rules and hierarchies, as ways of coordinating activities, are eliminated. More positively, informal communication is communication that is spontaneous, interactive and rich, Kraut et. al. (2002) added.

At the heart of informal communication is its impromptu nature. Conversations take place at the time, with the participants, and about the topics at hand. In informal communication, the timing, participants and agenda are not scheduled in advance. Moreover, during its course the communication changes to take into account the participants' current interests and understandings. In this sense, informal communication is truly interactive, with all participants in the communication being able to respond to what they perceive to be the current state of affairs, including the communication up until that point and their perception of the other participants' reactions to it. Through this feedback mechanism, informal communication can be more effective than formal channels, as participants in the conversations elaborate or modify what they have to say in order to deal with someone else's objections, misunderstandings or current challenges.

Most of the work that people do in organizations requires some degree of active cooperation and communication with others. This is true of routine clerical work; it is equally true of creative work, like scientific research or engineering development. Indeed, in some scientific fields over 65% of publications are jointly authored (Over, 1982) cited in Kraut et. al. (2002), and most research projects, regardless of authorship, require support staffs of clerks, research assistants, or technicians. Individual members of groups need to communicate with each other to accomplish their production and social functions, and within organizations, groups need to communicate with other groups. The communication they use is both formal and informal.

In most places of work, informal communication seems to be a dominant activity. People read at their desks but are interrupted by phone calls. They leave to attend a department meeting but stop on the way to discuss a matter with a colleague. To answer questions about office procedure, they call to the person at the next desk rather than consult the appropriate manual. The conversations seem fluid and undesigned and yet, clearly, work is being accomplished. In looking at the contrast between formal and informal communication, it occurred to us that the more spontaneous and informal communications was, the less well it was supported by communication technology.

Dyadic communication in Organizations

This is a subset of interpersonal communication. It involves two or more people engaging in interaction. Format of communication in organization can take dyadic format and this can occur between employer and applicant or employee. It helps for information seeking and clarification. In this form of communication, feedback is immediate. The feedback allows the communicator to ascertain whether the source is effective or not.

Group communication in Organizations

Groups exist in our homes, schools, work environments, markets, churches etc.  Each group has its characteristics, aspirations and problems.  Group communication is usually in the form of meetings, discussions, conferences, symposia, workshops and lectures (Ogbulogo, 2004).    Group communication can also be a subset of interpersonal communication. A group consists of five or more persons who come together to design or by accident/emergency for a particular purpose. Group communication can occur within an organization. Groups are formed or set up usually because the combined efforts of a number of people results in greater output than the individual efforts of the same number of people. Members of such group engage in group communication by exchanging ideas, experiences, thoughts, information, and messages. Example of such group in an educational organization can be examination malpractice committee, project committee, Senate committee, study group among others. Group communication is for members of an organisation. Both are effective in business and social relationships. There is immediate feedback to communication that takes place among the group members.

Public Communication in Organizations

Public communication is public speaking or oral presentation of information, address or lecture by a person to a relatively large audience in a public setting such as lecture hall, auditorium, and open rally (political rally, religious crusade).The audience is large but are within the same vicinity. It is a form of interpersonal communication. In this situation the speaker may require a microphone fitted to a public address system for the audience to hear him (Daramola, 2012). For example, political party is an organization, therefore public communication/public speaking  is  an  integral  part  of  any political party activities/democracy, and  it  remains  one  of  the  more  commonly  understood  venues  where  people  deliver  remarks  to  audiences.  Speeches, campaign events, presidential addresses, and a countless of other situations provide politicians with opportunities to speak to audiences.  The political arena is not the only one where public speaking skills are a necessity.

In  the  private  sector,  where  companies  seek  to  convince  consumers  to  purchase  their  goods  or  services,  representatives  are  often  called  upon  to  deliver  presentations  designed  to  facilitate sales. Corporate  executives  also  address  their  employees  and  investors  periodically  to  inform  them  about  the  state  of  the  company’s  finances  and  what  the  goals  are  for  the  coming  quarter or year. Today in  business,  these  modes  of  interaction  involving  speech  have  been  influenced  greatly  in  recent  years  by  the  development  of  electronic  media such as Skype, IMO, Prezi, and even something as simple as conference calling. 

The importance of speech is not limited to politics and business but even extends to human personal lives. Public communication is an essential part of everyday life and business interaction.  More than ever, traditional and new forms of media are being used by individuals, groups, and organizations to disseminate information to the public, and influence judgments, perceptions, values, and actions. An understanding of media use, processes and effects is critical for success in a competitive marketplace.

Format of Interaction in Organisation can also be grouped into: Oral, Written and Nonverbal Form.

Oral Communication – the spoken word is the main code of the communication. Formal discussions and informal rumours are some of the forms of oral communication. Usual channels of oral communication are phone, video, and face-to-face conversations. There are some advantages of oral communication over other forms of communication, namely the speed of conveying the information and feedback. The disadvantage, however, is the possibility of distorting the original message. In the business world oral communication plays a great role in the life of organisations.

Written Communication – compared to the oral communication it is tangible whereby it is much easier to verify the data. One of its disadvantaged is that it takes up more time compared to the oral communication and there is not a direct feedback. The written form of the communication is attached to some sort of technology which enables us to convey the information.

Written communication should be used when a message that does not require interaction needs to be communicated to an employee or group. Policies, letters, memos, manuals, notices and announcements are all messages that work well for this channel. Recipients may follow up through an electronic or face-to-face channel if questions arise about a written message.

 Non-Verbal Communication: This type of communication is without speech or word of mouth. It means communicating with whole or part of our body through well chosen, agreed or universally acceptable sign, behavioural cues, silence, facial expression, gesturing, tone of the voice; look and appearance, the way we sit, our dance directions, a sigh. All these are some of the elements of non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication implies all intentional and accidental meanings which have no form of a written or spoken word. Non-verbal form of the communication is often neglected compared to the other forms of communication. Important advantages of non-verbal communication are that it supports other forms of communication; whereas the disadvantage is that the recipient may misconceive the message and consequently misinterpret it (Daramola, 2012).

Body language has undergone a lot of refinement over the years so much that complete sign language has been evolved for the use of the deaf and dumb. Similarly, in radio and television studios, sign language rather than words are used to guide the artistes particularly when the programme is on air. Sign language is also used in factories where the sounds of heavy equipment hinder verbal communication. Information can silently be passed through these means because people can read meaning into actions and people’s basic actions can be interpreted. Non-verbal communication includes diagrams, statistical tables, map, number and pictures among others. Each sign has symbolic meaning for different people at varying occasions (Daramola, 2012).

      

Organisational communication networks portray how communication flows in organisation.  Communication is an organisation occurs in certain recurring patterns, regardless of the type of communication that takes place.  The set of pathways through which information flows within a group or organisation is called a communication network.

Communication is good or effective when members of an organisation share information with each other and all parties involved are relatively clear about what this information means.  Communication is ineffective when people either do not receive the information they need or are not quite sure or clear what the information they do receive means.

Bureaucracy is the centralization of administration through hierarchy. The organisation is being governed by norms and sets of rules, which need to be enforced.  Supervision and control are of utmost importance for its success. Those who are to supervise and enforce these rules need formal right to require obedience and compliance by the employees.  Even if you know that something is to be done, the formal order from the superior officer(s) is necessary in order not to flout the laid down rules and regulations. In this type of formal organisation lines of authority and communication flow downwards while the feedback flows upward.  A superior executive who delegate authority to his subordinate must be prepared to accept responsibility for the outcome that are likely to follow his instructions.  Equally, a staff that accepts authority to carry out a task should be ready to account for his performance on the allocated task.

The provision of channels of communication through which subordinates could employ to communicate upward can help to discover clashes of interests, reconcile conflicts, and coordinate efforts.  Some of these channels are labour union, committees, et cetera, that meet with the management periodically.

In the personnel management by Edulcin (n.d), he stated that having procured, developed, compensated and integrated employees for the organisation, one must now face the task of maintaining the effective work force that has been assembled.  Two major features of this work force must be specifically maintained: these are attitudes and physical condition.  The number of factors affecting the development and maintenance of employee is limitless, but verbal and nonverbal communication processes are involved in all cases.

Sometimes communication flows around issues, goals, projects and challenges rather than upward and downward from one formal reporting relationship to another.  The found about flow ensures that members of the organization have access to the information they need to perform their jobs.  This does not mean that the organisation chart is abandoned.  But the most important thing is to wait for order from the superior officer before embarking on action.

Within an organisation, many communication signals will be sent through formally designated channels.  Traditional management is noted for insisting that channels be followed in order that work can be coordinated and unity of command preserved. Behaviourists such as McGregor and Arguris recommended less structuring in communication.  All personnel are deemed to be capable and responsible, and greater participation in management decision making should be sought.  Communication does not just flow from top-down in ideal organisation, managers at all levels listen to subordinates and often make changes based of their subordinate recommendation.

In nutshell, structuring communication flow will lead to the efficiency desired by traditional managers. However, less structuring will lead to greater individual job satisfaction and enhances flow of information within an organisation.  Subjects in the experiment expressed greater interest and enjoyed the process more under conditions of free interchange. 

In addition, where there was less structure, there tended to be more ideas, and suggestions of an innovative type, a finding that has been emphasized by behaviourists. Thus some control of communication is essential to efficiency through division of work, coordination of efforts, and reservation of unity of direction.  However, the resulting regimentation is somewhat detrimental to morale and employee satisfaction and also represses a tendency towards innovation.

New Media and Organizational Communication

This is extra-personal communication or machine to machine communication. It has been popularized by the emergence and sustained use of computers automation and robotics. New media is an electronic means of mass communication that is interactive and integrates computers with multimedia. The world of information technology has revolutionized the entire system of sending message from one place to another. Information Technology (IT) development progress of the past three decades has made it possible to put at everyone’s finger tips all the information accumulated in the world since man learned to write.

 The new media have the capacity to combine and process spoken, written, video, pictures, diagrams, signs and all type of message forms on the same platform and can be sent at the same time to the target audience or recipients at any point in time across the globe. The term new media simply implies that the media (internet, mobile phone,) were the last media that emerged (Ogedengbe et. al, 2010). They defined new media as interactive forms of communication that use the internet, including podcasts, RSS feeds, social networks, text messaging, blogs, wikis, virtual worlds and more. They stressed further that new media make it possible for anyone to create, modify, and share content and share it with others, using relatively simple tools that are often free or inexpensive.  New media require a computer or mobile device with internet access.

The new information technology has transformed the mode of business transaction the world over. The speed at which information moves across the globe is incredible. The network of information can process large amount of data within a seconds.  There are software packages that assist in processing of more complex data within the twinkle of an eye. A manager that dreams success needs to update his knowledge on the use of information technology.

For some companies and individuals professionals, the internet is used for the bulk or all of their advertising. Mostly people choose internet to transact their business because there are opportunities to reach a large number of surfers, in a variety of ways, for free or for very reasonable rates. There have been substantial growths in electronic commerce since the commercialization of the internet in the 1990’s. Websites represent a low-cost option that consumers can access anytime when needing to purchase goods or services. Organizations use Internet advertising to reach new markets and customers through carefully placed web banners or ads. Business technology allows companies to outsource business function to other businesses in the national and international business environment.

 Holmes (2004) opined that communicating in the world of the IT word starts with a battle between human and the machines.  To win the battle, human must accomplish two objectives.  He must be sure the message gets through the machine, second, effectively reach the mind of the party at other end. In the world of the IT word, it is easy to get lost in detail and forget that there are real people at both ends of the chain. Humans must ultimately make the final decision.  Human beings should never let numbers or machines make decisions.

Today organisations can connect and communicate with those in foreign countries with the click of a mouse. Decades ago, it would have taken months or years to find an inroad with a foreign partner or associate. Today, it is possible to build a business with someone in another country in a matter of weeks or even days. There is no question that technology has radically changed the way organizations communicate, do business, extend their influence in the global marketplace and improve the quality and efficiency of their day-to-day operations. In the area of business communications, has already become firmly established. Communication technology such as Computer-mediated communications have revolutionized the way that people stay in touch and the way that companies conduct business. Today, most of the major companies in around the world maintain their own data and personal communication networks so that all departments can communicate effectively and efficiently by electronic means. One aspect of increasing importance in these systems is the use of electronic mail, computer conferencing, and increasingly, computer-supported collaborative work between individuals or groups who may be scattered in different regions of a country or even different continents. The "globalization" of business communication has become necessary for businesses and organizations to stay competitive.

Business technology has revolutionized the way companies conduct business. With the help of communication technology, small businesses can implement business technology and level the playing field with larger organizations. Small businesses use computers, servers, websites and personal digital products to develop competitive advantages in the economic marketplace.

Business technology can help small businesses improve their communication processes. Emails, texting, websites and personal digital products applications, known as “apps," can help companies improve communication with consumers. Using several types of information technology communication methods allow companies to saturate the economic market with their message. Companies may also receive more consumer feedback through these electronic communication methods. These methods also allow companies to reach consumers through mobile devices in a real-time format.

Organizations use technology to create secure environments for maintaining sensitive business or consumer information. Many types of business technology or software programs are user-friendly. This allows business owners with a minor background in information technology to use computer hardware and software. Some of the channels provided by new media are:

Mobile

A mobile communication channel is used when a private or more complex message needs to be relayed to an individual or small group. A mobile channel allows for an interactive exchange and gives the recipient the added benefit of interpreting the speaker's tone along with the message. Some within an organization may opt to use this channel versus a face-to-face channel to save on the time and effort it would take to coordinate a face-to-face meeting.

Electronic

Electronic communication channels encompass email, teleconferencing, computer conferencing, Internet, intranet and social media platforms. This channel can be used for one-on-one, group or mass communication. It is a less personal method of communication but more efficient. When using this channel, care must be taken to craft messages with clarity and to avoid the use of sarcasm and innuendo unless the message specifically calls for it.

Broadcast Media

TV, radio and loud speakers all fall within the broadcast media communication channel. These types of media should be used when addressing a mass audience. Businesses seeking to notify customers of a new product may advertise or do promotions using a broadcast channel. Similarly, a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) may do a global company address by having a television feed broadcast across global sites. When a message intended for a mass audience can be enhanced by being presented in a visual or auditory format, a broadcast channel should be used.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

A good quality of a manager expected in organization is the ability to communicate effectively. To be “Effective’’ simply means to be able to produce desired result. Effective communication is possible when there is an established relationship between the manager and the employee. Therefore, effective communication implies getting result after information has been disseminated. The teacher should be able to communicate his/her knowledge to his/her students. It is a means whereby students and teachers in classroom exchange information regarding the teaching and learning process to achieve educational objectives and managing the communication process require attention to the media of communication and the personal interrelationships of employees in the organization Andabai, P. W., Basuo, B. K. and Eke, G. J. (2011). This means that effective communication produces understanding, mutual trust and good relationship between the parties involved in the communication process. The reception given by the receiver to the idea transmitted will engender a corresponding action expected by the sender. Until a manager makes his instruction/message simple, clear and straight forward, there will always be an obstruction in his message. Effective communication between manager and employees leads to efficiency. Effective communication and enables contact with people around us and people living far away. This is so because in this age of computer-mediated communication. Holmes (2004) stated that:

“Messages should be conveyed in terms that help receiver. If a sales manager informed his salesman that his target had been raised, he would likely to receive a worse response than if he gave the salesman the view that there was a possibility for him to make more money.’’

In large organisation, many activities take place. To keep up with the changes and the information explosion; and to ensure that instructions are clear and that there is an understanding of why things happen, there is the need for effective communication. Communication can be viewed as being basically a matter of empathy and perception. Empathy, McPherson of Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, explained, is an attempt to use one’s imagination to understand how another feels.  It involves a mental projection of oneself into the world of other people.

Communication is deemed to be effective if the result for which it is intended are achieved.  The results could be to pass information, to share an idea, to express a feeling with the overall aim of getting the recipient to react in an expected way. Ogbulogo (2004) stated that to achieve this, there are a number of principles that should be followed.  These are Grecian cooperative principle of human communications.  These principles have a number of conversation maxims.

Quantity – Provide the right quantity of information, i.e.

(i)                  Make your contribution informative enough;

(ii)               Do not make your contribution more information than necessary.

Quality - Make your contribution true, i.e.

(i)                  Do not say what you believe is not true;

(ii)               Do not say that for which you lack evidence.

Relation - Be relevant

Manner - Be perspicuous, i.e

(i)                  Avoid obscurity of expression;

(ii)               Avoid ambiguity.

For communication to achieve its purpose, it must be simple, concise, sincere and courteous.

Simplicity – the message must be presented in very simple language;

Conciseness -              The message must be brief and straight to the point;

                                    There is no room for irrelevant details and pleasantries.

Courtesy - The audience must be accorded some respect and their feelings appealed to;

Sincere - Saying what you really think or feel.

Akinfeleye, a professor at the University of Lagos, stated that to communicate effectively is to say what you mean and mean what you say.

In addition to clarity, simplicity, sincerity, conciseness and courtesy; effective communication can be facilitated by:

·         Thinking thoroughly about the message

·         Analyzing the audience to ascertain what will be appropriate to them;

·         Planning the message to ensure proper understanding and

·         Choosing proper words, code, symbols, structures and sentences to match the experience of the audience.

Effective communication according to Rozell et. al. (1988), is the process (verbal or non verbal) of an agape relationship which enables two or more persons to experience each other in truth and in love and the spiritual, psychological, and physical levels of life. It involves the total person in the sharing of feelings, thoughts and decisions. According to them, the characteristics of effective communication are that message and information must be simple, realistic, and learned. With these characteristics, managers and subordinates would not avoid talking about things as they really area. They would not say one thing and do something else in their relationship. They would accept responsibility for what they say and they would be ready to share needs, feelings, experiences and trust. Effective communication demands practice. It can be learnt by listening actively to the content and feeling of a message.

Effective communication might not be a panacea for all the conflicting values between management and non-management personnel, but it is an important means for increasing workflow and efficiency. It helps to raise productivity and better understanding among staff.

Communication is emotive if the aim is to sensitize the audience into action by the use of words. The message is persuasive and action packed. Most leaders have been found to communicate emotively since they want their followers to act as they want.

While the supportive communication conveys the message of fellow feelings, supportive communicators are sensitive to the feelings of those with whom they are communicating.  Such communicators cut the image of simple and common people.  The aim is to make the audience feel relaxed.

For authoritative, assertive and demanding superiors, communication is usually directive, there no opinions. The word of the directive communicator is law. The communication by sensitive office holders is usually reflective. Every bit of the communication is carefully thought out and weighed before it is expressed.

Barriers to Effective Communication in Organizations

Barriers to communication in organisation are not different from hindrances to communication in everyday life of individuals. There are certain barriers which stand on the way of a free exchange of communication between managers and employees. Communication barriers in this study could be defined as hindrances that inhibit exchange of information, ideas and any other form of data between the managers and employees in an organisation.

Onasanya (1998) stated in his ‘Effective Personnel Management and Industrials’ that there are a great number of obstacles that affect the accuracy of communication – the qualities and feelings, mood of the parties to a communication, extraneous influences competing for attention and time not the parties. The most important determinant of the quality of communication is, however, the sender himself.   He can make the message explicit and can blur the understanding of the listener depending upon his mood and feelings.  According to Onasanya, many obstacles can impede good communication such as vested interest, unwillingness to communicate, personal emotion, suspicion and so on.

Onasanya stressed further that:

 “Clique exists in offices to safeguard self interests at the expense of the organisation.  Such cliques form the habit of suppressing information, hoarding jobs and papers to create communication gap between junior and senior staff.  Sometimes cliques of selfish officers at the expense of the organisation deliberately withhold directives, suggestions and reports that are necessary for quick implementation of some programs.  Prejudices and personal conviction becloud communication especially where one person has prejudice against the other.  Such prejudices always becloud information passed between both of them so that the listener reacts differently.  On few occasion this happens among junior and senior staff and this can make it difficult for the junior officers to know the next line of action.’’

Noise is a specialized term for all forms of obstacles that inhibit the effectiveness of communication.  It reduces the quality and quantity of what is communicated.  Noise may be physical, psychological or linguistic.

Noise from microphone, market noise, distracting conversations, unorganized sounds from meeting, undesirable sound from engine, barking of dog et cetera are good examples of physical noise.  Noise of whatever form hinder effective communication within group and in organisation.

Psychological noise originates from human attitudes, emotion and abilities. For instance, suspicion is a major barrier to communication in organisation.  It can emanate from any section of the set up.  In term of industrial crisis, labour leaders may have preconceived ideas about management representatives and may refuse to believe anything they tell them.  Equally management may regard any grievance raised by labour leaders as political maneuvers to win union votes.  This also affects supervisor workers relations.

Inattention is another hindrance to effective communication in organization.  In attention on the part of any party to communication process reduces assimilation and distant messages.

Strained relationship is a psychological noise that frustrates communication process. It makes the listener indifferent to the speaker and vice-versa, thereby giving the message a different meaning and consequently, a negative reaction.  This occurs in organisation among staff and reduces the outcome of team work, and general productivity.

Anger, frustration, hatred and poor interpersonal relationship, suspicion are aspects of psychological barriers.  It occurs in form of depression, fatigue, poor mental attitudes and general emotional stress.

Barrier to effective communication can also be linguistics.  This occurs with misapplication of language in communication. Linguistic noise could be grammatical, phonological or semantic. When there is fault in sentence construction, it is referred to as grammatical noise.  This can also occur when there is misapplication of grammatical rules or the misuse of punctuation marks.  Poor pronunciation, wrong intonation, stress placement and unfamiliar accent are the elements of phonological noise.

Organisational communication can be effective with minimum noise when the encoders (senders) of message(s) lay more emphasis or repeat the major contents of their codes (messages for better understanding of the receivers (decoder). The sender can also use illustrations and Examples to clarify his message(s) to the receivers.

Forms of Barriers in Organizational Communication

There are many forms of barrier in communication.  Barrier can be in the following forms:

(a)     The message

(b)   Failure to transmit the message

(c)    Failure to receive the message

(d)   Failure to interpret the message correctly

(e)    Failure to select appropriate codes-words, actions, image or illustrations

(a)     The message itself can be a barrier if it is not complete.  An incomplete message remains vague or confused to the receivers.  Senders sometimes do not adequately plan or think through their messages.

(b)   Failure to transmit the message.  According to Marshall McLuhan, medium is the message. This can be interpreted to mean that appropriate choice of channel to disseminate information enhances the understanding of the message by the audience.

There are certain bits of information that are better transmitted by words of the mouth or in spoken form than in written form and vice-versa.  Senders of messages need to carry out audience analysis and choose the right channel to transmit their messages.  Transmission of messages can break down if there is break down in computer or internet system, facility phone or the phone lines engaged inadequate address on letters e.t.c.

(c)    Failure to receive the message:  The channel used by the sender to transmit the message might not applicable or available to the receiver.  The receiver may not get the message due to psychological reasons such as being occupied with thinking, worrying or engaging in other thing when the message is being passed across.  There are factors that are responsible for recipient failure to get the message.  It can be as a result of family problem, work overload, the fear of a boss that is harsh, pressures from environment such as friends or co-workers etc.

(d)    Failure to interpret (decode) the message correctly: According to Akinfeleye, Mass Communication is making things of common knowledge.  That is, communication is about sharing and exchange of information, ideas and knowledge.  Therefore, for better understanding of a bit of message the sender and receiver must have common understanding of the codes or words used to convey the message.

The message may not be interpreted correctly if the encoder/sender and decoder/receiver do not have common understanding of the codes.  If the terms or language is beyond the comprehension of the receiver there is bound to be misinterpretation of the message.  The sender needs to put himself in the position or level of the audience or receiver and decide what language to employ in passing message to employ in passing messages.  Too technical terminologies in messages can confuse the receiver.

(e)     Failure to select appropriate codes words, actions, images or illustrations:  Audience is the language. Any message that is not packaged and delivered in language or codes that is conform with the level of the audience is bound to fail. Hence audience analysis is required before disseminating information.  Every context requires specific codes, words, action, images and illustration.  There are platform that requires formal language, while informal language is appropriate for others.  Some words are vulgar, while others are decent.  Audience and occasion are paramount in determination of appropriate language to be used in communication.

In organisation, managers are to communicate in language that is better understood by their audience.  Many operation and programmes of private and public policies have failed in Nigeria due to choice of inappropriate words in dissemination of information.

The Follow Results Occur When Communication is Successful:

(a)     People or staff feel satisfied

(b)   Workers are motivated

(c)    Workers show understanding.

(d)   Followers trust and respect their leaders.

(e)    Workers feel empowered

(f)    Workers work as a team

(g)   Workers perform their duties well and as expected

(h)   Workers listen and take instruction as required

(i)     Workers are happy to work, save time and achieve stated objectives

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS IN ORGANIZATION COMMUNICATION

The main focus of audience analysis is to find out something about the recipient of the message of communication. Thorough analyses of the recipient of a particular message would surely assist the encoder (sender) to plan his message in such a way that the message is received and understood as expected by the sender. There is the need for sender of a message to have knowledge of the audience or the receivers of the message such as the recipient level of knowledge, education, language, emotion, the environment, personality trait, sex, age, the time of the message et cetera.

Analyzing the audience may require the sender to put himself in the shoe of the receiver. The sender of the message needs to ask himself questions and meditate on the composition, environmental atmosphere and the knowledge of the audience. Another factor that may enhance the message understanding by the audience is the relationship between the sender and the receiver. In organisation communication, the audience could be internal or external or both.  The internal audience includes employees, committees, management and Directors.  The external audience comprises customers, media, shareholders, community, government, financial institutions, regulatory bodies and general public.

Success in communicating with a specific audience depends on how well the characteristic of the group is understood. Directors and members of the management are ever too busy and interested in leadership and control. Many of them may not be as knowledgeable as the actual operators.  Messages intended for them should be prioritized, short, plain and set in bullet points.  Such messages should carry practical solutions and suggestions (Ogbulogo, 2004). For employees and subordinates, the message should be reassuring, motivating forthcoming, persuasive and unambiguous in language.  Messages meant for clients and customers should be respectful, persuasive and straight to the point.

The message for general public should be open, accessible and friendly. It is very important to open opportunity for feedback for all categories of audience in order to access the level of understanding of messages by the audience. Credibility of the source and the sender of a message are very important for the acceptability and understanding of the message.  He added that credibility is something the speaker possess and not something given to the speaker by the audience. Communication is seen as a two-way process involving a dynamic interplay of an active sender and receiver. This is very useful in conflict situations. To be effective in communication and administration, a manager must bring about a desired result Clampitt (1991). The critical question is: What are the desired results?  Indeed, manager’s responses to the effectiveness issue according to Clampitt (1991) exposed their ultimate aims:

(a)     Communication effectively is actively listening to my workers, so as to know what makes them happy. This is hinged on the assumption that job satisfaction is the goal of organizational communication.

(b)   My communication is effective when I am open to my employees’ ideas and suggestion. I want them to feel included and understood me. This means that openness is useful in all circumstances. And that understanding is always more acceptable than ambiguity.

(c)    I’m effective as a manager when I am sensitive to employee’s needs and concerns.  Then I try to communicate that sensitivity to them by adapting my message to individuals.  This conveys the fact that messages are exclusively interpreted in the context of interpersonal relationship.

Clampitt (1991) stated that communication breakdown in Organizations are due to the following:

First, the most frequently cited cause of communication breakdowns for managers is that people just ‘don’t connect.’ That is people values, ideas or feelings are so dissimilar that they have difficulty in relating to one another.  Hence, huge amounts of time must be invested in reaching an understanding.

Second, managers often cite poor listening as the reason for communication difficulties.  Some managers often encourage their employees to develop active listening skills such as paraphrasing others’ remarks, giving feedback, and asking appropriate probing questions.  These skills help employees think about possible misinterpretations of their remarks as well as check for unintended messages, therefore, employees involved in a misunderstanding are frequently reminded of the Maxim ‘You cannot not communicate.’

Third, conflicts are explained in terms of ‘hidden agendas’ or unarticulated goals. Managers might seek to dissolve a tense situation with comments like ‘Are you sure you are being completely honest with us? Or you have got to share your true feelings.’ The obvious influence is that someone is hiding something or has a hidden agenda.  Managers believe that trust comes from employees revealing their true motives, which, in turn, fosters an atmosphere of open and honest communication. Only then does the manager believe that conflict can be truly resolved.

The number of communication channels available to the average manager has mushroomed over the years-personal computers, videotapes, electronic bulletin boards, internet, videotext and other social media platforms. The proliferation of communication technologies in the workplace creates the illusion of effective information dissemination that varnishes under close scrutiny.  Channels do not communicate, but people do.

Summary

The process of communication involves several elements: the sender, the message, the medium, and the recipient. It was found that communication is one of the most important processes that take place in organization.  Effective communication allows individuals, groups and organisation to achieve their goals and perform at a high level, and it affects virtually every aspect of organisational behaviour.  It is also found that communication serves four major functions in organisation: providing knowledge, motivating staff, controlling and coordinating individual efforts, and expressing feelings and emotions. Communication flows from the sender which is the source of the communication (be it an individual or a group). He sends off the message to the recipient using a particular medium. When talking about the communication within the organisation, characteristic for the medium are different. Immediate conversations, memos, printouts and schemes depending on the content and the aim of the message which the sender wants to convey to the recipient. The recipient then attempts to understand which message the sender wants to convey, although the communication process may sometimes be interrupted by a noise in the communication channel, which can impede the communication. The problem which often appears within the organisation is getting information overload which leads to a burden, so therefore it is important to take account of selecting only the relevant information.

Communication in organisation entails a number of steps, including selection of a medium, the sender’s encoding the message, decoding of the message by the receiver and the feedback.

The study also highlighted how vested interest, prejudice, suspicion, personal emotion, strain relationship, break in communication channels and absence of feedback  could result in ineffective communication and lower human resource moral which would in turn hinder achieving organisational goals and objectives.

Conclusion

The expected reward for every enterprise is profit. Therefore, managers are to communicate with employees, customers and clients in mind. This will guarantee that what is communicated is appropriate for the audience in term of contents, needs, volume and style. Greater attention should be paid to the communication as the element of organisational behaviour because of the growing changes within organisations which face the leadership with new challenges and opportunities for testing the different organizational behaviour concept modes. By identifying the level of communication satisfaction within the organisation it is possible to get an insight in to organisational forces, but simultaneously also get an insight into weak points in the area of communication within the organisation. It can also be used for making important business decisions within the organisation.

Communication media are very rich in information (the amount of information they can carry and the potential they have for enabling senders and receivers to reach a common understanding). Face-To-Face communication is the medium highest in information richness.  Verbal communication, personally addressed written communication and impersonal written communication follow it. In managing human resource for maximum productivity, constant training in communication is central. Therefore, both the private and public sectors are better off with the training of their employees in the use of communication.

Recommendations

Recent breakthrough in information technologies have given members in organisation new ways to communicate with each other. It also provides the opportunity for timely access to move information than ever before. New technologies contribute primarily to the knowledge function of communication. Organisation, however, must be careful not to let their reliance on these technologies inadvertently lead them to short-change other important functions.  Motivation and expressing feelings and emotions for example might be difficult to accomplish solely through electronic communication.

Now that the new technologies are here, organisations have to be careful not to overload members with so much information that they spend more time reading electronic mail than they do perform their jobs. Technological change requires personnel department training unit to plan in advance, a training programme in organisational communication that will facilitate and increase human resource productivity.  A successful communication training of staff is a leap forward in the direction of the organization’s development growth and effectiveness.

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