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Colbourne College
PEARSON BTEC L5 Diploma in Business
UNIT 16: Managing Communications, Knowledge And
Information
Learning outcome 3:Be able to develop communication processes
Lesson 5
This lesson is designed to meet Assessment Criteria 3.1.
Report on existing processes of communication in an organisation
General Class Instructions:
To participate in this class you will need: repertoire
1. Skype Account
2. Send your Skype contact/invitation to uscollegesandmore.org to add you
to the live class for L5 UNIT 16 2014
3. Review the lesson notes and activities posted on the course page here.
4. Follow the lesson instructions on the course page.
5. Join and participate in the live online group discussion via Skype.
(Time schedule for the live session will be sent to you before class starts.
Each live session has ten (10) students and is taught by Maxine SamuelsHunter.
Students in Group A: Live class meeting starts at 7:00 - 7:30pm
Students in Group B: Live class meeting starts at 7:30 - 8:30pm
Students in Group C: Live class meeting starts at 8:30 - 9:00pm
Topic:
Report on existing processes of communication
in an organisation
Processes of Communication in an organization
Discussion Questions:
1.
In today's world survival of organizations depends on communication between employees.
When means of communication is not proper the structure of organization collapse. In
organizations, communication structure is a series of path through which messages flow. This
channel is basically series of steps through which organization communicates with employees.
The types of organizational communication structure are
1) Formal and
2) Informal.
Through these structure employee communicates through the entire organization.
A formal communication structure uses proper channels for information to flow between
different levels of organization. The further categories in a formal communication are:
1) Downward Communication,
2) Upward Communication, and
3) Lateral Communication.
Upward is a communication from junior to senior staff that is from front line managers to
decision makers of organization. Downward is communication between senior level
management with junior level management e.g. CEO transfers its message to accounts
department head. Lateral Communication means communication between peers e.g. Head of
Marketing transfers Performance Report to Head of Accounting.
An informal communication structure uses free communication medium that are not
particularly used for organizational information. This includes communication “through the
grapevine” which is the flow of information from one employee to another without any specific
manner which in the end may distort the communication and becomes unreliable. This is
fastest but not at all a reliable means of communication and creates misunderstandings in
organization.
Other classification of organization communication is in two main heads which are
1. Interpersonal communication and
2. Impersonal communication.
Interpersonal communication is in between two people e.g. Boss and sales staff, accounts head
and finance head, salesmen and employee. Impersonal communication is also called mass
communication which is a communication between individual to a large audience e.g. CEO of
company doing speech after Annual General Meeting to employees regarding staff bonuses.
In organisations, all types of communication take place.
Effective communication is a key way of success in organizations but not every organization has
effective communication system. In order to make a communication effective different steps
can be taken as discussed below:
1. Use Multiple Channels for Organizational Communication – Main point in effective
communication is medium and using one medium for proper communication of
message is not at all safer way. This will result in loss of lots of information. So in order
to avoid this problem more then one medium must b used to ensure that message is
received by the receiver I its original form and positive acknowledgment is achieved.
These multiple effective channels include meetings, face-to-face talks, e-mail, faxes,
telephone conversations, bulletins, postings, and memos. The way is adopted to make
sure you always use multiple methods to communicate your message, and remove your
tension with 100% efficiency guaranty.
2. Make Important Messages Repetitive – Along with multiple channels, organizational
communication can b improved by sending important message again and again so that
all the employees give most efficient result.
3. Focus on Listening – Listening is a major element in one to one communication. Without
proper listening of message neither we can interprets message in its full meaning nor
give positive feedback which mean whole communication process got ruined if message
is not listened properly. The reason behind this cause is that we are not at all active
listeners. This problem can be resolve by using reflective listening skills, understanding
nonverbal cues, focusing more on communicator’s words instead of preparing message
first. The motto for this purpose must b “no more talking, just listing”.
4. Get Your Message across – After completion of message by communicator the next step
taken by the communicator is to make sure that message is communicated exactly in
the same meaning and context as he wants the audience to understand. This cans b
done by openly asking the receiver about the message and using the same words again
and again and he must satisfy only if he gets positive feedback.
5. Use of modern technologies – Using of new technologies like multimedia, email, video
conferencing etc are important ways of conveying message.
6. Handle Communication Problems – Last but not the least in order to make
communication effective at large level the organization must have such people which
quickly overcome problem that come across during communication and make
communication effective and useful for organization.
Communication is the sharing or exchange of thought by oral, written, or nonverbal means. In
order to make communication effective, managers must have communication skills to apply
their strategic plans properly. These skills include nonverbal, presentational, or written skills as
the manager communicates others, present ideas in meetings, or prepares reports or those
higher on the organizational ladder.
Different Levels of communication:
Following are the ways in which communication process can be divided into different discreet
levels.
UPWARD AND DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION
Information, the backbone of any organization, needs to flow effectively. Successful
management requires downward communication to subordinates in order to provide them all
necessary information for the achievement of all goals of organization. Upward communication
to superiors is required so that upper level management can keep an eye on all the matters of
organization and can assess work and if strategic plans are effective. This is also necessary to
see if the employees are working to expectation and if there are problems between employees
to be solved before escalation.
Horizontal communication takes place between peers. This involves people at the same level
on the organization strata for example, departmental heads so that each department knows
the condition of other department and can plan their strategies in coordination.
Getting a task done by way of delegation is just one point of the manager's job. Obtaining the
information to do that job, informing others about it and coordinating with others are also
important skills. These skills keep the organization working, and increase the visibility and
importance of the manager and the division, thus ensuring his/her position, influence and
support of employees are needed to effectively achieve the goals of the organization.
Downward communication is far ahead than passing on information to subordinates and
employees on front line. It may involve managing and soothing the tone of the message, as well
as showing skill in passing on the jobs to ensure the job is done effectively and efficiently by the
right hands.
In upward communication, tone is most important, along with timing, strategy, and audience
adaptation. Upward communication keeps managers aware of how employees feel about their
jobs, coworkers, and the organization in general. Managers also rely on upward communication
for ideas on how things can be improved.
When there is upward and downward communication then question arise that why is there
need for horizontal communication. Horizontal communication is often necessary to save time
and to facilitate subordinates. In some cases this communication is sanctioned formally. More
often, they are crated informally to short circuit the vertical hierarchy and expedite action.
Mass communication is a communication type in which a sender distributes messages to many
people simultaneously. Mass communication is the term used to describe the academic study
of the various means by which individuals and entities relay information through mass media to
large segments of the population at the same time. In mass communication, the communicator
keeps his communication in front of a mass is such easy words and sentences, which they can
understand easily. Mass is the term used to for group of people in front of whom the
communicator presents his words?
We are discussing mass communication at organization level. It may be a boss communicating
to his employees. Mass communication is common in companies operating at larger scales.
There are many issues in mass communication while handling large number of employees. It is
very difficult to handle a large number of employees with different mind filters, perception,
education level and cultures. It is not easy for a communicator to interact with the mass so
easily.
First of all there is a selection problem of an appropriate channel of media for the mass
communication. Different communication media can be used but which one is suitable depends
on the situation e.g. In a multinational organization introducing a new product and project
manager is giving presentation to all the employees starting form top management to front line
management. For such presentation a proper microphone system along with large screen
multimedia is necessary. The media you select is important for checking the effectiveness of
your message through mass communication.
The perception of employees differs from person to person in an organization. There are
different points of view to everything. Each employee translates message in his own
perception. Everyone has his/her own way of thinking and it’s not possible that everyone’s
thinking will match with each other, so mass communication has drawbacks.
Source: http://www.ukessays.com/essays/information-technology/existing-communicationprocesses-used-within-business-information-technology-essay.php#ixzz2t8mHp2Sz