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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