Received: 01-Nov-2022, Manuscript No. JEAM-23-78813; Editor assigned: 04-Nov-2022, Pre QC No. JEAM-23-78813 (PQ); Reviewed: 18-Nov-2022, QC No. JEAM-23-78813; Revised: 19-Jul-2023, Manuscript No. JEAM-23-78813 (R); Published: 16-Aug-2023, DOI: 10.15651/2465-7204.23.9.001
In today’s world, communication is an important component of organization’s activity. Because the global world has become widespread, most organizations need to meet their needs with a lower resource moral through communication. This study examines the significant relationship between communication and workers’ performance in some selected organizations in West Africa countries, Europe and Aisha countries. For the study were collected through questionnaire with sample population of 500 respondents. The result of this study reveals that a relationship exists between effective communication and workers’ performance, productivity and commitment. The study recommended that managers will need to communicate with employees regularly to improve workers commitment and performance.
Effective communication, Workers’ performance, Organizational productivity, Workers’ commitment, Communication system
This chapter gives a background to the study of communication and its effects on worker motivation and productivity. It begins with a brief background detailing the studies that have been done on communication over the last few decades. A theoretical framework is also given on which the study is anchored. Other areas given in this section are the statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, research objectives and research questions, significance of the study and definition of terms (Lee AK and Allen BJ, 2003).
Communication is widely used in running almost all organizations effectively. Effective communication is essential for any business or organization to prosper. It cuts out on wasted time and provides both customers and employees with the necessary tools to succeed and find satisfaction (Ashforth BE and Mael F, 1989). When communication is not effective, the end result is an increase in production time and a decrease in the bottom line. In order to avoid this outcome, effective communication must be in place. Consequently, communication can be defined as the “exchange of information between a sender and a receiver and the inference (perception) of meaning between the individuals involved. Analysis of this exchange reveals that communication is a two way process consisting of consecutively linked elements. Managers who understand this process can analyse their own communication patterns as well as design communication programs that fit organizations (Barge JK, 2001).
Communication is rather complex to define in a single sentence. In a glimpse, however, it has many types which include: Interpersonal communication, intrapersonal, group communication, public communication, mass communication and online or machine-assisted communication. Interpersonal communication means to interact with another person, while intrapersonal means to interact with oneself or to reason with or evaluate self. Group communication, on the other hand, is defined as the process of interacting with a limited number of others, work to share information, develop ideas, make decisions, solve problems, offer support or have fun. Mass communication, is communicating to a large number of people using media (television, newspaper, internet, radio) and finally, online or machine assisted communication deals with communicating through the use of online software that are programmed to interact with browsers or users (Gumperz JJ and Tannen D, 2009).
Communication is also categorized into two: Verbal and non-verbal. Verbal communication means the use of the spoken word when communicating, while non-verbal communication means using other mediums such as body signals, writing etc. Communication undergoes a process, which involves the information source, the transmitter, noise source, receiver and destination as shown by the communication model developed. The information source is the communicator of the information, which then uses a specific type of transmitter or medium (e.g. verbal, written, telephone, etc). The receiver receives the information, but the information can be affected by a specific noise source, which can be a distraction from anyone or anywhere. The receiver then interprets the message and finally puts the communicated message in its destination (Kempler D and Wang W, 2014).
Communication is not just important to an organization, but is an important component in everyday human life. Gamble, et al has stated that: “Communication is the core of our humanness”, and that “how we communicate with each other shapes our lives and our world”. Communicative skills help humans to reach out to one another or to confront events that challenge our flexibility, integrity, expressiveness and critical thinking skills.
From the forgoing analysis it is important to note that every managerial function and activity involves some form of direct or indirect communication. Whether planning and organizing or directing and leading, managers find themselves communicating with and through others. Managerial decisions and organizational policies are ineffective unless they are understood by those responsible for enacting them. Ineffective communication can clearly affect a company’s performance leading to a drop in its share price [7]. Moreover, effective communication is critical for employee motivation and job satisfaction. This can be backed up by a study of 274 students which revealed that student motivation was positively related to the quality of student faculty communication in the instructor’s office. Another study involving 65 savings and loan employees and 110 manufacturing employees revealed that employee satisfaction and organizational communication was positively and significantly correlated with job satisfaction and performance (Jones Elizabeth L, et al., 2004).
Royal empire organization is a big organization which has over 300 employees. This calls for a well-managed communication process in order to make the operations of the company efficient. This study intends to understand the processes of communication in Kenya seed and whether they do bring positive or negative results (Lunenburg FC, 2010).
Introduction to an Organization
An act is a direct, simple movement of force or energy, as in lifting a stool. Organization is born when more than one person coordinates to execute a work, such as one person passing bundles to another person who puts them in an order. People helping one another in work constitute an organization. A tool applied to do work, such as a crowbar that serves as a lever to lift a weight, can also be referred to as an organization. When men or materials are arranged to act in a fixed relationships that can be endlessly repeated, an organization is born and is at work. An office is such an organization.
Organizations Vary in Composition
Men, materials, rules, events, work can coordinate to become an organization. For example, all social institutions such as offices, families, schools, hospitals, shops, trade, commerce, transport, government, communication, etc. are organizations of one or another description (Abrahamson E, 1997).
• Organizations are worked through rules.
• Organization is made possible by the cooperating
attitude of men.
• Society itself is at its base an organization of sorts
and therefore it creates various organizations for its
survival and growth.
• Organization is born in a society that is conscious.
Therefore it can be said: Life progress by
consciousness and consciousness develops by
organization.
• Organizations can consist mainly of people, forces,
rules, systems or attitudes.
• Though there is a main component, it cannot come
into existence without the presence of all the other
aspects mentioned here.
• Examples of different types of organizations
What is communication?
Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing or using other mediums. It is also the successful way of conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings to others either verbally or through gestures. Communication is simply the act of conveying information from one place, person or group to another (Ahuja MK and Carley KM, 1998).
Every communication involves (at least) one sender, a message and a recipient. This may sound simple, but communication is actually a very complex subject. The transmission of the message from sender to recipient can be affected by a huge range of things. These include our emotions, the cultural situation, the medium used to communicate and even our location. The complexity is why good communication skills are considered so desirable by employers around the world: Accurate, effective and unambiguous communication is actually extremely hard.
A communication therefore has three parts: The sender, the message and the recipient. The sender ‘encodes’ the message, usually in a mixture of words and non-verbal communication. It is transmitted in some way (for example, in speech or writing) and the recipient ‘decodes’ it.
Of course, there may be more than one recipient and the complexity of communication means that each one may receive a slightly different message. Two people may read very different things into the choice of words and/or body language. It is also possible that neither of them will have quite the same understanding as the sender.
In face-to-face communication, the roles of the sender and recipient are not distinct. The two roles will pass back and forwards between two people talking. Both parties communicate with each other, even if in very subtle ways such as through eye-contact (or lack of) and general body language. In written communication, however, the sender and recipient are more distinct.
The Meaning of Communication
Communication is referred to as the exchange of ideas between two parties. It is the transferring of thought or message from one person to another so that it can be understood and acted upon. A communication is the process by which information is passed between individuals and organization by means of previously agreed symbols. These symbols must be ones that other people both recognize and accept. When one uses symbols, signs that are private to one, communication become incomprehensive to others sees communication as a process that involves all acts of trans mitting message to channels which link people to the language and symbol code that are used to communicate.
Types of Communication
There are two types of communication, which includes:
Formal communication: It is in a written form and it becomes necessary as an organization grows with increase in size and complexity becomes inevitable. Other factor in the development of formal communication is the public character, which is due to some reasons: First, it relates to the issue of accountability with written information which becomes possible for interested persons to cross check and confirm or otherwise facts which are claimed. The Second deals with the reasons why public sector administrations rely on formal communication, it compels administrators to keep to the rules of the game (Allen MW and Caillouet RH, 1994).
Informal communication: It is an oral form which usually supplements the formal one. It is observed that: Informal communication is heavily used in Japanese industry and government. The Japanese prefer face-toface contact and rarely send inter office memoranda.
Superiors spend considerable time walking the floor and talking with all levels in a relaxed atmosphere.
Factors Affecting Communication
One major factor of communication is our day-to-day activities. Without adequate communication, individuals and group would not be able to relate and interact among themselves. Communication is the vital part of human existence. As long as there is life, the human being is perpetually seeking to be understood. In an organizational, setting nothing can be achieved without communication because organizations exist to accomplish their goals. In an organization, Communication serves as instrument used for functioning, because if communication within an organization fails, the organization will definitely collapse. Likewise, without an effective communication in an organization, the organization becomes static (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Effects of poor communication in the workplace.
Theories of Communication
Theories are intellectual postulation, ideas or concept developed by scholars to explain issues. By developing these ideas scholars help us to understand the issue very well.
Among the theories are:
• One way model interaction model
• Two person relationship system model
One way model: This theory sees communication starting with the sender and ending with the receiver. Scholars who worked under this one way model are Aristotle and Harold Las well. The first person in the world to theorize communication is Aristotle, a Greek scholar. He was the first person to draw attention to the field of communication. He did so by going to the law court every day, he notices that the most persuasive lawyer always win the case. Aristotle become facilitated and brought out that, communication is all about persuasion. Harold Las well, in his own view, brings out his own theory which has five questions. They are:
• Who?
• Say what?
• In which channel?
• To whom?
• With what effect?
Las well’s theory is a little bit better than that of Aristotle but both are referring to one-way theory because it starts from the sender and ends with the receiver (clarify more on this use pictorial models).
Interaction model: This model gives additional variables to the theories of communication, which entails the following.
• Encoding
• Decoding
• Noise
Feedback: These variables have large improvement on one-way model because it is important that the sender must encode the message in order to pass it on to the receiver who decodes and gives feedback.
Two person relationships: This is a little bit better than the interaction model because it recognizes the fact that communication is an ongoing mutual relationship between the sender and the receiver. It also entails the concentric probity between the two parties in communication. It is reciprocity because it affects two parties equally.
System model: It is the most sophisticated theory of communication, it is thoroughly cyclical model it recognize all communication variable and introduces its own (Figure 2).
Figure 2. The effects of effective communication on organizational performance based on the systems.
Types of Communication Oral/Verbal Communication
Oral or verbal communication is that type of communication which occurs during talking that is one person speaks to another. In most cases, it is the most cause most effective for immediate feedback and it is frequently used for internal communications.
Written communication: This is a document of communication, because it is written down. It is common in an organization. This is always in form of formal letter, memo, bulleting, circular etc.
Internal communication: When an organization is passing information to another organization, it is called external communication. An internal communication can be oral or written. It is the type of communication that takes place between an organization and it is considered as external though it is aimed at improving the internal set-up.
Vertical communication: It occurs when communication flows from a superior officer to a junior officer in an organization. If it flows from a junior officer to a superior officer, then communication which is being sent is said to be vertical.
Horizontal communication: It occurs when communication flow among officers in an organization of the same cadre (at the centre of a political or training organization). This is commonly seen at management level.
Quasi-Vertical communication: It refers to the transfer of information from person to person or point to point. It is the generation and attribution of meaning. Generation start from the speaker who encodes the communication message in the way the receiver would understand it. He then passed the message to the best of his ability and send his feedback to the sender, the sender who receives would further shape the way he presents the remaining part of the message.
According to Oxford Learner dictionary, it defines communication “as the process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings.’’ Communication is not limit to just a given information but it entails a given form of understandable information, receiving and understanding the message involved to the point that the receiver is able to respond by the appropriate action or in action. It is the traveling or sending of information. Communication is supposed to be vertical but due to some reason or irregularities, it is jumping or skipping a stage than it is quasi- vertical.
Other forms of communication include:
• Posture
• Para-language appearance facial message
• Environmental message gesture
Postures: It refers to the way people carry themselves, so postures communication deal with how people relate with you using their body.
Para-Language: These are not language parse, but they are sound that have natural meaning once heard eg. cry, laugh, cough.
Appearance: It implies the way we appear, which speak volume about us. Likewise the ways we appear could determine the way we dress as well. eg. A lady putting on a white gown is telling everybody that she is a nurse by professions, in Africa, a black costume tells a person has lost a dear one.
Environmental message: The environment itself can also communicate to the people moving around eg. in an environment where an examination is going on, people are expected to keep their distance and be very quiet.
Gesture: This is often used to complement oral communication, it is the demonstration of what we mean (gesticulations). It is also called sign language and used to communicate with people with hearing impairment.
Instruments of Communication
The instrument of communication are means by which communication is derived or obtained with the use of telephone or handsets. This helps communication to be easily flowed to workers in an organization. Telephone or handset also makes communication snappy and effective. Letter message can be sent from the employer to their employees or from the superior to the subordinate by putting the message in black and white form (typing).
Barriers to Communication
Barriers to communication can be defined as blockages that obstruct the flow of information between senders and receivers. It leads to misunderstanding and conflict among the organizational members. Communication barriers are often symptoms of more deeply rooted problems. For instance, poor planning may be the cause of uncertainty of the organization. Thus a poorly designed organizational structure may not clearly communicate the goals and visions of that organization.
Some of the barriers are as follows: The use of jargon, emotional barriers and taboos, lack of attention, lack of interest, distraction/noise, information overloaded, perceptual and language differences, poor retention, physical disabilities such as hearing problems or speech difficulties, complexity in organizational structural and among others. These barriers in effect renders the organization ineffective.
Forms of Communication Medium
Forms of communication in an organization include:
• Memorandum notice
• Circular letters
• Telephone/Handset letters
Memorandum: It is a means of communication passed within the organization. Information normally came from the superior office to their subordinates in office to inform them of new action implemented in the management and the procedures put in place to carry them out. It does not require on address.
Circular letters: It is given to people who are concerned with information, it is usually written from the top management to their subordinate either is given as promotion, dismissal or other form of action.
Notice: This refers to the way by which some set of people are being informed on a particular issue. It could be a notice of meeting, internal adverts, etc.
Telephone/Handset: It makes communication snappy and effective, it creates cordial relation among staff. Hardly can someone go to an organization that does not make use of telephone to communicate with workers.
Letter: Message can also be sent from the management to their employees or from the superior to the subordinate by putting the message in black and white or in written form.
What are the Effects of Poor Communication in an Organization?
Poor communication can lead to lack of team cohesion, unclear messaging, wasted time and resources, damaged relationships, low employee morale, higher turnover rates, loss of revenue and even injury or death. Contact us to learn how we can help you address poor communication in the workplace.
Poor communication limits a company's ability to optimize performance. Specific negative effects of communication problems include a culture of distrust, limited employee engagement, uncertainty and ineffective customer interaction.
Roles and Functions of Communication
Communication serves four major functions within a group or organization. These are: Control, motivation, feedback and decision making. Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they are doing and what can be done to improve performance. The formation of specific goals, feedback on progress towards the goals and reinforcement of desired behaviour, all stimulate motivation and are needed for social communication and emotional expression. Communication also facilitates decision making. It provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting the data to identify and evaluate the alternative choices.
The Effects of Poor Communication in Organization
Culture of Distrust: Trust is essential to the success of high-performing work teams and organizations, according to the American management association. Ineffective communication prohibits trust building and may even contribute to a culture of distrust. When management doesn't communicate goals and important events with workers, employees naturally begin to think key information is being withheld. An "us versus them" mentality often emerges. Additionally, poor intra-team and inter-team communication gets in the way of trusting cross-organization relationships.
Limited employee engagement: Employees desire to work in a place where they can share input and build relationships with coworkers and colleagues. Poor communication limits the closeness of relationships and employee engagement. Limited engagement contributes to lack of organizational commitment, poor morale and eventually, turnover. Employees rely on their managers to offer direction, feedback and positive reinforcement. When these things lack or are poorly implemented the barrier between management and workers are greater.
Uncertainty and confusion: Top-down communication is necessary to get all departments, leaders and front-line workers on the same page. With no direction, the role of departments and individual workers is uncertain. When employees don't know what to work on or prioritize each day, inefficiency and a lack of productivity are likely. In some cases, confusion results because of mixed messages. Top-level managers may provide one directional message today, but deliver a completely different vision a few months later. Another scenario is top managers and front line managers presenting differing perspectives on the goals and task directions for specific workers. Chaos ensues when many employees perform uncoordinated and misdirected tasks.
Ineffective customer interaction: Poor communication with customers can result from the poor internal communication as well as poor coaching of front-line workers. Regardless of the direct causes, poor communication between employees and customers limits a company's ability to build a loyal customer base, according to Hotel Executive.com. The problems are magnified when an organization doesn't solicit customer feedback to identify what is missing in the communication process or customer experience.
A Good Operational Management Communication
Operations management is a multi-disciplinary field that focuses on managing all aspects of an organization's operations. The typical company carries out various functions as a part of its operation. The dividing of a company's activities into functional categories occurs very early on, even in a company formed and operated by a single individual. Most companies make a product of some kind or produce a profitmaking service. They must also carry out sales and marketing function, an accounting function and an administrative function to manage employees and the business as a whole. Operations management focuses on the function of providing the product or service. Their job is to assure the production of a quality good and/or service. They apply ideas and technologies to increase productivity and reduce costs, improve flexibility to meet rapidly changing customer needs, assure a safe workplace for all employees, and when possible assist in assuring highquality customer service.
For the most part, the title "operations manager" is used in companies that produce tangible good manufacturers on the whole. In service-oriented businesses, the person responsible for the operations manager role is often called by another name, one that addresses the service being offered. Examples include project manager, consultant, lawyer, accountant, office manager, datacenter manager, etc.
Key Issues in Operations
As an organization develops plans and strategies to deal with the opportunities and challenges that arise in its particular operating environment, it should design a system that is capable of producing quality services and goods in the quantities demanded and in the time frames necessary to meet the businesses obligations.
Designing the System
Designing the system begins with product development. Product development involves determining the characteristics and features of the product or service to be sold. It should begin with an assessment of customer needs and eventually grow into a detailed product design. The facilities and equipment used in production, as well as the information systems needed to monitor and control performance, are all a part of this system design process. In fact, manufacturing process decisions are integral to the ultimate success or failure of the system. Of all the structural decisions that the operations manager makes, the one likely to have the greatest impact on the operation's success is choice of the process technology. This decision answers the basic question: How will the product be made?
Product design is a critical task because it helps to determine the characteristics and features of the product, as well as how the product functions. Product design determines a product's cost and quality, as well as its features and performance. These are important factors on which customers make purchasing decisions. In recent years, new design models such as design for manufacturing and assembly (Royal empire) have been implemented to improve product quality and lower costs.
Royal empire focuses on operating issues during service delivery. This can be critical even though design costs are a small part of the total cost of a product, because, procedures that waste raw materials or duplicate effort can have a substantial negative impact on a business's operating profitability. Another innovation similar to royal empire in its emphasis on design is Quality Functional Deployment (QFD). QFD is a set of planning and communication routines that are used to improve product design by focusing design efforts on customer needs.
Process design describes how the product will be made. The process design decision has two major components: A technical (or engineering) component and a scale economy (or business) component. The technical component includes selecting equipment and selecting a sequence for various phases of operational production.
The scale economy or business component involves applying the proper amount of mechanization (tools and equipment) to make the organization's work force more productive. This includes determining: 1) If the demand for a product is large enough to justify mass production; 2) If there is sufficient variety in customer demand so that flexible production systems are required and 3) If demand for a product is so small or seasonal that it cannot support a dedicated production facility. If not communicated well, it will go a long way to affect the organization’s proficiency.
Facility design involves determining the capacity, location and layout for the production facility. Capacity is a measure of a company's ability to provide the demanded product in the quantity requested by the customer in a timely manner. Capacity planning involves estimating demand, determining the capacity of facilities and deciding how to change the organization's capacity to respond to demand.
Facility location is the placement of a facility with respect to its customers and suppliers. Facility location is a strategic decision because it is a long-term commitment of resources that cannot easily or inexpensively be changed. When evaluating a location, management should consider customer convenience, initial investment necessary to secure land and facilities, government incentives and operating transportation costs. In addition, qualitative factors such as quality of life for employees, transportation infrastructure and labour environment should also be taken under consideration.
Facility layout is the arrangement of the workspace within a facility. It considers which departments or work areas should be adjacent to one another so that the flow of communication in relation to product, information and people can move quickly and efficiently through the production system.
Implementation
Once a product is developed and the manufacturing system is designed, it must be implemented, a task often more easily discussed than carried out. IF the system design function was done thoroughly, it will have rendered an implementation plan which will guide activities during implementation. Nonetheless, there will inevitably be changes needed. Decisions will have to be made throughout this implementation period about tradeoffs. For example, the cost of the originally planned conveyor belt may have risen. This change will make it necessary to consider changing the specified conveyor belt for another model. This, of course, will impact upon other systems linked to the conveyor belt and the full implications of all these changes will have to be assessed and compared to the cost of the price increase on the original conveyor belt (Allen MW, et al., 1993).
Planning and Forecasting
Running an efficient production system requires a great deal of planning. Long-range decisions could include the number of facilities required to meet customer needs or studying how technological change might affect the methods used to produce services and goods. The time horizon for long-term planning varies with the industry and is dependent on both complexity and size of proposed changes. Typically, however, long-term planning may involve determining work force size, developing training programs, working with suppliers to improve product quality and improve delivery systems and determining the amount of material to order on an aggregate basis. Short-term scheduling, on the other hand, is concerned with production planning for specific job orders (who will do the work, what equipment will be used, which materials will be consumed, when the work will begin and end and what mode of transportation will be used to deliver the product when the order is completed).
Managing the System
Managing the system involves working with people to encourage participation and improve organizational performance. Participative management and teamwork are essential part of successful operations. They are leadership, training and culture. In addition, material management and quality are two key areas of concern.
Material management includes decisions regarding the procurement, control, handling, storage and distribution of materials. Material management is becoming more important because, in many organizations, the costs of purchased materials comprise more than 50% of the total production cost. Questions regarding quantities and timing of material orders need to be addressed here as well when companies weigh the qualities of various suppliers.
Building Success with Operations
To understand operations and how they contribute to the success of an organization, it is important to understand the strategic nature of operations; the value-added nature of operations, the impact technology can have on performance and the globally competitive marketplace.
Efficient organization operations are a vital tool in achieving competitive advantage in the daily contest for customers/clients. What factors influence buying decisions for these entities? For most services and goods, price, quality, product performance and features, product variety and availability of the product are critical. All these factors are substantially influenced by actions taken in operations. For example, when productivity increases, product costs decline and product price can be reduced. Similarly, as better production methods are developed, quality and variety may increase.
By linking operations and operating strategies with the overall strategy of the organization (including engineering, financial, marketing and information system strategy) synergy can result. Operations become a positive factor when facilities, equipment and employee training are viewed as a means to achieve organizational objectives, rather than as narrowly focused departmental objectives. In recognition of this evolving viewpoint, the criteria for judging operations are changing from cost control (a narrowly defined operating objective) to global performance measurements in such areas as product performance and variety, product quality, delivery time, customer service and operational flexibility.
In today's business environment, a key component of operational flexibility in many industries is technological knowledge. Advances in technology make it possible to build better products using fewer resources. As technology fundamentally changes a product, its performance and quality often increases dramatically, making it a more highly valued commodity in the marketplace. But the growth in high-tech business applications has created new competitors as well, making it important for businesses to try to register advantages in any and all areas of operations management.
Over time, operations management has grown in scope and increased in importance. Today, it has elements that are strategic, it relies on behavioural and engineering concepts, and it utilizes management science/operations research tools and techniques for systematic decisionmaking and problem-solving. As operations management continues to develop, it will increasingly interact with other functional areas within the organization to develop integrated answers to complex interdisciplinary problems. Indeed, such interaction is widely regarded as essential to long-term business success for small business establishments and multinational corporations alike.
Operations managers are required to have a large set of skills in order to be effective in the multitude of situations they might find themselves in. To be as effective as possible, operations managers will need to have a combination of soft skills and technical skills.
The soft skills necessary for successful operations management are:
• Strong communication skills
• Good motivational skills
• Strong negotiation skills
• Exceptional organizational skills
• Awareness of internal and external customer needs
In order to put these soft skills to best use, an operations manager can improve their skill set with supporting hard skills like budget management, logistics, production management, project management and human resources management.
Operations managers need to be adaptable to any scenario and need the skills to support them throughout. With the correct balance of both soft and technical operations manager skills you’ll be able to fulfil the demanding expectations of your role, no matter the situation.
Approach in Communication in an Organization
Organizational communication' is the sending and receiving of messages among interrelated particular environment or setting to achieve both individual and organizational goals. The conventional individuals within an approach focus on communication within organizations. The critical approach to organizational communication defines that organizations are locations of domination, with power and control as central. It is based on the idea that power is not equally distributed. The critical approach is based on a traditional hierarchy with several organizational levels of power.
It stems out of the belief that communication often results in discourse with potential transformations made after resistance occurs. This approach challenges the average worker to reconsider his or her place in a work organization.
The roots of the critical approach came from beliefs from Karl Marx. He saw life as a constant struggle with authority and this approach applies to those principles in power versus control. The approach called the organization as a battleground where rival forces strive for the achievement of largely incompatible ends, as stated by economist Gareth Morgan.
Power in the Critical Approach
The critical approach of organizational communication depends on power and discourse being locations of domination. Some sources of power within a company (which are sources in nonprofits, governments and even small businesses) include:
• Direct power which is to give employees an exact
direction and then monitor their behaviour. For
example, clocking in and out is a form of control.
• Technological power is the technology used by an
organization used to control behaviours like speed,
communication and type of work. For example, if your
machine only puts on buttons, you cannot take on
another task at work.
• Bureaucratic power is the system of rules, structures
and 'red tape' that control the activities of a member.
For example, without a set lunch schedule there may
not be a skeleton crew of employees= to cover shifts.
• Ideological power is the development of values and
beliefs that employees should identify with strongly.
This is the defining culture of the place. For example,
Disney employees go through a culture boot camp
when they are hired.
• Disciplinary power is a type of self-control or
regulation put in place by individual employee
production. An example of this is production
standards put in place by the staff to distinguish who
is or is not producing well.
How Good Communication Contributes to the Success of the Organization
Effective communication is important for the development of an organization. It is something which helps the managers to perform the basic functions of managementplanning, organizing, motivating and controlling. Good communication within a team also tends to boost employee morale.
Communication plays a fundamental role in all facets of business. It is therefore very important that both internal communications within your organization as well as the communication skills of your employees are effective. Effective communication is important for the development of an organization. It is something which helps the managers to perform the basic functions of managementplanning, organizing, motivating and controlling. Communication skills whether written or oral form the basis of any business activity. Thus, it can be said that effective communication is the building block of an organization.
Effective communication is a basic prerequisite for the attainment of organizational goals. No organization or group can exist without communication. Co-ordination of work is impossible and the organization will collapse for lack of communication. Co-operation also becomes impossible because people cannot communicate their needs and feelings to others. If open communication within a workplace is encouraged, a more cohesive and effective team will emerge. Good communication within a team also tends to boost employee morale. When employees feel that they are well informed of the company’s direction and vision, they will feel more secure within their role. Regular internal communication can also lead to an improved work ethic if staff are reminded of achievements and feel that they are working towards a common goal.
It is through effective communication that an executive ultimately gets work done by others. When managers are effective communicators, they are more able to inform staff adequately of their responsibilities and what is expected from them. Good communication skills also helps managers to provide constructive feedback to their staff, build better relationships and understand personal goals that staff may wish to work towards. Therefore, a successful executive must know the art of communication. Moreover, communication is a means whereby the employee can be properly motivated to execute company plans enthusiastically. It is the means by which behaviour is modified, change is effected and goals are achieved. The first executive function is to develop and maintain a system of effective communication-the tool for understanding. It is commonly said that what nerves are to human organism, communications are to an industrial system.
The Steps for Acquiring Good Communication Skills
Know what you want to say and why: Understand clearly the purpose and intent of your message. Know to whom you are communicating and why. Consider any barriers you may encounter such as cultural differences or situational circumstances (gender, age or economic biases). Ask yourself what outcome you want to achieve and the impression you want to leave.
How will you say it: We're all aware by now, that it's not always what you say, but how you say it that counts. Begin by making eye contact. You inspire trust and confidence when you look a person in the eyes when you speak. Second, be aware of your body language since it can say as much, or more, than your words. By standing with arms easily at your side you tell others that you are approachable and open to hearing what they have to say. If instead, your arms are crossed and shoulders hunched, it suggests disinterest or unwillingness to communicate. Good posture and an approachable stance help make even difficult communication flow more smoothly. Make sure you speak in a cooperative, nonadversarial tone. Be non-judgmental.
Listen: Communication is a two way street. After you've said what you have to say, stop, listen and look for feedback and clues of comprehension. While the person is responding avoid any impulses to cut them off or listen only for the end of the sentence so that you can blurt out more ideas or thoughts that come to your mind. Respectfully give them your full attention. When they are finished, to ensure that your message has been clearly and correctly understood, ask open questions and encourage discussion. Fine-tune your message if necessary.
Reach understanding, agreement or consensus: Once you have had the opportunity to discuss your message and the feedback to it, re-visit the purpose of the interchange. Have you reached common ground, solved a problem or clarified your position? If the purpose was to teach or instruct, have you accomplished your goal? To communicate well is to understand and be understood. Make sure that your message has been received as intended and that any questions or concerns have been alleviated. You can even agree to disagree. There are no guarantees that your communication efforts will be met with total compliance and agreement. As long as you understand each other are cordial and respectful, you can still have a successful exchange.
Methods of Communication to Subordinate
It is particularly important for a customer service organization to develop good communication channels and processes with all of its stakeholders and especially with its customers and employees. The inland revenue operates in a fast changing world and its culture is changing to become more customer-focused. It has assumed responsibility for new areas of work and has developed sophisticated modern internal and external systems to enhance multi-channel communications. It is vital that responsive, informed employees identify and meet their customers' requirements as quickly as possible. To meet this challenge, the inland revenue has embraced a range of communication methods that take full advantage of modern technology. Methods of communication with employees (this could be left out) ways to create effective communication in the workplace.
Open meeting: It is easier to communicate your passion and how you feel to your team via open meetings. In this kind of forum, they will not only hear what you are saying, they will also see and feel it. This approach still remains one of the best approaches to communicate effectively with a team.
Emails: In official settings, communication via email remains potent. It will enable you to pass messages to members of your team without pulling them out of their workstations.
One on One: Experts have been able to prove that some people understand better when you take them aside and talk to them on a one-on-one basis. Ensure that you maintain eye contact with them to enable the message to sink in.
Create a receptive atmosphere: To effectively communicate with your team, you must create a receptive atmosphere. Avoid a tense environment at all costs because when you communicate in an overly intense manner, the message you are trying to share might not be well understood or retained.
Communication via training: Your training should be tailored towards communicating certain information to your team members. Most employees take training serious, especially when it’s part of their appraisal.
Display confidence and seriousness: Ensure that you display confidence and seriousness to ensure that you will not be taken for granted. When your team members notice any uncertainty and lack of seriousness when you’re communicating with them, they are likely to treat the information with disdain or disregard.
Use simple words: The truth is that everybody cannot be on same page when it comes to vocabulary. Therefore, to be effective in your communications with your team members, use words that can be easily understood. When ambiguous words are used, you can be misunderstood and/or waste precious time having to explain yourself.
Use visuals: Place visuals at strategic positions around the workstations of your team. They should not just hear the message, they should also see it. This gives room for better comprehension.
Listen to your team members: Communication is intended to be a two way street. Don’t just talk because you are the leader without listening to anyone else. Encourage them to open up so you can be well guided when communicating in the future with them. You have two ears and one mouth, so you must listen more than you speak.
Use body language: Your body language will pass your message faster and better. Master the art of using body language when communicating with your team. Stand/sit up straight, use smiles, handshakes and eye contact.
Act out your message: Someone once said, “Tell me what you want me to do and I might forget it, but do it in front of me and I will never forget it.” Acting out your message is a very potent way of communicating with your team. Let them see you do what you want them to do and watch their excuses disappear.
Use the appropriate tone of voice: One word can mean a different thing when said in a different tone of voice. Make sure you use the appropriate tone of voice to communicate your message to your team so that you won’t be misunderstood and discourage or demotivate members or cause them to shut down completely out of fear.
Avoid unnecessary repetition: If you want your team members to take you serious, never sound like a broken record and don’t beat a dead horse. Tell your team members what you want them to know or do and ask them if they are clear about it. If they are not, only then do you repeat what you have said.
Use presentations: Some people grasp messages easily when pictures and sounds are involved. Using presentations like Microsoft powerpoint to communicate with your team will give them the opportunity to refer back to it if they aren’t clear about certain things.
Be humorous: Using friendly jokes when communicating with your team members will help pass your message along in a more relaxed way. This method of communication has been proven to be a highly effective way of avoiding tension. When the atmosphere is unfriendly and intense, being humorous does the trick. If you must use jokes, please don’t overdo it. Remember, you are not a stand-up comedian.
Be articulate: Communication is indeed a skill that must be learned by all, especially if you want to lead any group of people. Being articulate when you communicate to your team members makes it easier for them to understand your message.
Avoid mumbling: Your team members should be able to hear you clearly. When communicating with them, try as much as possible to speak clearly and not mumble words. When you mumble words or speak too quickly, you may assume that they are clear on the subject. But the truth is, they might not be. It also shows a lack of confidence on your part. Talk in a more relax manner helps for better clarification.
Encourage feedback: Don’t just talk and walk away. Give room for feedback so that you can measure the effectiveness of your style of communication. It will also afford you the privilege of knowing if your message is well understood. Feedback also enhances a better choice of communication depending on the audience or receiver.
Gesticulate: Use your hands to demonstrate your message. Make hand motions and signals to establish the seriousness of your subject matter when communicating with your team members. This shows that you understand what you are trying to relay to them. Just don’t let your body movement become too exaggerated and intense.
Role of Communication in Decision Making
Information function and communication provides information needed for decision making. Communication serves as the life blood of an organization, because through it employees understand their role in a system. It is the tool through which effective control of organizational activities may be instituted.
Major Factors that Influence Leadership Decision Making in Organizations
This work continues to explore the major factors that influence decision making among organizational leaders. Studies designed to examine the positive challenges of good leadership decision making as an on-going leadership process may have application to any organizational success and goal attainment in the future. Many studies by different professions had shown that there are several important factors that may influence leadership decision making in organizations. These factors include: Past experience, cognitive biases, age and individual differences, belief in personal relevance and an escalation of commitment as well as the influence of what choices people make.
People make decisions about many things differently and under different circumstance or situation. For example, a decision about a new product may rest with those in product management, manufacturers, marketing research and finance. They make political decisions; personal decisions, including medical choices, romantic decisions and career decisions; and financial decisions, which may also include some of the other kinds of decisions and judgments. Quite often, the decision making process is fairly specific to the decision being made. Some choices are simple and seem straight forward, while others are complex and require a multistep approach to making the decisions.
Leaders and managers in any organization should weigh all necessary options and the outcomes of their decisions while being aware that each of the decisions made may either affect the organization as a whole, shareholders or any member of the organization. For a sound and comprehensive decision making, leaders should understand that all rational decision making processes require a great deal of time and a valid sharing or knowledge of information. They should be able to use the best type of leadership decision making style described in to determine the systemic process to apply in any given situation as well as the people or group to be involved in the decision making process. Since leadership and management activities in organizations involve change, inspiration, motivation and influence, management and effective leadership, both leaders and managers must then strive to focus on the process of setting and achieving the goals of their businesses through the functions of management, with reference to strategic planning, organizing, directing, controlling and goal accomplishments.
Understanding the Importance of Decision Making Process
A good understanding and the establishment of sound decisions and policies are very important for leadership in all businesses. Leadership is a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness. People in leadership positions, be it in institutions, businesses, government or non-profit organizations are challenged every day with a myriad of leadership decision making in their individual company. These business leaders and managers are always making decisions that are associated with their subordinates, policy, planning, controlling, methods, training and compensations do so often in a critical, complex, and challenging situations. Leadership decision-making is an integral part of any organization. It involves a sequence of activities that involves leadership’s courage and evaluation, as well as “gathering, interpreting and exchanging information, creating and identifying alternative courses of action, choosing among alternatives by integrating the often differing perspectives and opinions of team members and implementing a choice and monitoring its consequences”. As a process of selecting from the many different alternatives, organizational leaders must consider, analyse and evaluate the best of all different alternatives from which advantages and disadvantages are known. This particular process will help them to make good decisions and enhance the successful operation of their business.
The more skilled leaders are, the more likely they will feel confident in their abilities and competent to make good decisions. For it is only the leader that understands the nature and principles of decision making will be able to cope with complex and challenging situations more effectively than the leader who does not possess any of the ideas. For example: The leader who had the knowledge and have studied the qualities and characteristics of organizational diversity stands a better chance of making decision on team building when compared with a leader who have not. Decision making is of vital importance in organization because it permeates through all managerial functions and all areas of business including; recruitment, selection, job description, organizing, planning, training, marketing, policy and compensation among others. Simply put, it is the act of carrying out managerial tasks and responsibilities. According to Mumford, Zaccaro and Harding, problem-solving skills refer to a leader’s creative ability to solve new and unusual, ill-defined organizational problems. Claims that a leader is anyone who influences individuals or groups within an organization, helps them in the establishment of goals and guides them toward achievement of those goals, thereby enabling them to be effective.
Ethics and Decision making Models
Ethical codes in organizations are tool for clarifying acceptable behavior and provide guidance to managers when dealing with ethical dilemmas. Ethics is very important in business and each leader has an important role to play in ethical decision making in their organizations. Since ethics is defined as the philosophical study of moral behavior, of moral decision making or of how to live the good life. The expectation and common theme for any organizational leader and manager to play in ethical decision making process is dedication, trust, fairness, acting in good faith and transparency. It is an essential configuration of organizational leadership and management. For instance, it will be of vital importance to have a valid framework in place that would encourage leaders to analyze and make ethical decisions while helping them avoid some complexities and ethical dilemmas in the system that cannot be resolved through the application and implementation of codes of ethics. In this regard, Corey suggested the following ethical decision making model to keep both leaders and decision makers informed in decision making process as well as in the resolution of ethical dilemmas. The model is as follows:
Step 1: Identify the problem.
Step 2: Identify the potential issues involved.
Step 3: Review relevant ethical guidelines.
Step 4: Know relevant laws and regulations.
Step 5: Obtain consultation.
Step 6: Consider possible and probable courses of
action.
Step 7: List the consequences of the probable courses of
action.
Step 8: Decide on what appears to be the best course of
action.
The author strongly believed that the above model is of great significant and also maintains that there are some other ethical values that leaders can use to help them better make their decision and serve the value that is most important to them in any given situation. These ethical standards include; integrity, respect, compassion, justice, prudence, temperance and common good among other things. In order to make a decision in leadership, a thorough explanation requires appealing to a rule, using a theory and applying a value. This value simply defined is a single word or phrase that identifies something as being desirable for human beings. Values are those goods that our theories, rules and decisions work to bring about in the world. They (values) are acted on and applied on by theories and then rules. In simple terms, values are not a high-minded code based on personal or company ethics, they are a proposal for creating a work environment that drives accomplishment. Values offer people a framework for their decision, broad limitations for their ideas and more independence to make a change. In his perspective, Despain postulated that values is defined as shared beliefs with standards for behavior in the workplace, are the key to succeeding in changing and challenging times.
Leaders and managers must have guidelines about what decisions are moral because we have identified certain things as being good, which these decisions seek to uphold. Organizational leaders must possess the following qualities both in leading and decision making in their business:
• Being true to one’s basic moral values.
• Involves honesty, promise keeping, loyalty,
dependability and consistency.
• Uphold the dignity of persons; treating them as an
ends and not as the means.
• Have concern for the suffering of others and be willing
to help out.
• Act on one’s professional duties and obligations.
• Able to perform good for people and avoiding harm.
The above principles suggest that leaders must endeavor to do the right thing in their decisions because their subordinates depends to an extraordinary degree on the expressed values of the leader and believe to succeed by following their leadership decisions. Adherence to ethical standards both in leadership and decision making process must be a foundation of all organizational rules and policies. They affirmed that virtue is an acquired human quality, the possession and exercise of which enables us to achieve those goods which are internal to practices, and the lack of which prevents us from achieving any such goods. Leadership decision making is about others and not about self. It is about trust and not about power. It is about creating results by generating cultures where people know it is okay to be unique and unlike others, so they freely take off their fronts, express themselves and do great things. Looking within ourselves and modeling how we think through our own personal and professional ethical code helps shape our teaching and reconfirms what we are teaching in the classroom.
Communication in Decision Making
A good understanding and the establishment of a valid communication and decision-making are of such significance to leaders and managers in the creation of clear policies in all their individual organizations and businesses. While leadership is a functional one, meaning that leadership is at the service of collective effectiveness communication in the other hand is arguably one of the single most important aspects of organizational management tool. Communication is the primary function of any effective leader in an organization. In any business operations, valid, effective and share communication are of great importance to the leaders and manager of every organization. Although organizational leadership has become increasingly complex in both purpose and structure and therefore requires suitable methods of leadership decision systemic styles to address this challenge. One of these suitable methods centers on effective communication and the provision of good working environment.
Communication is one most essential skill that contributes to any successful business. While some of the important roles of effective leadership in present-day business improvement have been stressed, there is a continuing global debate about the leadership decision making approaches that are most beneficial to maintainable major organizational improvement. It is also useful to be aware that, in today’s society, organizational leadership, decision-making, growth, effective management and organizational success are based on the quality of the decisions policy makers or leaders make. Thus, the establishment of appropriate approach, ways of improving communication and quality of decision making in any organizations must include the following elements by organizational leaders:
• Appropriate channel for all communications
• Awareness of how perception, culture, channel and
language can be created
• Provide a valid working relationship and climate
• Encourage feedback
• Mutual respect and trust
• Promote dialogue and group consensus
• Listen effectively
• Be clear with words used as intended meaning may
be misinterpreted
• Be aware of the culture and diverse nature of the
employees
Leadership is all about getting people to work together to make things happen that might not otherwise occur or prevent that which ordinarily would take place. Leaders must cultivate a meaningful relationship in all businesses that requires clear, honest and reciprocal communication. Leadership position involves motivating others and one way to accomplish this is through a process of sharing information in the system of decision making. It is believed that in organizations, leaders have a moral responsibility to take care of their followers and help them develop their personal cares, to be a consultant for followers’ personal problems. They must decide on their values and set goals to insure a fruitful decision-making process. Therefore, before making a final decision or taking any course of action, leaders must discover or create a set of alternative courses of action and gather information about each. Having gathered the information with which to make a decision, they must apply information for each course of action to predict the outcomes of each possible alternative and make a decision for implementation.
Communication is both complex, irreversible (it is difficult to take back messages that have been sent) and it involves more than just one person sending a message to another. Instead, communication can be seen as the primary defining characteristic of every leader that involves the negotiation of shared interpretations and understanding in the entire organization. Leaders need followers and followers need leaders in order to accomplish the desired goals and outcomes in their individual organizations (Armenakis AA and Bedeian AG, 1999).
Realistically, effective communication is an essential tool for the strategic management of organizations. No doubt, low productivity, loss of customers, low turnover, conflict and absenteeism are caused by poor and ineffective communication. This is to say that effective communication is the life wire of any organization and also the turning point which the wheel of an organization rotates. It is a means by which behavior is modified, change is effected, performance improved and goals/ objectives achieved. So irrespective of organization, its size and purpose, transfer of understanding from one person to another is viewed essential for the continued growth, survival and existence of an organization.
After due consideration of the research finding and conclusion, the work recommends that; simple organization structure should be designed and implemented for easy flow of communication. Downward, upward and horizontal flow of information is better and easily facilitated in a modest organization structure. Managers are advised to spend much time when it is necessary in communicating verbally to their subordinates because it enhances proper understanding of the message.
In addition, managers are encouraged to make use of feedback while communicating with their workers/ subordinate. This is because feedback will help them understand whether their message has been received as intended. Furthermore, managers were advised, not only to seek for people to understand them, but also try as much as possible to understand their subordinates. Finally, simple and familiar words or language known to both the sender and the receiver should be used while communicating. This will certainly minimize the incident of barriers in communication.
Findings of the study discovered that effective communication is a foundation upon which every organization irrespective of size and structure must be built: Survey result also indicated a unanimous acceptance of the importance of communication in attaining corporate goals. Also, in the organization examined, it was observed that they made use of the three communication patterns (Downward, upward and horizontal), but the downward pattern was more prominent than the other two. The study also revealed that status difference between superior and subordinates may create barriers to communication.