Reflection report communication in business
Organisational Communication
Lecture 7
The lecture material contains content owned by KOI and other materials copyrighted by Eunson, B. (2016) Communicating in the 21st century, 4th edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Milton, Qld
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Learning objectives
Explain the different types of channels that can be used in organisational communication
Describe the nature of upward, downward and horizontal communication patterns
Explain how organisational design factors (flat versus tall, centralised versus decentralised) affect organisational communication
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Learning objectives
Explain network organisations, network roles and networking strategies
Describe aspects of the informal organisation and communication system
Identify different aspects of organisational culture
Explain the relationship between knowledge management and organisational communication
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Organisations: What are they?
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In an organisation there is an interrelationship between individuals, groups, organisations and society.
TEACHER NOTE: If you have already covered content on interpersonal skills and/or teams/meetings, or propose to, you could make some linking comments re those areas now. If you have covered material on intercultural communication or propose to, you could use that content to speculate on a fifth zone outside society-culture (which has connections with organisational culture, looked at in this chapter).
Organisations: What are they?
An organisation consists of a group of people who work together to achieve a common purpose.
Alignment strategy:
To communicate consistently across the organisation
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An organisation consists of a group of people who work together to achieve a common purpose. It can consist of two people or two million people, and can be structured as a small business or an army, corporation, government or church. An organisation is bigger than the individuals and groups that comprise it, but smaller than the society that gives it its context and environment.
Alignment strategy -ensuring that all messages communicated to audiences within an organisation are consistent with messages communicated to audiences outside the organisation.
What is organisational communication?
A process
Richmond and McCroskey (2009)
Comprised of units that relate to each other within the organisation
Pace and Faules (1994)
‘is transactional and symbolic’
(Miller 2006, p. 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D0fHkWgDag
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Refer to page 511 for Richmond and McCroskey (2009) definition Pace and Faules definition. Re Miller definition: Transactional – it involves two or more people interacting within an environment; Symbolic - communication transactions ‘stand for’ other things, at various levels of abstraction.
Communications channels
| Memos Noticeboards Emails Voicemail Formal meetings Informal meetings Suggestion boxes 360° feedback Focus groups Plenary briefings Briefings by supervisor/ team leader | Closed-circuit telecasts Videotapes Newsletters Charts and posters MBWA Grapevine Position papers Websites Ombudsman Instant messaging |
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In actual workplace settings, channels can take different forms. Each of these has their own strengths and weaknesses Refer text pages 19-24.
TEACHER NOTE: this is a partial recap of the material from chapter 1. If you have covered that material, refer to this as a recap. If you have not, simply introduce it as new material. For seminar/tutorial exercises, it would be very helpful if students/participants have at least read chapter 1.
Specific definitions which may be needed: 360° feedback (in which a person is appraised or evaluated by those above, below and at the same level in an organisation).
MBWA (Management By Walking Around), a management approach that entails leaders simply walking through work areas, making themselves available to listen to all staff members, rather than remaining inaccessible in management offices.
Communications channels
Channels can be:
- One-way, two-way or multidirectional
- Technologically mediated or unmediated
- Synchronous or asynchronous
- Individual or group
- Hard copy or electronic
- Permanent or transient
- Formal or informal
- Lean or rich
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- One-way, two-way or multidirectional
- Technologically mediated (e.g. via telephone, internal/external mail, computer or video) or unmediated (delivered personally)
- Synchronous (sent and received virtually simultaneously) or asynchronous (received at a later time)
- Individual (involving a dyad, or two people) or group (involving more than two people)
- Hard copy (taking a physical form, such as a letter or printed report) or electronic (viewed and/or stored using an electronic device)
- Permanent or transient (can the message be stored or not?)
- Formal or informal (is the message official or unofficial?)
- Lean or rich (a rich medium transfers a range of verbal and non-verbal information, including colour, auditory and visual elements)
Communications channels
Interpersonal channels
Meet specific member’s needs
Mediated communications
Centred on the CEO’s message, which can be counter-productive
Better communication is from immediate supervisor
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Interpersonal channels are more likely to meet specific needs of organisational members in overcoming risk and complexity associated with a change
Mediated channels are more effective in providing general information
Most mediated communications (e.g. reports, newspapers, videos, posters, CEOs (chief executive officers) presentations, closed-circuit TV shows) are centred on the CEO’s message, which can be counter-productive. Much research suggests that employees will change only if they receive rationales for change from their immediate supervisor rather than others further up the food chain of the organisation
Following from this, not enough organisations take advantage of the credibility that lower-level supervisors have. They are not briefed adequately, possibly because they are not trusted, or because the lower-level details of change programs have been insufficiently well thought out. Lewis (1999)
Activity: Introduction
In groups of 3 watch the video and after brainstorming together write down answers to questions below (in point form):
- What is corporate culture?
- What is corporate culture at its best?
- What is it at its worst?
- What is the best way to change the culture for the better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gficoigz1xs
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Communications channels
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The best channel through which to convey information will depend on the situation.
Effective organisational communicators use a number of channels, taking care to ensure that messages are repeated and reinforced in different ways
You also need to take account of your own communication style, to ensure both that you choose channels you can work with and that you do not reject effective channels with which you are less comfortable.
Practice in the use of new channels should help iron out any shortcomings in delivery. You also need to be aware that the channel chosen may have the potential to transform the message- see Chapter 1.
Structures: Organisational design
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Organisations, like the buildings in which most of them are housed, have structures.
Most organisations are hierarchies — that is, they are structured in ranks or levels, with each level having power or influence over the level immediately below it. Most hierarchies resemble pyramids, with a few people at the top and many at the bottom- as in this diagram. Generally speaking, the people at the top of the pyramid have more power and are better compensated than those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Structures: Organisational design
communications flow
Vertical communication
Sending and receiving messages between the levels or layers of a hierarchy
Horizontal communication
Sending and receiving messages between individuals at the same level or layer of a hierarchy
Downward communication
Sending messages from upper levels to lower levels of a hierarchy
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In understanding organisations and the patterns of communication within them, one of the critical concepts is directionality.
Such communication involves instructions, budget approvals or non-approvals, policy statements, variations in standard operating procedures and notification of other changes, general announcements, briefings, and expression of goals, objectives and mission statements.
These messages may be transmitted via memos, email, notices and other individual-to-group or individual-to-individual channels; or they may be conveyed indirectly, passed on by others in the hierarchy. During the transfer, the original message may be edited, augmented, reduced, explained or distorted.
Structures: Organisational design
communications flow
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Often top-down communication attempts fail, and that failure is often not grasped by those at the top of the hierarchy.
This slide shows responses from two surveys of personnel in two organisations: top management’s perception that they were getting messages through to lower ranks was wildly at variance with the perceptions of those in the lower ranks. In other words, those at the top thought that they were doing a great job communicating with those at the bottom, while those at the bottom didn’t think much of the communication effectiveness of those at the top.
Structures: Organisational design
communications flow
Upward communication
Sending messages from lower levels to upper levels of a hierarchy
Shoot the messenger ethos
The tendency to punish people for communicating bad news about the organisation
May cause crises to occur
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Upward communication may in some circumstances be even more important than downward communication.
If the organisation has a shoot the messenger ethos, punishing individuals who point out bad news, then — logically enough — little or no bad news will move up through the hierarchy, and rather than an organisational ‘voice’, there will be organisational ‘silence.’
Structures: Organisational design
flat and tall organisations
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The past few years have seen a tendency in some organisations to ‘flatten the pyramid’ in order to create a ‘flat organisation.’
This has led to a number of developments, including:
Delayering - A reduction in the number of levels or layers within organisations
Downsizing - A reduction in staff numbers, especially at the middle levels
Empowerment – a real or perceived shift of decision-making power to groups or teams
Span of control -the number of people who report directly to the person immediately above them in the hierarchy
Flat organisation - fewer middle layers, a shift in decision-making power to groups or teams, and increased worker empowerment
Tall organisation -more layers, narrower spans of control and more centralised decision making
Network analysis
Page 524 in text - Slide 22, Chapter 16 © 2011 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
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Network analysis A technique for mapping communication roles played by people within organisations. Clique A group of individuals at least half of whose workday contacts are with each other. This diagram reveals how a clique or group operates within an organisation.
Refer to next slide. Look at the roles. Are such roles permanent? Not necessarily. For example, anyone can become a gatekeeper by choosing to pass on or not to pass on information. An opinion leader or star in one set of circumstances, dealing with one set of work processes, may be an isolate in another set of circumstances dealing with another set of work processes.
Informal organisations:
The grapevine
5 out of every 6 messages in the organisation are transmitted by the grapevine
Executive and Personal Assistants and Liaisons- key role
As organisation size increases, grapevine activity increases
Is fast
Is incomplete
More prevalent in organisations that foster secrecy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8_PQtXDzkU&list=PLRmAdxydpRyDqtnqS3YIIWA5xjK09US4Q
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Other points:
- Once a rumour is assigned credibility, other events in the organisation are altered to fit in with and support the rumour.
- Employee gender is not a predictor of participation in grapevine communication.
April fools day 2020 – PM closing all of the alcohol shops!
Informal organisations:
The grapevine
Pruning the grapevine
Increase the levels of participation in decision making
Reduce or eliminate secretive communication, and abolish information vacuums
Encourage two-way communication and ensure that information exchanged is accurate
Send out messages using more than one channel
Don’t censor reality and thus sacrifice credibility
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Gossip, or the exchange of anecdotal information, appears to be a deeply ingrained human behaviour that fulfils the needs of reinforcing group solidarity, extending influence, and managing anxiety and uncertainty.
Organisational culture & communication
What is Organizational Culture?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cBN8xH-5Qw
May be dysfunctional
Silo culture
- No communication between separate parts of one organisation
- How to resolve – build a culture of reporting, no blame for messages, learning and flexibility
Culture of silence
- The tendency of lower staff levels to avoid speaking out on significant issues
- How to resolve – encourage feedback from all levels of the organisation
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Refer to pages 535-536
Knowledge management
Harness intangible assets
Systematically organise (store) the knowledge of all organisation’s members
Retrieve stored knowledge for organisational benefit
Success depends heavily on the organisation’s culture of recording and sharing data and information
Google's organisational culture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_R3XG7s2hw
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Intangible assets – knowledge acquired on the job – how to store and retrieve for other staff
Work is to collect, categorise, fuse and disseminate the pool of perceptions, insights, experiences and skills of the current staff
TEACHER NOTE: there are two models in the text. Rumizen (2002) SECI knowledge spiral and Gottschalk’s Model (2006) applied to police investigations is reproduced on the next slide.
Communicating culture
Learning about an organisation's culture is reinforced through:
stories
rituals and language shared in meetings
company newsletters
in intranets
in blogs and podcasts
even in national newspapers
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REPORT REVIEW
Revise the Report Slide in Week 3
Discuss each one in detail
Students to provide examples of each slide in relation to their
Group Report Topic
Report structure
Group Contract Page – esigned by each member
Table of content – reflecting the assessment requirements with page numbers
Executive summary or Abstract - 8 lines only – overview of WHOLE report
Introduction 2 Paragraphs - Para 1, a topic background 4 lines. Para 2, the report overview
Body – 3 Headings with 3 sub headings each
Conclusion - no more than 6 lines
Recommendations – one recommendation for each Heading
Reference List – Harvard Guidelines see quick Guide Left Hand Side List of 709 List of Illustrations
Note: all sections are numbered
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Chapter 16: Organisational communication
Summary:
Organisations: what are they?
Channels
Structures: organisational design
Networks
Informal organisations: the grapevine
Organisational culture and communication
Communication and knowledge management
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