How communications can change over time

Unit 11 - Communications

11.1 - Formal Communications The messages which circulate on the regulated channels within an organization make up

formal communication. The American political scientist and communication theorist

Harold Lasswell popularized the concept of the communication channel in his 1948

paper The Communication of Ideas. According to Lasswell's framework, any

communication can be described by answering the following questions:

• Who?

• Says what?

• In which channel?

• To whom?

• With what effect?

The "channel" describes the means by which the information is communicated.

Formal channels typically fall into one of four broad categories:

• Electronic: Communications that are delivered and accessed electronically, either by

computer, television, fax, telephone, or other devices. Examples include email, intranet,

video and webcasts, DVD, electronic newsletters, podcasts, blogs, wikis, voicemail,

conference calls, SMS text messaging, desktop alert messages, desktop news feeds, and

internal social media tools (e.g., internal Twitter-style sites such as Yammer).

• Print: Examples include memos, letters, newsletters, brochures, postcards and fliers,

posters, and communication packs or "toolkits" for line managers. Print forms of

communication are widely used as a form of formal communication.

• Face-to-face: One-to-one and one-to-many forums where people are physically

present. Examples include a variety of types of meetings, including a "cascade"

of team meetings or briefings, conferences, site visits, consultation forums, "brown bag"

lunches, round-table discussions, and "town meetings. "

• Workspace: Examples include notice boards, plasma and LCD screens, accessories

(e.g., Mouse Mats), and window decals.

Regardless of the channel used, formal communications are transmitted by authorized

senders over official channels and are received by individuals who need to react, or

know the content of these messages.

"Formal Communications. Organizational Communications " is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0