Deliverable 7 - Reorganization

The Communication Barriers at Nojax Company

Name: John Blair

Institution: Rasmussen College

Author Note

This paper is being submitted on 11th December, 2018, for John Blair MAN4240CBE Section 01CBE Organizational Behavior Analysis.

Barriers to Communication at the Organization

Within the management structure, a major barrier to communication entails age difference between the senior management team. For instance, Alice Bloom belongs to the baby boomers generation while two of her colleagues belong to the millennial generation. The latter is more inclined to modern and digital tools of communication such as instant messaging while the former is used to old methods of communication such as memos and meetings (Femi, 2004). The differences may need to be harmonized. Due to this barrier, communication is not able to flow freely.

On the other hand, the functional departments do not work in a complementary manner as a team but as independent functions. For instance, it has been pointed out that there are occasional disagreements between the functions which are never resolved. When independent functions are not willing to work together as a team that amounts to a barrier to communication as no functions are openly willing to take part in communication processes. The functional teams should be able to work together in order to communicate effectively. Essentially, the company’s structure does not create an effective channel for flow of information. It needs to be streamlined to allow free and two-way flow of communication.

One of the management’s major problems entails quick and fast communication with the employees. From the structure, employees are only assigned to specific establishments within a particular function meaning that communication from the management must be directed to all workers. This means it may take longer time before every employee has been communicated to. In the event that a message needs to be delivered urgently, it may take longer than expected. The organization also faces problems when it comes to gathering feedbacks from the employees. The matrix structure has not been able to establish a two-way communication process where junior workers should relay their feedbacks to the senior management team. Actually, it has been stated that managers act as the link between employees and the managerial team. This shows the gap between the two levels which needs to be addressed. All employees should be accorded a medium through which they can relay messages and feedbacks without any difficulties.

There are a number of factors that might be obstructing communication at the organization as follows. Nojax still clings to its traditional hierarchical structure meaning that the work environment is formalized and structured and tasks are normally done procedurally. Actually, every employee is closely monitored as a way of improving their efficiency. This tends to negatively impact communication as employee have no autonomy. They cannot convene and discuss a particular plausible idea. Their strict adherence to rules means that communication is structured and complies with the established policies. Communication should be flow freely within an organizational culture for efficiency to be guaranteed. Management backgrounds are also a major obstruction to effective communication. The management is made of; a Pakistani, a Hispanic, two Caucasians, and two African Americans. The managers are oriented to different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and are not equipped with communications skills and cultural competence when they join the organization. This means that cultural barriers to communications may be leading to obstruction. Also, three of the managers have been recently hired meaning that there may exist differences in communication due to age difference. They may have varying preferences in choosing tools to use for communication.

Reference

Femi, A. (2014). The Impact of Communication on Workers’ Performance in Selected Organisations in Lagos State, Nigeria. Journal Of Humanities And Social Science 19(8), 77-81.