Effective Communication Essay Example for Free

Effective Communication Essay Effective communication is the backbone of any business organisation. Discuss. Communication can be defined as a two way process of reaching mutual understanding in which participants not only exchange(encode and decode) information but also create and share meaning. Effective communication is whereby the information send must be received and understood by the receiver in the way intended by the sender and the receiver has to send feedback to confirm the results. Managerial time is largely spent on face to face, electronic or telephone communication with subordinates, supervisors and customers. Views of organizational communication can be categorized as those that view organizational communication as one aspect of an organization versus those that see it as the underlying basis of the organization itself. An example of the former is exemplified by Drenth et al. 1998), who define communication as the sending and receiving of messages by means of symbols and see organizational communication as a key element of organizational climate. The latter viewpoint is reflected by Myers and Myers (1982:34) who define organizational communication as â€Å"the central binding force that permits coordination among people and thus allows for organized Behaviour,† and Rogers and Rogers (1976:3) who argue that â€Å"the behaviour of individuals in organizations is best understood from a communication point of view. The success of the organization greatly depends on the effectiveness of organizational communication, hence to a larger extent, communication can be regarded as the backbone of every business organization and therefore communication needs to be effective and also this is the reason why effective communication skills form vital part of a job requirement, are prerequisite for promotion to higher positions and are essential to all problem solving since they ignite enthusiasm, enhance motivation and hone traits of leadership. The success of an endeavour hinges on the ability to communicate effectively in todays fast paced life, everyone is asked to do more with less. In such a scenario effective communication holds the key. Effectively communication centres round the usage of words, speed of delivery of words, pitch modulation and body language. Using the right tools to communicate the right messages at the right time can salvage crises and motivate people to work towards success. Communication in an organization is inevitable. Departments communicate from time to time in respect to daily activities and the organizations relationship with the external world. It says what it intended via written and unwritten means, either planned or impromptu. It could be hierarchical, that is, from top to bottom or vice versa. It could be formal or informal; vertical, horizontal or diagonal. Whichever means, modes or types of communication, what matters is that communication takes place. At a most basic level, good communication is necessary to be able to follow instructions and to carry out roles. If a member of staff misunderstands what it is that they need to do and the basic functions and roles of the management could not be performed without communication. Planning, organizing, coordinating, budgeting, monitoring, controlling, staffing, delegation; and including marketing, production, financing, staffing (human resource managing), research and development, purchasing, and selling could not be well coordinated, harnessed and their goals achieved without communication Effective communication strengthens the organization’s existing relationships and helps the subordinates to form strong positive bonds in future interactions. In essence through communicating subordinates and management get to agree on certain specific performance standards to control and guide activity towards the attainment of the organization’s overall objectives. If there is poor communication, there lacks uniformity between the required performance and actual performance therefore if communication improves relationships, misunderstandings are reduced. Effective communication is related to self confidence therefore if the organization has in place proper channels of communication subordinates are motivated in the sense that they get feedback for information that would have been passed. If subordinates are given room to respond to instructions in any way, that is, by asking questions or even suggestive questions, it shows to them that they are involved as part of the organization and the sense of belongingness motivates employees. Motivated employees are productive, so in essence one can say effective communication motivates employees hence increases productivity of workers as it even facilitates delegation of duties, reducing overlapping responsibility and work overload. Finally communication increases job satisfaction. Communication facilitates decision making, if two directional communication is used, lower level managers getting a chance to be heard by top management with their work needs being met, proper organizational decisions can be made. Operational managers and their subordinates are believed to have a closer contact with customers and clients, therefore they know better what the customers need at a specific time and the proper decisions are made as to what should the organization do to meet the demands of the consumers(delivering the right merchandise to the right people at he right time and place). Communication also increases participation, that is, if a goal is communicated throughout the organization, the subordinates with the aim of achieving self esteem would want to participate in the attainment of the desired outcome motivated by the rewards they expect from participation, effort and performance(Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory). Production of defects is also reduced by effective communication. Subordinates usually work under instruction, that is, there should however be proper clarification on what really needs to be produced, boiled or roasted chicken. If there are no proper channels of communication, producers end up producing the products that are not required. Effective communication also facilitates coordination between individuals and departments within an organization (production department and the marketing team or the research and development department). Communication reduces and resolves conflicts, for instance resource allocation conflicts, the marketing department and the production department need to communicate well on how the finance department has allocated financial resources for their purposes, failure to communicate results in departmental conflicts. However it is through communication that both individual conflicts and departmental conflicts can be resolved. Leaders should create open communication and state clearly what they could have seen that, heard or experienced that would have influenced their views in the matter at hand as conflict often arises from misunderstanding and misconceptions of what people meant. Everyone allowed should then be allowed to say what is important to them (communicate openly) why is it important and what they are hoping for. Effective communication gives the subordinates the ability to express new ideas and therefore policies and standards can be easily formulated and monitored. For organizations that use budgeting as a planning tool, communication is needed in the process of formulating budgets since the process involves individuals from all departments (functions) to participate in the formulation of functional budgets. Communication helps ensure uniformity and timing of the budgets hence proper allocation of financial resources. Open communication increases trust among subordinates, that is, they will have shared agendas and objectives are revealed to everyone. Open communication is therefore preferable since the parties involved can scrutinize the message fro hidden agendas and meanings without trying to understand the message itself, hence creates supportive climates for subordinates, team building and team work and coordination. Managers use downward communication to direct, inform, coordinate and evaluate subordinates and also to provide job descriptions, rules and policies as well as procedures to the subordinates and the subordinates use upward communication to supply information to the upper levels about what is happening at the lower levels and this comes in form of questions feedback and suggestions. However in the process of communicating, the parties involved encounter certain barriers that may haunt communication, these may include differing perceptions, language, noise inconsistent verbal and non-verbal communication, emotionality, information overload, filtering of information and increased specialization as in lateral communication. Differing perceptions, that is when the receiver often sees or hears information depending on his/her needs, motivations, experience and background. Language refers to the words used, words mean different things to different people for example the term ‘short term’ in the research and development would mean six to nine years while in the hotel industry the period may range from four to six months. Language difference may also come in the form of jargon. Non-verbal communication is often accompanied by oral communication for example showing anger in the tone of the voice. Emotional reactions such as anger, jealous, hate and fear influence how we understand others’ messages. Information overload occurs when the information received exceeds the capabilities of the human information system, that is, when the subordinate is overloaded with reports, manuals, letters, memos, which he/she has to go through within a limited time as a result the subordinate will ignore some of the things or there will be delay on his part which will hinder communication within the organization. Information can be shortened or lengthened such that at the end the original information can be distorted. To sum up one can say that regardless of the above mentioned shortcomings communication remains the backbone of any organization since there are certain measures that can be put in place to overcome the barriers, some of which are that parties involved should carefully understand the background of each other and thoroughly explain the message, emphasizing and seeing the situation from the other person’s point of view to remove ambiguity in messages. Using simple language and ask for feedback, confirming and restating the main points of the message. Gestures, postures and facial expressions and other non-verbal communication should agree with the message. Subordinates should talk about their concerns and should pay special attention to what they say. Organizations can also introduce casual recreational activities so that managers can meet their subordinates on an informal basis for example organizing a sports day where organizational problems can be discussed on an informal basis. In general, removing communication in an organization, we are going to have dead entity, good for nothing and worth been shut down. Communication is the backbone for organizations success since it increases the will to work, skill to work, and thrill to work.