Effective communication is a crucial component of any organization that enables employees to exchange ideas and information and shapes public perception. How a company communicates with its intended audience can significantly impact its growth and success, making it essential for them to prioritize mastering organizational communication. In this blog, we will discuss:
- What organizational communication is and why it matters
- Different types of organizational communication
- Elements of compelling communication in an organization
- Best practices for improving organizational communication
Understanding organizational communication
Organizational communication goes beyond message exchange and heavily impacts company function. It emphasizes positive interactions and relationship building while also impacting how well information is delivered and received.
What is organizational communication?
Organizational communication refers to exchanging information, ideas, and messages within a structured environment, such as a business. It includes formal and informal communications, like memos, emails, and social interactions among employees at all levels of the organization. The purpose of organizational communication is multi-faceted, including conveying instructions, sharing knowledge, coordinating activities, resolving conflicts, building relationships, providing updates, and shaping organizational culture.
Why is it important?
Effective communication is fundamental to building and maintaining healthy relationships, both in personal and professional domains. Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts and adversely affect relationships. In the context of organizations, communication matters because it plays a vital role in facilitating collaboration, decision-making, and problem-solving, ultimately determining its success.
When organizations fail to communicate effectively, employees, customers, and overall business can suffer. In contrast, clear and transparent communication can:
- Help organizations thrive
- Build positive relationships
- Enable organizations to overcome challenges
- Foster a sense of belonging among employees
- Keep employees informed and focused on company goals
- Ensure prompt and efficient reactions to unforeseen circumstances
Types of organizational communication
There are different forms of organizational communication, each with a distinct purpose and utilizing various channels.
Formal and informal
Formal communication is a professional way for an organization to share information through official channels. It is usually delivered by an authority figure within the organization to individuals such as employees, customers, or the general public. It includes messages and interactions regarding company announcements, policies and procedures, and updates within the organizational framework.
Some examples of formal communication include official memos and emails, meetings and presentations, a company handbook, or posts on the company's social media account.
Informal communication refers to spontaneous conversations and interactions via unofficial channels. It may involve colleagues at the same level within the company structure. For instance, two employees having a casual conversation at a company outing, over lunch, or via Slack is an example of informal communication.
Internal and external
Internal communication refers to exchanging information within an organization through formal and informal channels. For instance, an HR manager may communicate changes to employee benefits via email, while the executive team may provide updates on the company's quarterly performance during a meeting.
External communication refers to the interactions between an organization and its external stakeholders, such as customers, shareholders, and the public. This type of communication involves various channels, including marketing efforts, human resource communications, press releases, investor relations communications, and social media engagement. For instance, a company's Instagram post promoting a new product's launch or a press release announcing an acquisition is an example of external communication.
Oral and written
Oral communication involves spoken interactions, such as face-to-face conversations, presentations, meetings, and phone calls. It allows for nonverbal cues, like body language and tone of voice.
Written communication involves exchanging information through typed or written means, such as emails, memos, reports, and intranet posts.
Directional
Directional communication refers to the transfer of information within the organizational structure. Understanding the different communication flows helps companies enhance communication effectiveness and achieve their objectives.
Vertical communication flows up and down the organizational structure, transmitting information between different levels of authority. Directions from top management to employees or suggestions and feedback from employees to management are examples of vertical communication.
Horizontal communication enables coordination and collaboration among peers, such as two software developers working together to troubleshoot a software bug.
Diagonal communication is the interaction between individuals or teams from different ranks and job functions who work together to solve problems, promote innovation, or share ideas. For instance, a people operations employee may collaborate with a social media manager to create a social media post that showcases the employee of the month.
Downward communication occurs when messages flow from upper management to lower-level employees, such as a C-level executive leading an all-hands meeting to relay information on an upcoming merger.
Best practices and strategies for organizational communication
Clear and concise communication is essential for an organization's success. Messages must be easy to understand, consistent, and on time. Encouraging employee feedback is also an excellent way to create a culture of openness and engagement.
Adopting communication strategies and methods that are adaptable to diverse audiences, preferences, and contexts is also crucial. Here are some best practices and techniques that can help you improve organizational communication:
Create a communication plan
Create a comprehensive corporate communication plan outlining your communication goals, strategies, target audience, and key messages. This plan will act as a guide for organizing, implementing, and assessing your communication efforts, ensuring that they are consistent, useful, and aligned with your organization's overall objectives.
Establish clear communication channels
Clear communication channels reduce the risk of misunderstandings or miscommunication by ensuring that information reaches the intended recipients promptly and efficiently. To set clear communication channels, identify and implement formal and informal methods to share and exchange information within the organization. These channels may include email, meetings, newsletters, intranet platforms, social media, and collaboration tools.
Encourage two-way communication
Two-way communication fosters dialogue, collaboration, and engagement, enabling organizations to leverage their workforce's collective intelligence and creativity. Additionally, it demonstrates your organization's commitment to transparency, openness, and respect for your employees' diverse viewpoints. You can establish two-way communication by encouraging employees to provide feedback, ask questions, and share ideas.
Provide training and development
When your employees possess the necessary skills to communicate effectively, they can help establish a culture of open communication and collaboration within the organization while boosting productivity and employee satisfaction. Consider providing training and development opportunities to enhance employees' communication skills, such as verbal, written, nonverbal, interpersonal, conflict resolution, or cross-cultural communication.
Promote active listening
Active listening is vital for effective communication. It involves complete concentration, understanding, and retention of information. The technique includes restating, summarizing, asking for clarification, and using nonverbal cues. Encourage active listening within your organization to help build empathy, trust, and rapport.
Be consistent with communications
Consistency in communication is important to guarantee that your messages are clear, aligned, and delivered uniformly across different channels and platforms. This helps to build credibility and reliability among your stakeholders. Your organization should maintain consistency in your communications' tone, style, branding, and timing to ensure clarity.
Use the right tools and technology
Selecting and leveraging appropriate communication tools and technology platforms facilitates practical organizational communication. This includes email systems, social media channels, video conferencing tools, project management platforms, and communication platforms. Whether your employees work remotely or on-site, you should implement tools and technology to support collaboration, information sharing, and engagement.
Get creative in your delivery
Using creative and engaging communication strategies can enhance the effectiveness of your messages, making them more memorable and impactful. These strategies may include storytelling, visual presentations, multimedia content, or interactive experiences. Add creativity to your delivery methods to break through communication barriers and capture your audience's attention, interest, and imagination.
Improve your organization's communication efforts
While these tips can help elevate your organization's communications, remember that it's an ongoing process. There's always room for improvement and new ways to drive collaboration, positive relationships, and clarity regarding your organization and target audience.
