2.6 Communication

Full video class on YouTube, summary and notes on Instagram, class extracts on TikTok, text below. Have fun!

The main point of this class is to understand the process of communication and differences between formal & informal communication, and to suggest how to overcome communication barriers.

Communication is the process of exchanging information via different media. The process of communication can be described in the following way: sender sends the message using a certain medium (one) or media (several) to the receiver, and then gets feedback from the receiver. Sender is a person, or a group of people who create the message, for example boss, colleagues, subordinates, customers, etc. Message can be something that is said, written, or even drawn. Media are the different ways to transmit the message: email, talking, notice board, Instagram, Telegram, Youtube, etc. Receiver is the person or group of people who the message is for. And feedback is the response to the message.

Communication can be described in many ways, i.e. there are many categories of communication:

Verbal, written, visual. Verbal refers to what is said. Written — to texts that are typed or written. Visual refers to pictures, images, films, animation.

Horizontal and vertical. Horizontal communication happens between members of the same level of hierarchy in an organisation. Vertical communication goes through different levels.

Vertical upward and vertical downward. If a manager is sending a message to subordinates (down the hierarchy), then it’s vertical downward communication. If a subordinate requests something from a manager, then it’s vertical upward communication.

One-way and two-way. One-way communication is the one that has no feedback, for example, a poster on a notice board. Two-way communication is the one that has feedback, for example your chat with friends on your favourite messenger.

Internal and external. Internal communication happens within the organisation among internal stakeholders (employees and managers). External communication happens with people and groups of people that are outside the organisation (customers, government, suppliers, potential investors).

Formal and informal. Formal communication is the one that goes through official channels of communication. Informal communication is the one that goes through unofficial channels of communication. It is also called “grapevine”.

Since our objective is to learn to evaluate formal and informal communication, let’s discuss the features of these two communication types, so that you could discuss and suggest the most appropriate communication method in a given situation. As always, it might be a good idea for you guys to fill in the table below as you read through this chapter.

Formal communication happens via official channels of communication, for example company email, annual report, chain of command, notice boards. This type of communication is usually recorded, because most of it is written. It means that all messages sent through official channels can be used as evidence of organisational achievements, instructions, tasks, reports, etc. Usually the purpose of formal communication is to finalise decision-making by making an announcement or to guide employees. Most of the time, formal communication is vertical, because it is usually communication between managers and subordinates across different levels of hierarchy, either upward or downward.

Informal communication (grapevine) happens via unofficial channels of communication, such as conversations with colleagues, rumours, gossips, or messages sent via personal messengers or on personal profiles on social media. This type of communication is usually not recorded. Even if it is recorded, the records are not kept by the company and cannot be used as evidence of job-related issues. Sometimes, before making a formal announcement, management decides to start a rumour or spread the message through grapevine to see how people would react to it before the formal announcement. Informal communication is mostly horizontal and usually happens between colleagues who are on the same level of organisational hierarchy.

Communication barriers are the circumstances that prevent effective communication. They can either be caused by an issue in the process of communication or they can be caused by other factors. Let’s consider both scenarios.

If communication barrier is caused by an error in the communication process (see figure 1 in the previous part of class), then it means that there is something wrong with either sender, or receiver, or message, or media, or feedback. For example, if a company intern sends an email with an announcement about a new company policy, then everything is fine except for the sender. This kind of announcement should come from someone in a senior position, of course. Another example could be putting an answer to an employee’s private request onto a public notice board — in this case, the medium selected is inappropriate. You might want to think about examples of communication barriers that are caused by the other 3 elements of the communication process.

In addition to errors in the process of communication, other factors that might cause communication barriers include (but are not limited to) stakeholder conflict, change, M&As and cultural clash. Review the corresponding classes by following the links, if you forgot what these things mean.

Step one in overcoming the barriers to communication is to identify the cause. If it is caused by an error in communication process, then it is important to identify which element(s) exactly caused the barrier: sender, receiver, message, feedback or media. If the barrier is caused by other factors, it is important to collect enough evidence in support of the given factor and choose an appropriate way to deal with it.

Once the cause of the barrier is identified, step two is eliminating the barrier. Some of the tools that can be used to overcome communication barriers are Kotter & Schlesinger’s “change theory”, leadership styles, organisational culture models, Force Field Analysis. As always, follow the links to review or learn more about the ways to overcome barriers to communication.

Make sure you can define all of these:

1. Communication
2. Sender
3. Message
4. Media
5. Receiver
6. Feedback
7. Verbal communication
8. Written communication
9. Visual communication
10. Horizontal communication
11. Vertical communication
12. Vertical upward communication
13. Vertical downward communication
14. One-way communication
15. Two-way communication
16. Internal communication
17. External communication
18. Formal communication
19. Informal communication
20. Grapevine
21. Communication barrier