Communication is critical to the success of any organization. This is a kind of "circulatory system" of any enterprise. Successful executives, top managers and competent specialists have achieved success largely due to communication skills. How to strengthen and simultaneously develop interpersonal, group and organizational communications will be described in detail in our article.
Communication process - what is it?
Communication is the information exchange procedure, on the basis of which the manager acquires the information necessary for making effective decisions, and also brings the decisions made to the employees of the enterprise. In the case of poor communications, the decisions may be erroneous. People will not understand well what their bosses demand from them, and this is fraught with a rupture of interpersonal relations. The effectiveness of communication processes is often determined by the quality of decisions and how they will be implemented in the future.
Information plays a special role in the implementation of interpersonal and organizational communications. This is the result of communication, an external manifestation of a communicative procedure. Information occupies a special place in the verbal behavior of a person. She moves from one subject to another. In this case, the subjects here may be individual individuals, groups or entire organizations.
Communication can be carried out by transmitting ideas, opinions, skills, facts, perceptions or feelings. It requires the desired response in response. It should be borne in mind that the system of organizational communication and information are various phenomena, albeit related. So, communication is not only what is transmitted, but also how this “something” is transmitted. Information is only an integral part of the communication process.
Organizational communication system
Communication is a process in which two or more people share certain information. The main goal of organizational communication is to achieve an understanding of the information that is to be exchanged. Indeed, the fact of exchange does not guarantee the success of the procedure being implemented.
The organizational communication system consists of several entities:
- sender - a person who generates an idea or selects information for transmission;
- channel - means of transmitting aggregate information;
- beneficiary - a person receiving information and interpreting it;
- messages - directly information encoded in a series of specific characters.
The sender and the receiver are two main entities. During the communication process, they go through several interconnected stages. Their task is to compose a message and use the channel to transmit it in such a way that both parties equally interpret the original idea. This is a rather difficult task, since each further step can distort the meaning of the idea.
Here's what the four phases of interpersonal and organizational communication look like:
- idea generation;
- coding and selection of the desired information transmission channel;
- information transfer;
- decoding.
Each step should be described in more detail.
Elements of communication
Often, the communication procedure can take only a couple of seconds, and therefore, it is quite difficult to select any specific stages in it. Nevertheless, sociologists have identified and analyzed the four main stages of the communication process.
The first step is called generating an idea. Organizational communication is a procedure that begins with the formulation of certain information. The sender solves the problem by delivering a message. Often, such attempts fail at the first stage, since the sender does not devote enough time to thinking about the idea.
Many experts emphasize the importance, even the predominant importance of the first stage. “Don't start talking without starting to think,” Jefferson Davis, a hero of the US Civil War , once said. You should always think about the idea that you want to convey to the recipient. You need to be sure of the appropriateness and adequacy of this idea, as well as the specific situation and purpose.
The second stage is called coding and channel selection. The organizational culture of communication requires reforming the idea that the sender wants to convey into specific characters. It can be words, gestures, intonations, or something else. It is coding that turns the idea into a complete message.
For a quality idea, the sender must choose a channel that is compatible with the type of characters used for encoding. The most famous are spoken language, writing and all kinds of electronic means: video recordings, e-mail, computers, etc. The transfer of material is not possible if the channel is not suitable for the physical form of the selected characters. It should also be noted that the effectiveness of communication processes can be reduced if the channel does not correspond to the idea developed in the first stage.
The third step in the procedure of interpersonal, group or organizational communication is the direct transfer of information. The sender uses the channel to deliver the message - there is a physical transmission of the encoded idea.
Finally, the last step is called decoding. The recipient translates the received characters composed by the sender into his own thoughts. The completion of communication is associated with the formulation of the idea by two subjects of the process.
Types of communication
Organizational communication is a broad and very voluminous process, containing many different elements. According to the most common classification, the communicative procedure is divided into internal and external. The external process is the interaction between the organization and the external environment. Moreover, external factors strongly affect the organization.
Enterprises use a variety of means to communicate with the components of their external environment. Existing potential consumers receive the necessary information through advertising or other means of promoting goods. Of paramount importance is the specific image that makes up the organizational image.
The second type of communication is called internal. These are intra-organizational relations between different levels and departments. They can be formal and informal.
Formal communicative communications are phenomena determined by the organizational structure of an enterprise, the interconnection of management levels and functional units. Informal communications are the so-called “rumor channel”. Information circulated in the form of rumors is not always considered inaccurate. Studies show that more than 80% of organizational rumors have a very real and reasonable event base.
Organizational communication is the broadest system of informal channels. This may include the following types of information:
- change in organizational structure;
- upcoming promotions and transfers;
- detailed statement of organizational disputes;
- upcoming reductions in production volume;
- informal meetings, etc.
According to another classification, the structure of organizational communications is formed by levels. So, information transfer processes can be implemented vertically - that is, be descending and ascending. A descending group of information processes is the transfer of information from a higher level to a lower one - for example, when an employee is asked about tasks, priorities, desired results, etc. Ascending communications are carried out in the form of proposals, reports, explanatory notes, etc.
It is also necessary to highlight the communication processes between departments, between the working group and the bosses, representatives of the trade union and leadership, etc.
Types of communication barriers
The effectiveness of the organizational culture of communication can significantly decrease due to the so-called barriers - interpersonal barriers. At the system level, they are divided into several types.
The first barrier may be due to perceptual conditions. The work of the manager or any other representative of the governing structure is to realize the essence of perception, to define "reality for the individual." It is known that people do not react to actual phenomena in their environment, but to the ways of perceiving these phenomena. Having understood the factors that influence perception, many barriers can be overcome.
The most common example of a barrier to perception is the conflict between the areas of activity of the receiver and sender. The same information can be interpreted differently depending on their experience. People can receive information selectively, taking into account their interests, views, requirements and emotional state.
The next organizational barrier to communication is called semantic. Semantics is the science of options for using words and giving them meaning. Often certain words lead to misunderstanding, as they can change their meaning depending on the context.
Non-verbal barriers constitute the third group of communicative barriers. We are talking about any characters except words. This is a smile, a tense face, frowning eyebrows, eye contact and much more. Intonation is especially important here - how the words are pronounced. One and the same phrase can be given a different character, a different emotional tone.
Ineffective feedback is the fourth problematic factor in organizational communication. Everyone knows the significance of at least some reaction to the sent message. Otherwise, one of the parties will consider the communication failed.
Problem solving in organizational communication system
At present, several strategies have been developed that allow us to effectively overcome communication barriers and increase the efficiency of information transfer at the level of organizational employees.
Firstly, the management of the enterprise should pay attention to the development of communication skills of its employees. The most popular method of interaction between subjects is active listening. The meaning of this technique is the listener's ability to help the speaker say exactly what he intended to convey from the beginning. There are several principles of active listening:
- ask questions, but do not interrupt the speaker;
- to place the interlocutor to himself, to form a friendly and warm atmosphere;
- be patient and avoid conflicts at the stage of obtaining information;
- to show sympathy and your interest in the interlocutor;
- try to neutralize distractions, avoid outside interference.
Secondly, the authorities should clarify their own wishes and ideas before transmitting them. It is necessary to regularly think over and analyze the issues and problems that need to be made the objects of transmission.
Effective organizational communication can be achieved through the use of such techniques as establishing feedback, "a look from the outside," susceptibility to potential problems, etc.
Interpersonal communication
Any form of organizational communication will be considered successful only if its basic elements — interpersonal communication phenomena — turn out to be qualitatively formed. How to correctly design communication between two or more subjects? To begin with, several principles should be considered:
- the irreversibility of the destruction of what was said or sent;
- feedback as an indispensable condition of the communicative process;
- the irreversibility and inevitability of interpersonal communication in society.
There are three main forms of communication. This is a dialogue known to all, a monologue and a polylogue. It is the latter form that plays a special role in building the organizational form of communication.
Ways to optimize communication processes
Particular attention should be paid to feedback. This is an essential element of organizational communication. The role of this component cannot be underestimated. It is the response that makes the communication process the most high-quality and effective.
It should be borne in mind that feedback should be timely and clearly built. It should contain a paraphrased original message and a number of clarifying questions. It is undesirable to give estimates to the original message - both negative and positive.
The most frequent and reliable way to establish feedback is to formulate questions. Most often they are needed to compare the received message with what the recipient originally wanted to hear. The same applies to the sender: he can ask additional questions to the recipient in order to compare the sent material with what it was originally necessary to formulate.
For effective management of organizational communications, it is necessary to try to develop technical communication skills among employees - namely, writing memoranda, using fax, e-mail, etc.
Management systems and a communication culture should be clearly defined. Modern organizations can use corporate-style hotlines - when employees can use information exchange at any time, ask clarifying questions, express their thoughts and value judgments, organize joint picnics, tours, etc. All these are informal examples of organizational communication.
So, there are a fairly large number of ways to increase the effectiveness of organizational communication. At the same time, one question remains relevant: why do we need data exchange and communication procedures? What meaning do they have and what meaning do they bear? We will try to understand further.
The Importance of Communication in the Organizational Process
The modern segment of the development of communicative processes allows us to evaluate this phenomenon as a product due to the needs of social production. Traditional factors such as labor, land and capital will only work if the data exchange and communication procedures are used efficiently.
Communication is understood as a system of information transfer and response. This is an exchange of knowledge, intellectual property, various kinds of information, etc. The procedure for specialization of managerial communicative activity stands out as a special kind of professional service, the purpose of which is the effective formation and competent development of all types of organizational capital. It is possible to achieve the designated goal only through the use of special technologies, tools, methods and mechanisms of information transfer.
It is known that without communication there is no communication, and without communication there can be no talk about the existence of any group. Thus, communication is a determining condition for the development of the group and its life.
All communications can be divided into two groups: formal and informal. The first group includes elements of the prescribed type, that is, those that take place in the control process. Informal types of communication are less specific. They arise spontaneously and are most often not discussed. Moreover, each employee is aware of the fact of their existence.
A manager or other manager should be well versed in communication. His responsibilities include the correct use of the tools received in the communication process, overcoming barriers and barriers.
The organizational behavior of communication is to transmit information to managers, and decisions to performers. Without communication processes, building an organization is impossible, as well as ensuring the coordination of human activity.
Thus, the information transfer procedure helps in everything: it allows you to provide a connection between a specific organization and the external environment, organize the interaction of all management functions and the consistency of decisions.
Types of communication networks
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Closed networks are limited in their ways of disseminating information. They are used by organizations that keep trade secrets.