Communication
Contents
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Methods
Motivation and communication
Effective communication
Barriers to effective communication
How to improve communication
Difficulties with larger organisations
Communication
• Transferring information from one part of the business to
another that leads to some outcome, changed behaviour or
changed practice
• Formal Communication – established and agreed
procedures
• Informal Communication – channels not formally
recognised – ‘the grapevine’
Communication
• Process:
Finance Dept
Change in
payment
systems
Sender or
Instigator
E-mail
Channel
Medium
Feedback
Receiver
Communication
• Methods:
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Verbal – face to face
Written
Electronic
Visual
Audio
Group meetings
Notice boards
Text
Communication and Motivation
• Better communication increases motivation as workers
respond from attention (Mayo)
• In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs communication is key to
achieving the higher level needs
• Employee empowerment needs good communication so
workers know what they are doing
• Teams need to be able to communicate to work effectively
together
Motivation and Communication
• If employees are well motivated can impact
communication as they are more likely to speak to
senior employees
• Poor levels of motivation are likely to have a
negative impact on communication
• Communication and motivation are related – if one
increases it is likely to have a positive impact on the
other
Effective communication
• Effective communication has the following benefits:
– It makes change easier – this is particularly important to
businesses who are in industries which are changing
rapidly
– It increases commitment from employees
– It increases coordination
– It helps ensure that all employees are working towards
the same objectives
Communication
• Barriers to Successful Communication
– Ability of the sender – how much the sender understands of the message
they are trying to send
– Content – including technicalities and jargon
– Method of communication – including style and body language where
appropriate!
– Skills and attitude of the receiver
– Organisational factors – complexity of the organisation, scope of the
organisation
– Cultural attitudes
– Perceptions, prejudices and stereotypes
– Inappropriate target for the message
– Technical capabilities – ICT
How to improve communication
• Communication can be improved by:
– Staff training in communication skills
– Keeping information to a minimum
– Increasing awareness of cultural and linguistic
differences
Difficulties for larger organisations
• As organisations grow they often experience
problems with communication which can lead to
diseconomies of scale
• These may be caused by:
– Communication overload
– Too many levels in the hierarchy
– Decentralisation
Difficulties for larger organisations
• Larger organisations need to manage
communication to ensure it is effective
• They can use ICT to speed up communication
throughout the business
• Clear messages need to be communicated down
the chain of command
Summary
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Communication is the passing of information between parties
Communication can be classified as formal and planned or informal
There are many methods of communication including written, verbal, audio etc
Motivation and communication – In businesses where there is good communication
levels of motivation tend to increase
If workers are motivated they tend to communicate better
Effective communication brings many benefits to the business including increasing
flexibility of the business and providing direction
Barriers to effective communication mean that communication can fail to meet its
purpose
Communication can be improved with staff training, keeping information to a
minimum and increasing awareness of linguistic and cultural difficulties
Larger organisations often experience problems with communication causing
diseconomies of scale