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Communication Defined:

Communication is a process of exchanging verbal and non verbal messages.

It is a continuous process. Message must be conveyed through some

medium to the recipient, and is essential that this message must be understood by the recipient in same terms as intended by the sender.

Thus, communication is a two way process and is incomplete without a feedback from the recipient to the sender on how well the message is understood by him.

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Communication

Effective Communication is significant for managers in the organizations so as to perform the basic functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling.

Communication helps managers to perform their jobs and responsibilities.

Communication serves as a foundation for planning.

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Importance of Communication in an Organization

Organizing also requires effective communication with others about their job task.

Controlling is not possible without written and oral communication.

Thus, we can say that “effective communication is a building block of successful organizations”. In other words, communication acts as organizational blood.

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4Importance of Communication in an Organization

Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is not up to the mark.

Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.

Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well informed individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual.

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Importance of Communication in an Organization

Communication also helps in socializing. In today’s life the only presence of another individual fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without communication.

Communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of management.

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Main Components of Communication Process 

1. Context - Communication is affected by the context in which it takes place. This context may be physical, social, chronological or cultural. Every communication proceeds with context.

2. Sender / Encoder - Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender makes use of symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required response.

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Main Components of Communication Process 

3. Message - Message is a key idea that the sender wants to communicate. It is a sign that elicits the response of recipient. Communication process begins with deciding about the message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear.

4. Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message else the message might not be conveyed to the desired recipients

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Main Components of Communication Process

5. Recipient / Decoder - Recipient / Decoder is a person for whom the message is intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of recipient, their responsiveness to the message, and the reliance of encoder on decoder.

6. Feedback - Feedback is the main component of communication process as it permits the sender to analyze the efficacy of the message. It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by the decoder. Feedback may be verbal (through words) or non-verbal (in form of smiles, sighs, etc.). It may take written form also in form of memos, reports, etc.

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In an organization, communication flows in 5 main directions:

1. Downward2. Upward3. Lateral4. Diagonal5. External

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Communication that flows from a higher level in an organization to a lower level is a downward communication.

Downward communication is used by the managers for the following purposes -

1. Providing feedback on employees performance;2. Giving job instructions;3. Providing a complete understanding of the

employees job as well as to communicate them how their job is related to other jobs in the organization;

4. Communicating the organization’s mission and vision to the employees; and

5. Highlighting the areas of attention.

Downward Flow of Communication

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• Communication that flows to a higher level in an organization is called upward communication. It provides feedback on how well the organization is functioning. The subordinates use upward communication to convey their problems and performances to their superiors.

• Grievance Redressal System, Complaint and Suggestion Box, Job Satisfaction surveys, etc., all help in improving upward communication. Other examples of Upward Communication are -performance reports made by low level management for reviewing by higher level management, employee attitude surveys, letters from employees, employee-manager discussions etc.

Upward Flow of Communication

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12- Communication that takes place at same levels of

hierarchy in an organization is called lateral communication, i.e., communication between peers, between managers at same levels or between any horizontally equivalent organizational member. The advantages of horizontal communication are as follows:

It is time saving;It facilitates coordination of the task;It facilitates cooperation among team members;It provides emotional and social assistance to the

organizational members;It helps in solving various organizational problems;It is a means of information sharing; andIt can also be used for resolving conflicts of a department

with other department or conflicts within a department.

Lateral/Horizontal Communication

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> Communication that takes place between a manager and employees of other workgroups is called diagonal communication. It generally does not appear on organizational chart. For instance - To design a training module a training manager interacts with Operation personnel to inquire about the way they perform their task.

Diagonal Communication

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External Communication

> Communication that takes place between a manager and external groups such as - suppliers, vendors, banks, financial institutes, etc. For instance - To raise capital the Managing director would interact with the Bank Manager.

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Feedback Communication

Feedback is essential in communication so as to know whether the recipient has understood the message in the same terms as intended by the sender and whether he agrees to that message or not.

There are lot of ways in which company takes feedback from their employees, such as : Employee surveys, memos, emails, open-door policies, company news letter, etc

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Communication Barriers

Communication is a process beginning with a sender who encodes the message and passes it through some channel to the receiver who decodes the message.

Communication is fruitful if and only if the messages sent by the sender are interpreted with same meaning by the receiver. If any kind of disturbance blocks any step of communication, the message will be destroyed. Due to such disturbances, managers in an organization face severe problems. Thus, the managers must locate such barriers and take steps to get rid of them.

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Following are the main communication barriers:

Perceptual and Language Differences

Information OverloadInattentionTime PressuresEmotionsComplexity in Organizational Structure

Poor retention

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Seven C’s of Effective Communication

CompletenessConcisenessConsiderationClarityConcretenessCourtesyCorrectness

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Power and Authority Relations

Delegation of Authority - means division of authority and powers downwards to the subordinate. Delegation is about entrusting someone else to do parts of your job. Delegation of authority can be defined as subdivision and sub-allocation of powers to the subordinates in order to achieve effective results.

Elements of Delegation: Authority, Responsibility, Accountability

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Steps for Achieving Delegation

1. Assignment of Duties - The delegator first tries to define the task and duties to the subordinate.

2. Granting of authority - Subdivision of authority takes place when a superior divides and shares his authority with the subordinate.

3. Creating Responsibility and Accountability - The delegation process does not end once powers are granted to the subordinates. They at the same time have to be obligatory towards the duties assigned to them. Responsibility is said to be the factor or obligation of an individual to carry out his duties in best of his ability as per the directions of superior. Responsibility is very important. Therefore, it is that which gives effectiveness to authority.

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21Relationship between Authority and Responsibility

Authority Responsibility

It is the legal right of a person or a superior to

command his subordinates.

Authority is attached to the position of a superior in

concern.

Authority can be delegated by a superior to a subordinate

It flows from top to bottom.

It is the obligation of subordinate to perform the

work assigned to him.

Responsibility arises out of superior-subordinate relationship in which

subordinate agrees to carry out duty given to him.

Responsibility cannot be shifted and is absolute

It flows from bottom to top.

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Authority vs. Leadership

The authority exercised is a kind of legitimate power and people follow figures exercising it, because their positions demand so irrespective of the person holding the position. 

Leaders in organizations and elsewhere may have formal authorities but they mostly rely on the informal authority that they exercise on people to influence them. Leaders are trusted for their judgment and respected for their expertise, integrity, etc., and hence followed and not because they hold a certain position.

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Authority vs. Leadership

Formal authority and power emerging from being a leader, might not always be able to influence people in the desired manner as; in times of crisis and difficulties, people view it as coercion; while leadership tends to create followers out of free will and choice without forcing them to accept anything thrown their way.

Authority rarely provides a scope for feedback, constructive criticism or opinions of the people on whom it is exercised however leaders provide ample platform to their followers to voice their thoughts and feedback.

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Authority vs. Leadership

Authority can hardly make people change their attitudes and behaviors with lasting effects and results however a leader inspires followers through self modelled ways and hence leadership displays greater effectiveness in addressing attitudes and behaviors of people.

Exercising authority sometimes limits the approaches to arrive at solutions for issues and problems while leadership encourages people to look beyond the obvious and think innovatively and sometimes emerge with radical solutions.

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Authority vs. Leadership

Apart from it, the biggest difference between the two as cited by Stephen R. Covey is the moral authority held by leaders over the followers which is absent in the case of power from authority. Within the organizational setup when leaders also have moral authority on their subordinates by establishing a synchrony in their words and actions; the rest of the structure and processes of the organization also get aligned to it, thus creating a robust and transparent culture.

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Centralization and Decentralization

Centralization is said to be a process where the concentration of decision making is in a few hands. All the important decision and actions at the lower level, all subjects and actions at the lower level are subject to the approval of top management. According to Allen, “Centralization” is the systematic and consistent reservation of authority at central points in the organization. The implication of centralization can be :-

1. Reservation of decision making power at top level.2. Reservation of operating authority with the middle

level managers.3. Reservation of operation at lower level at the

directions of the top level.

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Centralization and Decentralization

Decentralization is a systematic delegation of authority at all levels of management and in all of the organization. In a decentralization concern, authority is retained by the top management for taking major decisions and framing policies concerning the whole concern. Rest of the authority may be delegated to the middle level and lower level of management.

• The degree of centralization and decentralization will depend upon the amount of authority delegated to the lowest level. According to Allen, “Decentralization refers to the systematic effort to delegate to the lowest level of authority except that which can be controlled and exercised at central points.

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Implications of Decentralization

1. There is less burden on the Chief Executive as in the case of centralization.

2. In decentralization, the subordinates get a chance to decide and act independently which develops skills and capabilities. This way the organization is able to process reserve of talents in it.

3. In decentralization, diversification and horizontal can be easily implanted.

4. In decentralization, concern diversification of activities can place effectively since there is more scope for creating new departments. Therefore, diversification growth is of a degree.

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Implications of DecentralizationIn decentralization structure, operations can be coordinated

at divisional level which is not possible in the centralization set up.

In the case of decentralization structure, there is greater motivation and morale of the employees since they get more independence to act and decide.

In a decentralization structure, co-ordination to some extent is difficult to maintain as there are lot many department divisions and authority is delegated to maximum possible extent, i.e., to the bottom most level delegation reaches. Centralization and decentralization are the categories by which the pattern of authority relationships became clear. The degree of centralization and de-centralization can be affected by many factors like nature of operation, volume of profits, number of departments, size of a concern, etc. The larger the size of a concern, a decentralization set up is suitable in it.

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MARAMING SALAMAT PO!