Solution to tbe Problems of

Urganizational Communication
Barriers to good communication appear when the person sending a message uses
the wrong communication style Ior a situation or Iails to express his thoughts
adequately. The receiver oI the message must be able to interpret what the sender
says.onIusion occurs when that doesn`t happen. When the sender can`t
anticipate possible causes oI conIusion, poor communication also tends to occur.
Similarly, Iailing to give background inIormation or suIIicient details can also lead
to problems. Lack oI perspective on how people may receive the message,
particularly on a complex issue, may lead to diIIiculties. hoosing the wrong
mechanism, such as email, voicemail, letter or conversation, can complicate things
as well. Poorly organized or written documents, including typos and mistakes, can
also lead to misconceptions.
Lffects
The problems in organizational communication has certain eIIects. ommunication
problems lead to distrust and low morale. ulture clashes occur when people Irom
diIIerent backgrounds Iail to acknowledge and value diIIerences in the workplace.
Poor communication disrupts productivity and results in lower product quality and
customer satisIaction. Problems with communicating occur through the
communication process. When the sender provides an overly complicated or
incomplete message, conIusion results. II the recipient Iails to take the time to
listen and reIlect on what has been said, misunderstandings occur. Good
communication requires everyone to participate Iully.
revent|on
Prevention oI a problem is better than solution. To prevent communication
problems, employees should assess their communication style, which describes
how assertive and expressive they behave when they communicate. In addition,
they should determine the communication style oI the audience they are trying to
reach. Using probing and open-ended questions enables better dialog. Using
reIlecting statements help build rapport and trust. Paraphrasing, or repeating what
was said, also helps to avoid conIlict and unnecessary conIrontations in the
workplace by Iacilitating understanding.

4 Solutions to Organizational Communication

Promises, promises, promise. A solution to communication in organizations?

Impossible you say. Well let`s start at the basics. II you do as you have always
done then you will get what you have always got. ThereIore it is essential to
assume that you have decided to use the available tools that exist today. Social
Business communication tools. Here are Iour strategies that can help transIorm
your communication systems.
1. urate to deal with overwhelming content (Problem oI spam)
The Iirst thing is to make a pact to eliminate emails. What??? Yes eliminate.
BeIore you hit send ask yourselI 'does this belong in an email? By posting
micro blogs to speciIic communities and using the activity streams oI custom made
teams your communication can target the right recipients. II your team sends out
inIormation then it is Ireely available. As an equalizer everyone in an organization
can transparently see everything that is happening. II you are out oI the loop then
Iollow the right team.
This then leads to an instant improvement but beIore any warm Ieelings are
enjoyed the obvious problem occurs. With inIormation streams expanding and
becoming more and more open and accessible how do we cope with everything.
The answer is curation.
Now the curator in our mind might tend a golI course or museum but it is in the
museum where the best analogy lies. To the laypersons the only diIIerence
between a rock and a valuable artiIact is the Iact that the valuable artiIact has been
careIully presented Ior display and tagged appropriately with meaningIul
descriptions. In organizations inIormation is like this. The old paradigm was
'inIormation was power and inIormation was hoarded and protected. Jobs were
at risk and IieIdoms lived and died by the skill at keeping the curious at bay. Ever
tried to get a copy oI a remuneration report? Ever questioned the choice oI
marketing display? The Iocus was not on whether inIormation was relevant but
whether the department or role was relevant. The communication skill set that
helps organizations now is curation. Evaluating the wealth oI content and then
careIully distributing valuable content that allows other people in the organization
to learn and improve Irom this content. This requires expertise and it is expertise
that typically sits in most organizations. So leverage this. This way you can relax
about the 50,000 million articles and comments and subscribe to a channel oI
inIormation that you can Iind when you need it. And iI you can`t Iind it - then ask
the curator who knows exactly where it is down there in the basement.
2. onnect your people
(Problem oI spin)
We talked about the death oI spin. Let me give you a tip. Go to your EO and ask
him to take steps to connect with his organization. So what does it mean to
connect? It probably is simpler than you think. onnection occurs when minds
and hearts align. This is a blog not a book on EQ so let me state the obvious. Spin
kills connection. Honesty, empathy, availability and trust increases connection.
Regular, Irequent communication that includes the good, the bad and the everyday
increases connection. Everyone expects instant Ieeds oI inIormation. The days oI
newsletter articles that describes events Irom 4 weeks ago are dead. Even 2 days
ago. InIormation can be more inIormal. Less Iinessed. You can use shortened
descriptors and bullet points. The English grammar teacher in your brain is dead.
She died a while ago and her Iuneral details were posted on Facebook.
So conduct an audit. What people are connected? Within a team what teams are
connected. Across the organization what teams are connected and working
together. That sounds hard. Yep. It is time to open up that dirty little black box oI
screwed up communication and peer inside. AIter decades oI talking about culture
change and diagnosing the G12 out oI it it is time to start actioning this. Appoint
an internal community manager and get started. What teams are active, who reads
what, highlight expertise, introduce new people, create an inclusive approach, get
your leaders blogging, post photo and video updates, throw out ideas to everyone
...connect.
3. reate ontent.
(Problem oI slackness)
BeIore anyone imagines a world oI online geeks messaging each other all day, let`s
put things into perspective. Emails. Meetings. You are either staring at a screen
or a whiteboard or your mobile a lot oI the day. That`s pretty much organizational
liIe Ior a lot oI Iolk. This is not summer camp. Some organizations have
emphasized the importance oI Iace to Iace communication. Stand up meetings,
daily LEAN, one on one catch ups, mentoring catch ups. This must continue.
Each oI these activities are enhanced and improved by social business structures.
Simply it allows you to add and share and create content to support these
Iundamental structures. Relationships are nourished by consistency and
organizations develop strong cultures where the right behaviors can be reproduced.
The strongest cultures have achieved this by adopting certain methodologies that
can be learnt and then passed on. Typically it is very time intensive and requires
workshops and Iollow up and years and years oI careIully modeling. With social
business you have the ability to speed this process up by a Iactor oI 10. You do
this by expecting your leaders to create content. Micro blogs that recognize and
give Ieedback, interactions that capture learning`s Irom one on one meeting, blogs
that articulate how you go about things in your company. reate meaningIul
content.
4. ultivate Social Business
So back to our Iour blocker..quality content with rich relationships will Ioster a
new way oI communicating. an you just Ilick a switch and turn it on? You may
be able to technology wise but culturally the journey oI adoption requires
cultivation.
Strong and active leadership, a clear vision, a deep understanding oI the
implications oI continuing into this socially connected society without changing
and an organized and mobilization plan are all essential ingredients to get this
right.
Fortunately the majority oI your organization already understand the gist oI this
societal change and are just looking Ior permission to adjust. So let them. Uncage
your community and allow the channels oI communication to Ilow.
ive benefits of good Organizational Communication
The areas in which we want to see communication improvements in organization-
O !erformance-We want to have individuals and groups deliver their high-
quality communications, services, and materials to the right people and at
the right places at the right time, meeting budget requirements.
O Culture-We want people to interact positively and productively,
implementing strategies, meeting objectives, and resolving workplace
problems Ior our organization and our mission.
O !ersonal Effectiveness-People need to know how to manage their
communications, create and use their calendars to schedule their work and
account Ior changes and interruptions without a loss oI their productivity.
O Collaboration-We want people working well together to implement
changes in process, structure, and objectives without losing momentum to
meet their Iundamental perIormance requirements.
O anagement &eetings-We want our managers and staII members to
know what results they need to produce, who to interact with to produce
those results, and how to create and manage agreements Ior achieving
objectives, no matter what level oI authority they have.
our options to pick up pace at work
Types oI conversation and communication needed most in organization-
O nitiative-We need to get better at starting new things and setting goals Ior a
new Iuture and possibilities. We want to jump-start some changes and get
things going.
O &nderstanding-We need to have more people engaged and on board with
the projects and programs we have already begun. We want more teamwork
and understanding oI diIIerent roles and responsibilities.
O !erformance-We need to have people manage their own communications,
ask Ior what they need, and make promise Ior results. We want people to be
productive and eIIicient without relying to get things done.
O Closure-We need to have people be complete with the past-the projects,
Iailures and successes oI yesterday are over. We want people to have a sense
oI accomplishment and satisIaction.
nterventions to mprove Workplace Communication
Plan to resolve communication problems-
O Training Ior senior-level executives and managers.
O Training Ior mid-level managers, supervisors and team leaders.
O Training Ior all staII, associates and other specialists and workers.
O Books, newsletters and blogs.
O ross-Iunctional meetings and discussion groups.
O Issue-centered Iocus groups.
Other.
isconceptions
Speaking, listening, writing and reading eIIectively doesn`t come easily just
because everybody knows how to do these things. It requires practice and
diligence. Managers oIten have diIIiculty getting people to take ownership Ior their
own communication problems but educating employees on the beneIits oI
communicating clearly can reduce workplace stress or tension and promote better
relationships. Good communication shouldn`t be limited to a single mechanism,
such as email, because oI cost savings or eIIiciency. For example, providing
negative Ieedback or bad news using email typically produces poor results.
ommunication problems occur when care isn`t taken to make an eIIort to provide
a clear and consistent message, through channels appropriate Ior the target
audience and situation.
Considerations
When expectations are not clearly stated, Iacts seem obscured or business
objectives remain unclear, problems arise in companies. Encouraging employees to
avoid emotional reactions use active listening techniques and provide only
constructive Ieedback to produce collaborative environments where everybody
succeeds to make the business proIitable and sustainable