Today, organizations need to stay active and dynamic to be able to survive a competitive market. For which they must make new innovations of products and services that the market demands, as well as focus on all the inefficient processes that the organization may have. Probably, these processes do not have adequate communication between their workers, areas, divisions and management, which does not allow to achieve the institutional strategic objectives that have been established.
This essay will explain the importance of communication in organizations for the achievement of institutional strategic objectives, for which the definition of organizational communication will be developed in the first point; in the second point, the scenarios where organizational communication usually occurs and the types of information flow that are carried out; in the third point, the importance of formal communication and informal communication; in the fourth point, internal and external communication. Likewise, it will explain how to carry out an internal communication plan, as well as the communication barriers that can be avoided in organizations.
As mentioned, organizations have a set of internal and external processes and procedures, between areas and positions, which, in general, are established and structured to meet an objective. For the proper performance of the processes, it is not only necessary to have adequate financial, material and human resources, but also, it is necessary that there is a good relationship and communication between them. Organizational communication is a key factor that will improve these organizational processes to meet the objectives of the organization, for which it will be based on the effective and timely transmission of information.
This organizational communication can transmit the flow of information in various areas or scenarios of the organization. According to Andrade (2005), the scenarios where there is more frequency of transmission of the information flow are: the physical scenarios, where all the informative and decorative elements of the organization are shown, such as the symbols for “busy” or “in a meeting”; social settings, including all the relationship factors of people and the interaction between them as a work meeting; and the institutional setting, where the messages that the organization issues to suppliers, customers and employees are related, such as memos, notifications, emails, notices, panels, advertising, among others.
In these scenarios, the information recurs at all times, the communication flows are very active and dynamic and the speed with which it happens many times does not allow the message to be transmitted well. Thus, this communication flows in different ways, from a hierarchical level of the lowest to the highest and vice versa, as well as the hierarchical levels of both sides. It is also good to highlight the feedback between these flows, because there must be improvements in communication between those involved.
The information flows usually have the direct relationship between the positions of the organization. Based on this, these information flows run through various areas and positions in the organization in order to achieve the desired message. On the flow of information, Sigfried (2004) shows two types: cross communication and ascending or descending communication. Regarding the first, it consists of: horizontal communication, which usually happens when the participants tend to belong to the same hierarchical level with the same level dependence; and diagonal communication, in which flow occurs when the parties involved in the communication process are part of different hierarchical levels and no relationship is established between them.The goal of cross communication is to rapidly increase the speed of information transmission. Likewise, this type of communication can generate inconveniences by not protecting the information, for which it is necessary to: use communication when the needs of the organization require it, maintain the authority limits allowed by employees and inform their immediate bosses of the cross communication that is being carried out.
The other type of communication consists of upstream and downstream communication. Regarding the first, this communication occurs when workers transmit information to their bosses, which means that it starts from lower levels to higher levels. Unfortunately, this type of communication does not manage to be received by the highest levels of the organization, since as such information increases from position to position, its content can be altered. Regarding the second, the descending communication, is presented from the higher hierarchical levels and with a specific direction towards the lower hierarchical levels. This type of communication occurs in an organization with a high level of authority and centralization. The main means for upward and downward communication are: memoranda,letters, reports, brochures, reports, by telephone, periodic meetings, emails, among others.
All these information flows are being actively emitted and received by each member of the organization and the quality of the content and its importance must be controlled and guided through formal communication. If it is not controlled, there will be serious problems. According to Kreps (2013) organizations today use formal communication and informal communication. The first refers to all the communication channels established and structured by the organization, such as notifications, notifications, memoranda, files and records, institutional emails, among others. That is, it must be any means that is notified and duly filled in to allow its validity, despite its slow communication and compliance with bureaucratic formalities. The second,It has unplanned channels and they are generated by the rapid social interaction between the members of the organization. The contents that flow in this type of communication are fast and punctual, however, unlike formal communication, it has little validity in its content.
Likewise, all these concepts and types of communication described above must be aligned with the strategic plan of the company, where it generally describes a communication strategy that contributes to the achievement of the strategic objectives of the organization. The ideal is to establish a Comprehensive Strategic Communication Plan (PECI) as recommended by Aced (2016), specialist in consulting and communication training. Said plan has "objectives, recipients, policies, strategies, resources and communication actions to be developed in all areas of the company." All these areas of the will improve coordination, integration and management with an adequate level of communication, message and dissemination style.
Regarding the structure of this plan, the author recommends following the following steps for its proper preparation. The first step refers to the analysis of information from the external and internal environment, as well as carrying out a SWOT analysis of the organization. The second step is to study the background of the company, its history and sales made. Subsequently, the objectives that you want to achieve with the processes, activities and tasks that are put in place must be established, and which must be quantified, measurable, achievable and realistic. Likewise, a target audience, addressee or groups of addressees to whom or who are going to direct said information must be defined to establish the communication media and styles.
In addition to the aforementioned steps, you must prepare the message you want to communicate, choosing the characteristics and attributes, as well as the tone and style of communication. The strategy to be developed in each of the communication areas must also be properly chosen in order to achieve the objectives. Likewise, the actions must be developed, which are the activities to be carried out and the means to be used in the plan; the schedule, which is the time planning for each of the actions; the budget, which is the cost that will be allocated to implement the plan; control and follow-up, which is the monitoring of the implementation of joint actions, course and compliance with the plan; and finally the indicators, where the actions of physical and financial realization are measured,the impact and result it generates.
In general, Aced (2016) recommends that a more specific Comprehensive Strategic Communication Plan be established, broken down by objectives, target audience, strategy and actions, as well as measuring the results obtained. For this, it can be improved with the use of the following tools: Corporate Communication Manual, External Communication Plan, Internal Communication Plan, Crisis Communication Manual, Public Relations Plan and Corporate Social Responsibility Programs. All these steps and tools will allow to establish a good communication plan in any company.
Despite having defined and established the Comprehensive Communication Strategic Plan, it has barriers and restrictions that disable its application. Basically, these barriers in the flow of information are seen mainly in the sender, the message, the receiver, or in the feedback of the information itself, and which, the most frequent are: the lack or absence of planning, due to the lack of planning of communication strategies and choice of the communication channel that does not allow to achieve the institutional strategic objectives; confusing assumptions or facts, when the transmission of information is due to facts or misunderstandings in certain situations in which they are not communicated to the rest of the parties; the distortion of the context of the message,when the person who receives the message can interpret it in various meanings since it has not been well conceptualized; poorly expressed information, when decoding the message is often difficult for the recipient due to the use of words or terms that are not well known; barriers in the international context, in the case of foreign companies where there are other cultures and languages different from the normal one.
Likewise, other barriers to the flow of information are: the loss of information due to limited retention; when the information that is shared to the receiver tends to lose content along the information flow; information with limited listening, in which people or recipients are not used to listening carefully or are simply not connected to the topic or content of the message; communication in an impersonal way; when the use of the media is not adequate; mistrust in communication; when the relationship between boss and subordinate causes that there is a limit of expression of the message due to a bad or hostile work environment; the excess of information, when the flow of information is too great that the understanding can be limited and delay in processing the information.
In this way, it has been shown that organizational communication is a key element of any organization that will allow achieving institutional objectives under adequate communication, considering a relevant scenario, an optimal information flow, a formal communication between all workers, a good management of internal and external communication. Likewise, a Strategic Internal Communication Plan must be established in advance that is directly aligned with the strategic objectives of the organization, to carry out the actions and strategies necessary to improve organizational communication and avoid communication barriers.
References
- Aced, C. (June 07, 2016). How to prepare the communication plan? Obtained from How to prepare the communication plan ?:
- Andrade, H. (2005). Internal Organizational Communication: processes, discipline and technique. Madrid: Gesbiblo SL (1990). Communication in organizations. Madrid: Addison Wesley Iberoamericana. Munguia, E. (2006). Theory of Organizations. Mexico DF: Threshold. (2004). Organizational Communication. Elements for your study.
Santiago de Chile: Editorial Universidad Valparaíso.
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