The Process of Organizational Communication

The process of communication from Fareed Siddiqui, BBA, MBA-Fin, MPhil-Fin, (PhD)

Organizational communication is a subfield of the larger discipline of communication studies. Organizational communication, as a field, is the consideration, analysis, and criticism of the role of communication in organizational contexts.

Communication is a precondition in making the organizational development as well as accomplishing its goals and objectives. The purpose of communication is to influence the action towards the organizational benefits – linking the employees together for the fulfillment of common goals.

The occurrence of behaviors amid employees in the organization is directly allied with the communication process. With its eminence at all times in the workplace, it is seemingly to transmit the information from one person to another, but that which lies in a broader sense is who says and what, who is said, through which channel he is said and with what effect. Thus, it’s a way of reacting others with ideas, thoughts, feelings and values.

Organizational Communication, for the most part, is pragmatic in the function of leading and the managerial activities, such as, planning, organizing, directing and controlling (PODC). These managerial functions are exclusively contingent upon the communication. So, it’s rightly to be said that the effective management is functioned alongside by the effective communication.

Communication Process involves the followings:

Source/Sender: A person to transmit meaning, an opinion, fact or idea.
Encoding: It involves using the forms of words, facial expressions, gestures, actions, numbers, pictures, graphs, eye contact and posture etc.
Transmission: It is an appropriate channel or a medium of a message.
Decoding: It involves perception and interpretation.
Receiver: A person who receives the message – individual or a group.
Noise: Noise refers to any type of disruption which reduces the clearness of the message.

The primary methods that are involved in the process of communication are:Written, Oral and Non-Verbal.

Oral or face to face communication: It is the important form of organizational communication that involves direct talk between the speakers and the listeners when they are physically present. It is the process in that the receiver observes simultaneously the content of the message, gestures, the changes in tone and the pitch connected with the spoken word. The formal record of such communication does not exist, so the spirit of authority can not be transmitted as it should be. At times, more or less or different meaning may be communicated by manner of speaking, tone and facial expression. Nonetheless, personal warmth and friendliness can be conveyed through verbal communication. It enables the receiver to respond by opinions and reactions in case he or she is indecisive of the message.

Written communication: This method of communication is of much value and relevance in the organizations. It includes formal letters, memos, reports, company policy manuals and so on. These areas, for the efficient functioning of the organization, are covered in particular through written communication. It reduces the probabilities and perceptual distortions while providing permanent records for future references. The message can be stored for an indefinite period of time for use in the future. As a negative factor, it leads to the excessive formalities. It is likely that the confidential written material may leak out or may be disclosed unofficially before the proper time causing disruption. Nevertheless, it is authoritative for the action and most effective as and when needed, more specifically, when the communication is that of general informational nature.

Non Verbal Communication: Facial or non-verbal expressions reveal a lot about a person’s usual mood or temperament – his behavioral tendency can also be envisaged. This way of communication has considerable meaning to managers to interpret the behavior of the employees. It enables to comprehend pretense or real situation – it may be said that however much one acts as if something were true or acts in a way intended to make others believe something is untrue or misleading, but the reality is visible at his face. The true or false countenance can be easily differentiated. Thus, body language plays a vital role being diluted with non-verbal expressions. A handshake or a pleasant smile is an example of most common form of body language. Moreover, some of the environmental elements such as building, office space can convey a message about the authority of the person. Facial expressions can be categorized as, excitement, fear, joy, anger, unhappiness and distress etc. It is easy to know the person’s arrogance, boldness, shyness and other characteristics by means of his or her facial expressions.

Written by:
K. A. Fareed (Fareed Siddiqui)
Writer, Trainer, Author, Blogger, Software Developer
BBA, MBA-Finance, MPhil-Financial Management, (MSc-Software Engineering)
(PhD-Management)
MA-English, MPhil-English
Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Applications and Programming
Certificate course in English language proficiency
Level 1 – Leadership and Management ILM – UK
Pursuing CMA-USA
Individual Member of Institute of Management Consultants of India

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