Main forms of organizational communication

The importance of communication in business becomes even more apparent when we

consider the communication activities of an organization from an overall point of view.

As we can see from a review of Ram’s half hour at Typical, these activities fall into three

broad categories of communication; internal-operational, external-operational, and

personal.

Internal-operational communication

Internal-operational communication consists of the structured communication within the

organization directly related to achieving the organization’s work goals. By “structured”

we mean that such communication is built into the organization’s plan of operation. By

the “organization’s work goals” we mean the organization’s primary reasons for being-to

sell insurance, to manufacture nuts and bolts, to construct buildings, and the like.

The Typical Company, to use a familiar example, has as its major work goals the

making and selling of whatsits. In achieving these work goals, it has an established plan

of operation, and communication plays a major role in this plan. More specifically, each

of Typical’s employees has an assignment in the plan. For the plan to work, some

communicating must be done. In some of the assignments certain working information is

“needed. And so that all assignments may be performed as a harmonious and unified

effort, certain coordinating information must be communicated. All this information flow

is internal¬operational communication.

Clearly, Ram communicated more that fIrst meets the eye

Clearly, Ram communicated more that fIrst meets the eye. From the moment he left

home to the moment he looked at his watch, Ram was giving, receiving, or handling

information. Nothing that he did directly involved making whatsits, which, of course, is the

Typical Company’s main reason for being. Yet there is no question of the importance of

his activities to Typical’s operations. Obviously, Ram’s work assignment more directly

involves communi-cation that do many other assignments at Typical. But there are many

other communi-cation-oriented assignments in the company; and every Typical

employee’s workday is spotted in varying degrees with communication in one form or

another. If we were to trace the workdays of each Typical employee and combine our

findings, we would come up with an infInitely complex picture of the communication that

goes on at

Typical. We would see that communication truly plays a major role in Typical’s

operations.

Ram returns to his desk; but before he can resume his work

Ram thinks.

Ram returns to his desk; but before he can resume his work, Gopal walks up. “Have you

given any more thought to that reporting procedure change we talked about yesterday?”

Gopal asks.

Gopal is refelTing to a change he has had in mind for quite a few years. Last week he

asked Jamshed to do some research on the possibilities of the procedure. It was tllen

that Jamshed talked with Ram about the plan, and it was then that the two had another

one of their qualTels.

Gopal ‘s words bring Ram’s temper to a slow boil. “Gopal certainly is sold on that

asinine idea of Jamshed’s,” he thinks to himself. “Sure, it will save time now, but it won’t

give us much information. Bur you can’t fight city

hall.” Ram forces a smile which belies his inward feeiing as he responds; “Yes, I have,

Mr. Gopal. It’s a great idea. We should put it into effect right away.”

A few minutes later as Gopal walks away, Ram glances at his watch. It is 9:30 - half an

hour of a typical day.

Reviewing Ram’s activities, we find that most of what he does involves communication in

one way or another. Some of the forms of communication are easily recognized, such is

speaking, listening, reading, and writing. But some are more subtle. Primarily these are

the non-vebal types. One form is body motions. Another is the communication

message made by how far or close people stand when communicating. Then there are

the communi-cations we make through facial expressions. As we noted above, even

objects like desks and carpeting communicate, and so can people just by being seen. In

fact, it is impossible for people knowingly in the presence of each other not to

communicate.

Ram passes the water cooler where Jamshed and another worker are standing

Ram passes the water cooler where Jamshed and another worker are standing. Ram

does not care much for Jamshed. In fact, he has had a few run-ins with the man since

Jamshed joined Typical three weeks ago. Ram cot explain exactly what went wrong. At

the beginning Jamshed appeared to be a pleasant enough chap. He and Ram had lunch

together that first day. But soon after that time Jamshed started to find fault with some of

the work procedures in the department. He even pointed out some things that Ram could

do “to improve operations.” As

Ram saw it, there was little a neophyte like Jamshed could tell a man who had been on

the job for almost 20 years.

As Ram passes the cooler he waves his hand slightly in a feeble gesture of recognition.

Jamshed responds halfheartedly with a nod of the head. These simple gestures clearly

communicate how these men feel about each other Ram’s thoughts now are even more

hostile. He wonders how long it is going to take Gopal, his department head, to notice

how much time J amshed spends at the water cooler, in the toilet and at tea break.

Yesterday Ram saw Jamshed getting ready to go home for the day a full ten minutes

before quitting time. As Ram sees it, Gopal must like Jamshed. The two talk together a

lot, and Gopal has accepted a number of ‘J amshed’ s suggestions. But Gopal always

has had his favourites,

Then they will pass on their findings to the salesperson in the field

. Then they will pass on their findings to the salesperson in the field, who will

personally visit the customer to report the infOlmation.

Occasionally, such problems cannot be so easily solved. When a garment is defective,

for example, customer services will make a fair and speedy adjustment. Or if the defect

occurs frequently enough, a full-scale investigation may result. Possibly one or more of

the company’s technical specialists will be assigned to the problem, and they will spend

days or weeks or even longer periods searching for the answer to the problem. When

they find the answer, they will communicate this information through some fOlm of written

report.

As Ram opens the third envelope, he recognizes the

familiar off-colour brown of employee relations stationery. Inside he finds a printed

memorandum with an instruction sheet attached. This memorandum, signed by the

personnel manager, explains the new promotion plan Ram and his friends discussed on

the way to work. The instructions tell Ram to post the memorandum on the department

bulletin

. board. As Ram posts the memorandum, he reads the Company’s explanation. There is

much in it that he had not considered before, and some of the “facts” his friends used in

their arguments are strongly refuted. Ram is now somewhat confused, but he begins to

feel that the company may have a point or two.

On the way back to his desk, Ram passes the office of Sheela. Last week, Sheela was

promoted to chief order clerk- a job Ram had wanted. Ram observes Sheela sitting at

her large desk. He sees Sheela’s name printed on the door, and he observes the

carpeting on the floor. These objects clearly communicate to Ram a message of

Sheela’s success. Sheela is busily working and does not see Ram go by. “That stupid,

puzzled look on her face shows she doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Ram thinks “She

sits at her desk so high and mighty”. Sheela certainly communicates a lot to Ram, and

without saying a word.

reports programmed’ to serve the information needs

As a part of the Company’s data base, this information will

become a part of a number of reports programmed’ to serve the information needs of

Typical’s employees. Shipping depa11ment workers will get the information they need to

fill the order. Sales managers will receive summary rep0l1s of the activities of their

salespeople. Production planners will receive” the, inventory and product demand

information they need to work out production schedules. And the top executives will get

the overall activity rep0l1s which give them the performance information they need in

guiding Typical’s comse.

Among those in the shipping department who will receive the ordel; infOlmation is

ShaImila, the department secretary. One of Ms. Sharmila’s duties is to send the shipping

details to the customers in specially adapted acknowledgement ‘letters. The Typical

company uses a specially adapted letter rather than a routine from acknowledgement

because the firm recognizes the goodwill- building effect of making every

communication contact as favourable as possible. Obviously, individually composed

letters are expensive; so Ms. Sharmila cheats a

little by selecting from a half dozen basic form letters stored in the memory of her word

processor. Of course, the word processor will reproduce the letter and adapt it to the

one customer.

Contents of the next envelope Ram opens are not so positive as the first. This one is a

note from a Typical salesperson in the field who reports on a difficulty a customer is

having with a T-shirt. Using his computer terminal, Ram enters the pertinent facts into the

Company’s data base. There it will become a part of summary reports which may be

useful to production control and product design. Then Ram forwards this message

through interplant mail to the customer services depatlment. Here Typical’s

individualized attention will be given to the problem, for Typical knows that it is good

business .to keep its customers satisfied. Probably someone in customer services will

communicate with some of Typical technical personnel in an eff0l1 to find the cause of

the difficulty

Most of their talk is about trivial matters

Most of their talk is about trivial matters. They talk primarily to entertain and to while

away the time. There is joke or two, some comments about politics, a few words about a

coming cricket game, and some raves about the new receptionist. Such talk, of course,

is of little direct concern to Typical except perhaps as the talk affects the general

happiness and welfare of the company’s workers.

In time, the conversation drifts to subjects more pertinent to Typical and its operations.

Someone mentions a r.umour about a proposed change in promotion policy. Then Ram

and the others being in their own collection of rumours, facts, and opinions on the

subject. And in the process they form opinions and work up emotions concerning the

Company and its policies. This communication activity has little to do with manufacturing

garments, nor is it related to Ram’s duties at Typical. But it has affected Ram’s outlook,

and he just might not put out very much work for Typical today or any other day. He might

not trust Typical quite so much the next time the union conUllct problem comes up.

Wh,en the four reach the plant, the gate guard receives the message communicated by

the sticker on the windshield of the bus and waves the bus through. As Ram enters his

work area, he files past the time clock punches his card thereby communicates to the

payroll department a record of his attendance.

As Ram enters his work area, he engages in more social communication. He

exchanges “good mornings” with each of his colleagues, and he makes small talk with

two of them as they wait for the Company siren to communicate the message that it is

time for work to commence. Although this small talk with associates has

little to do with manufacturing garments, it helps to create a ‘happy and friendly attitude

among Ram and his co¬workers. And such an attitude can be conducive to

, productivity.

When the 9 o’clock siren blows, Ram begins his work s order clerk. The mor:ning mail,

ah’eady delivered t,o his desk, produces first an order from one of Typical’ salespeople

in the field. Using the computer telminal at his work station, Ram enters the pertinent

information: quantities, types, salesperson credited, sales district, purchaser

identification, and such.