Introduction
An organization has to communicate a lot of messages to a variety of people in its day-to-day business operations. The message may be either business-related or non-business-related. For this, a proper communication process should be used to convey the message. By analyzing the feedback or checking the result, one can know whether the communication process used is apt.
Communication within the organization
Communication can be either one-way or two-way. In one way of communication, the sender conveys message to the receiver. Communication within the organization takes place either between management itself, between management and employees or among employees. In case of an organization’s formal communication process, it should be noted that, all the concerned parties should be informed with the precise information at the right time.
Communication process
Usually communication process starts when a need arises to convey the message to another. Communication can be defined as the process of exchanging ideas and facts from one person to another. “Communication is the process of transmission of information of an originator to a receiver by means of the use of a message that it goes from one to another across a channel.” (Communication, n.d.).
Communication process starts from the sender. The sender encodes his message and sends it through a medium. The receiver receives the message and decodes it. Finally the receiver gives feedback to the sender. By receiving this feedback, the sender can identify whether the receiver has understood the message in the right sense.
Example 1: Purchase order to a supplier:
Placing a purchase order can be considered as a business to business communication. Here one organization is the sender of the message or communication. When there is a requirement for goods or materials the business organization makes orders to the supplier. The orders can be sent in different ways. The popular methods of sending purchase orders are email and post. Here the medium selected is email. Placing orders through email has lots of advantages. Some of them are saving money, saving of time…etc. Here the communication of message is done in such a way that, first the purchasing department verifies the purchase requisition received from stores department or production department. Then purchase department prepares the purchase orders using Microsoft word or Microsoft excel and this is saved in a system. The purchase order includes the details like the name and details of the buyer and supplier, contact numbers, quantity of the products…etc. (How to place a purchase order, 2009). Then the department prepares a cover letter addressed to the concerned department of the suppliers. This cover letter is sent to the supplier after attaching the purchase order. On receiving the purchase order, the supplier processes the order and takes the necessary steps to execute the purchase order.
This method of communication can be called an environment-friendly method as it does not create any problem for the environment. Other advantages are, it is one of the fastest mediums of communication and the cost of communication is very less compared to sending communication by post.
Example 2: A circular to the employees specifying the action plan for the coming financial year:
To
All employees
Subject: Action plan for the coming financial year
We take this opportunity to appreciate the great efforts and unmatched performance on the part of employees. Due to this great effort, the company has achieved a substantial increase in profit and received extra orders.
It is also informed that, the company has set the target of $500 billion for the coming year. To achieve this target, the company has formulated an action plan which has to be followed by each employee in the organization.
- The employees have to attend a basic training program for two days each month.
- Each employee should attain the individual target so as to be eligible for incentives.
- Employees should participate in the feedback program.
Hope you understand the concern of the organization. We do expect a mutual coordination between the company and employees to show miracles in future.
Thanking you,
Managing Director
The above example is a circular issued by the Managing Director to the employees of the organization. Here the sender is Managing Director and the receiver is a group of individuals, i.e. the whole employees in the organization. It is a written communication. A copy of the circular is fixed on the notice board of the organization. One cannot feel any physical noise disturbance under this type of communication. By analyzing this message, the drawback which we can say is that, the employees may not be aware of the circular put on the notice board. If the reader of the message doesn’t take it in the right sense, an ambiguity may arise in the minds of the employees. So the medium of communication which suits here will be oral communication under which the superior staff directly inform the message to the employees.
Example 3: A telephonic conversation between the customer and organization:
The background of this case is that the customer calls the customer-care office to convey his complaints. Here the customer is the sender. The receiver is the customer-care officer of the organization. Here telephone is the medium of communication through which the customer passes his message. The message is his complaint. The feedback under this conversation is quick. The customer-care officer solves the complaint of the customer through the telephonic conversation.
“A phone conversation is also a better channel of communication; it still falls a distant second to face-to-face interactions.” (Whittaker, 2009, Instruction, para.7).
Here, the feedback is quick; the communication will be much more effective if there is a face-to-face conversation. Even though the customer may feel a strange environment, the complaints could be fully eliminated, the customer can have a clear idea about the organization and its activities and a long-term relationship can be created. Sometimes some technical problems can also result at the time of conversation as the medium chosen here is telephone.
Conclusion
Communication plays a significant role in this era of globalization. Even an organization can fail due to the lack of proper communication between the concerned parties. Different mediums can be used for the communication of messages and information. The selection of media depends on the nature of the communication. Technology-related media can give better results as it has advantage over the traditional methods of communications. Whatever be the medium of communication, the important fact is that, the receiver of the message should be able to understand what the sender meant by the sent message.
References
Communication. (n.d.). Mind Graph.
How to place a purchase order. (2009). ELDOS.
Whittaker, L. (2009). How to communicate better in business: Instructions. E How.: Kow to do Just About Everything. Web.