Operations Communications

Table of Contents

Page

1.0 Organisation 2

2.0 Organisational Communication 2

3.0 Interpersonal Communication in an Organisation 4

4.0 Public Communications in an Organisation 5

5.0 Internal and External Operation Communication in an Organisation. 6

1.0 ORGANISATION

An organisation may be defined as a number of individuals (usually more than 3) united by the same goal(s), and who have a structure to their group. Each individual within the organisation will have a specific role/roles to play to further the goal(s) of the organisation.

The organisation may be a democracy, i.e. one where each member has a right to decide the overall direction/fate/actions of an organisation, although this sort of organisation seldom lasts long as differences of opinion among people will usually break up the organisation quickly, no matter that each individual's goal is the same, or the organisation may have a leadership hierarchy.

Organisations with recognised leadership hierarchies are by far more common in society, as they are more structured and easier for people to understand their part in than total democracies. With a recognised leadership hierarchy, the leader and his immediate circle can dictate the best ways to meet the organisations goal(s) and others in the organisation will have their roles well defined. This is the best alternative as not everyone is equipped mentally and spiritually for a leadership role. Ultimately, the goal(s) of the organisation demand that the most suitable individuals should lead the others in pursuit of said goal(s) to give the best chance of success.

2.0 ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATION

Human interactions are based on communications. This is a fact that is without exception. On a personal level, communications allow for some level of interpretation and flexibility. However, organisational communications, especially the communications that business decisions are based on must be absolutely clear and give only the message intended.

The five types of organisational communication Ð'- intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group communication, public communications and mass communications must be made to synchronise to produce a model communication system that allows the company machinery (meaning all processes that happen within the organisation) to function flawlessly.

The objective of organisational communications, like everything else in a company, is to enable the company to progress as economically as possible, with as much profit as possible (in profit based organisations) or with maximum achievement of pursued goals (in non-profit organisations). Essentially, well structured and defined organisational communications are the force that can determine an organisation's ability to pursue its stated goals.

Internally, organisational communications enable management to communicate the organisation's goals to the workers and help make them understand and convince them that achieving these goals requires all members to utilise their resources together as a team. They can maximise productivity, worker-management harmony, minimise strife and non-productive time. Externally, organisational communication can increase the company's market share, sway people toward the message being promoted by the organisation, minimise any negative publicity that may occur and many other benefits.

3.0 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS IN ORGANISATION

In a sense, interpersonal communications have the potential to be the most influential communication type within an organisation. Whether work related (operational communication) or non-work related (personal communication), interpersonal communication between two people can dramatically improve or degrade an individual's performance within the organisation.

Work related interpersonal communications can include staff performance reviews, where a supervisor can provide feedback and input on a worker's performance; task briefings, where a superior can communicate tasks to a subordinate, or a subordinate can communicate progress on a task; team mates discussion on their roles within a team etc. Handled professionally and constructively, work related communications of this type generally lead to achieving goals set by both individuals involved. Only if emotions and other stress factors are added can this sort of communication negatively impact performance.

Non-work related interpersonal communications have a much greater potential to negatively impact work performance, although they are a fact of every day life in an organisation. Non-work related communication is subject to more emotion, negative interpretation and abuse than its work-related counterpart. Although it can serve to break the monotony of the day and thereby momentarily increase productivity, it is more likely to waste time in non-productive ways, and when it involves romantic or sexual oriented matters, can dramatically affect worker performance, generally in a negative fashion. Idle or malicious gossip can also negatively impact worker performance by introducing stress, tension, uncertainty and envy into the work environment, or by simply wasting work time.

4.0 PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS IN AN ORGANISATION

These represent the organisation's management's efforts to communicate the organisation's role, tasks, goals and methods to its staff or to a selected group of outsiders, as opposed to mass communications, which generally are targeted at the external audience at large.

Public