“The greatest gift you can give your team: clarity, communication, and pulling people together around a shared mission.”
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From the outside, getting all the members of a team on the same page and collectively focused on the job at hand may look something like herding cats. But effective leaders know a thing or two about rallying the troops and inspiring them to achieve greatness.
Organizational communication is a broad term used to describe the process of directing and motivating teams to work toward a set of common goals. Largely considered an essential building block of successful businesses, organizational communication is always a top consideration among leaders with an eye on improving team efficiency, performance, and satisfaction.
Effective communication, of course, is an important component of organizational leadership, which is aimed at motivating and encouraging members of a team to reach strategic goals – that’s the heart and soul of organizational communication.
Why Is Organizational Communication So Important?
"If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."
Organizational communication plays an important role in any leader’s toolbox because:
- It improves job performance – By providing the team with specific information and direction about the task to be done, ambiguity and confusion are eliminated, and employees are more likely to meet their performance goals.
- It motivates the team – Organizational communication keeps employees in the know about their performance and provides them with the constructive criticism and positive feedback that naturally results in employee satisfaction and a motivation to succeed.
- It keeps ideas and solutions flowing – Organizational communication facilitates the decision-making process by keeping the lines of communication open between the leader and the team and between the members of the team.
- It identifies and removes any barriers to communication – Organizational communication allows leaders to identify and remove any obstacles that are preventing an effective system of communication with the team.
- It fosters a transparent company culture – When leaders keep their employees in the know, trust and rapport naturally follow.
The Nuts and Bolts of Organizational Leadership
“Communication is the only task you cannot delegate.”
Cultural and personality differences… remote employees and teams… globalization – they’re but a small sample of the challenges facing the flow of communication in today’s workplace. Outstanding communication within an organization doesn’t just happen. It’s up to thoughtful, engaged leaders to ensure that organizational communication is effective, efficient, and nurtured at every level.
Organizational Communication: How the Message Is Delivered
Part of a leader’s focus on organizational communication includes a consideration of the ways in which information is delivered in an organization.
Engaged and informed leaders have a firm grasp of when and where to employ different forms of organizational communication. They understand when formal communication is required and when an informal approach works best. They have an appreciation for the value of communication between members of the team and how effective communication can mean the difference between a motivated, inspired, and focused team and one that is falling apart at the seams.
Organizational communication can be internal, external, asynchronous, or synchronous and can be carried out in a number of ways:
Formally
Formal communication keeps messages uniform throughout the organization, eliminates ambiguity, and meets specific legal requirements. Digital or printed documents and emails are examples of formal documents.
Informally
Not surprisingly, most communication is done informally. It’s an effective way of getting the word out quickly and effectively. Team meetings, brainstorming sessions, casual conversations, and phone calls are all examples of informal communication and are where ideas are born, issues are resolved, teams connect, and leaders motivate and inspire.
Horizontally/Laterally
Horizontal, or lateral, communication takes place between people in similar roles or positions within an organization. This type of communication encourages cross-collaboration among departments and members of the team and keeps everyone in the organization up-to-date on a project’s progress. It also provides employees with opportunities to discuss issues of common interest and resolve issues.
Vertically/Downward
Also referred to as downward communication, this traditional, top-down vertical form of communication takes place when leaders communicate with members of their team, manage conflicts, resolve issues, and provide feedback. Vertical communication can be formal and include tools like policy manuals, rules, and regulations. And it can be informal and include tools like in-person meetings, group chats, and Zoom meetings.
Vertically/Upward
Vertical communication doesn’t just move in a top-down fashion. Leaders should always encourage upward communication from the members of their team as to keep the lines of communication flowing freely in both directions.
“Communication can’t always follow the top-down model. With the fluidity of information in business today, leaders need to be masterful listeners; they need to be able to receive as well as send.”
Organizational Communication: Why the Message Is Delivered
Organizational communication allows leaders of people, teams, and businesses to accomplish any number of goals. Your reasons for communicating may include everything from conveying instructions to answering questions to listening to feedback to solving problems to motivating your team. When considering organizational communication, don’t let the purpose of your message get lost in translation.
William Neher outlined the five primary functions of organizational communication in his book, Organizational Communication: Challenges of Change, Diversity, and Continuity:
- Leading: Issuing clear, specific instructions and expectations
- Rationalizing: Providing clear explanations and answers
- Problem-solving: Understanding issues, recognizing problems, devising answers, and solidifying solutions
- Conflict Management: Managing disagreements and differences among employees in a safe, moderated environment
- Compliance Gaining: Encouraging open communication to motivate employees to reach their performance objectives
Organizational Communication: Strategies for Improving It
Leaders shouldn’t just be concerned with improving organizational communication; they should be well-versed in the ways they can make it happen.
Leaders can keep those lines of communication flowing and effective by:
- Providing employees with a bevy of tools to communicate – With remote employees and teams in different cities and even countries, leaders must employ a variety of tools to make communication efficient and effectual. Fortunately, platforms for communication are never in short supply. Real-time chat tools (Chanty, Bit.ai, Microsoft Teams, HipChat), video and conferencing tools (Zoom, Skype), document collaboration tools (G Suite, Office 365), multimedia content sharing (Bloomfire, MediaFire), and internal chat tools (Jive, Yammer) are just some of the coolest ways to keep in touch with your team and allow them to maintain a strong team dynamic.
- Being ready and willing to listen – Leaders don’t always have all the answers, and those who are open to listening to the thoughts, suggestions, and even criticisms of their employees are far more likely to create a positive work culture and employee trust. Leaders should consider implementing different methods for receiving employee feedback.
- Providing consistent feedback – Consistent feedback is important for employee growth and development and is a great way to build rapport and trust with employees. Work to create a community-friendly space where members of the team feel comfortable to give and receive feedback.
- Taking the time to build a team atmosphere – Connecting with your employees through team-building exercises, social outings, and regular check-ins is a great way to build a team atmosphere and improve organizational communication.
- Not relying too heavily on digital communication – One of the downfalls of our digital society is a lack of personal communication. Avoid relying too heavily on digital communication tools. There’s simply no substitute for face-to-face communication. Encourage in-person meetings and discussions when possible, and consider video conferencing tools to keep in touch with your remote teams.