Flow of Communication

Flow of Communication

•Flow of Communication simply means how

information is sent and received within
firms.
•The way information is communicated is
often governed by how firms are
structured.
TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
THROUGH
•DOWNWARD BOTH
•UPWARD FORMAL
•HORIZONTAL AND
•GRAPEVINE INFORMAL
CHANNELS
•CONSENSUS
Forms of Business Structure
• Entrepreneurial - decisions made centrally
• Pyramid - staff have a role, shared decision making,
specialization is possible
• Matrix - staff with specific skills join project teams,
individuals have responsibility
• Independent - seen in professions where organization
provides support systems and little else
Structure 1

Traditional
The Pyramid view of
organisations

Decisions
pass down Information flows
formal up formal channels
channels from from staff to
managers to management
staff
 Structure 2
Entrepreneurial
Key Key
Quick to act but
worker worker
pressure on
decision makers

One or two
Most small Decision people make
businesses have this maker decisions
structure

Great reliance on
key workers
Key Key
supporting decision
worker worker
makers
 Structure 3
Matrix
Marketing Production Finance

Project A
Project teams Staff with
created specialist skills

Project B
Structure 4
Independent
Not suited to most
Dr A businesses due to
lack of control Dr B

Support systems
to professionals
such as doctors

Dr D Dr C
More on Business Structure
Centralization
• Managers keep control
• Decisions are made in the
interests of the whole business
• Costs can be cut by
standardizing purchasing and so
on
• Strong leadership
Decentralization
• Empowering and motivating
• Freeing up senior managers’
time
• Better knowledge of those closer
to customers
• Good staff development
 Diagonal communication: The new trend.
•Diagonal communication is cross-functional
communication between employees at different
levels of the organization.
•It cuts across hierarchies.
• For example, if the vice president of sales sends
an e-mail to the vice president of manufacturing
asking when a product will be available for
shipping, this is an example of horizontal
communication.
• But if a sales representative e-mails the vice president of
marketing, then diagonal communication has occurred.
• Whenever communication goes from one department to
another department, the sender’s manager should be made
part of the loop.
• A manager may be put in an embarrassing position and
appear incompetent if he isn’t aware of everything
happening in his department.
• Trust may be lost and careers damaged by not paying
attention to key communication protocols.
 .
• Diagonal communication is becoming more common in
organizations with a flattened, matrix, or product-based
structure.
Advantages include:
• Building relationships between senior-level and lower-level
employees from different parts of the organization.
• Encouraging an informal flow of information whithin the
organization.
• Reducing the chance of a message being distorted by going
through additional filters.
• Reducing the workloads of senior-level managers.
External Communication Flows
• Communications do not start and stop within the organization.
• External communication focuses on audiences outside of the
organization. Senior management—with the help of specialized
departments such as public relations or legal—almost always
controls communications that relate to the public image or may
affect its financial situation.
• First-level and middle-level management generally handle
operational business communications such as purchasing, hiring,
and marketing.
• When communicating outside the organization (regardless of the
level), it is important for employees to behave professionally and not
to make commitments outside of their scope of authority.
• Examples of channels that carry external communication
include
•press briefings, news releases, press kits,
• fact sheets, newsletters, magazines,
brochures,
•annual reports,
• invoices and purchase orders.
•And others ---
In a nutshell:
• The size, nature, and structure of the organization
determine which direction most of the information flows.
• Centralized as well as de-centralized decision-making, has
its advantages and demerits.
• An organization that is flexible in structure and supple in
decision-making, can make the most of changing times.
• Diagonal communication disregards hierarchies, therefore
ensures decision-making is quick and agile.
• Never ignore key communication protocols.