Introduction
Communication is said to be an activity of sending and receiving meaningful information from one person to the other. It requires the sender or person who initiates the message and the recipient the person who the message is directed to.
Business communication is a form of communication, which is meant to send and receive feedback across the organization, either between the employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers and entire community associated with the organization. The main purpose of business communication is to ensure that there is clear understanding between all interested groups associated with the Company.
Communication becomes effective if the intention of the message sent is received by the recipient and he or she is able to understand and interpreted the meaning of the message and is able to give feedback concerning the message.
Purpose of the study
This paper is aimed at identifying the effectiveness of communication in the Standard chattered bank. It analyzes the most effective measure that can be adjusted to ensure that the communication is channeled to the right recipient at the right time. It is also meant to advice the management of the bank on measures that can be taken in order to ensure that any barrier of communication is overcome.
Another important aspect of this paper is to advice the management on how to improve the organization structure so as to enable easy flow of information from managerial level to employees or from the employees to the top management level.
The Company Profile and Organizational Structure
Standard Chartered Bank of Dubai was started in the year 1958 with its first office based in sharjah, the bank has gradually developed and increased with opening of various branches across Dubai. In United Arab Emirates the Standard Chartered Bank is one of the leading banks offering a variety of products and services.
The bank offers employment to over one thousand employees from different races across the United Arab Emirates.
The bank serves the local and international customers offering services to personal customers, local, and international companies operating in United Arab Emirates, Multinational Corporations and various financial institutions having businesses in the region. The main goal of the bank is to offer the best and quality services to its customers by being efficient, reliable and available when needed.
The bank acts as the administration headquarters of the Standard Chartered Bank in United Arab Emirates. The organization is well distributed by incorporation of a well- organized organizational structure. The organization structure of the bank runs from the top Bank manager to junior staff at the lower bottom level of the hierarchy. Its organization structure can be summarized by use of diagram as shown below.
Organization chart
The Communication Structure of Standard Chartered Bank
Standard Chartered Bank of Dubai has a standardized communication channel which allows the flow of information from the top management level to junior staff at the lower level. The communication channels applied by the bank enable the bank to effectively send messages to its customers across the region.
The bank uses direct system of communication where employees are able to communicate at any time with the managers and get the feedback immediately. The bank operates an internet link which allows the customers to communicate and inquire with the bank at any given time.
The internet gives opportunities to those customers who can be able to get time to visit the bank during the normal working hours. This allows the customers to even perform various banking operation while still at home or at their workplace.
The bank applies various communication methods to allow each and every member of the bank to communicate freely and receive the right information. Such methods applied by the bank include the use of written means where the bank writes memos to all staff and its member, use of brochures to give various information concerning the services and products offered by the bank.
The bank has also adapted the use of E-mail messaging system, under this system the bank is able to send email messages to its customer across the region and also to the members of the staff.
The system has proved to be one of the most effective method of sending vital information and ensuring that messages are sent and delivered to the right person. Another common method applied by this bank is the use of telephone where the bank is able to make calls to various customers.
Communication barriers
For an organization to have effective communication, it has to avoid all forms of communication barriers which may divert the meaning of the message and thus making the meaning to loss it purpose.
Such communication barriers that affect communication include, perception and language differences, perception refers to how an individual interpret the information send to him, he or she may view the information send to him as of more or less significant to him or her and thus he may give a positive or negative response to the message.
Linguistic difference is a major cause of communication breakdown in an organization whereby some words used may have a different meaning from what it was intended during interpretation by the recipient. This means that the communication will not have the meaning if the person intended to receive the message can not be able to make any sensible meaning from it.
Another barrier encountered in communication is concerned with the information sent, some information are overloaded this means that they have a lot of information to an extent where the recipient is unable to comprehend all the information, some of the information is forgotten or just assumed by the recipient due to overloading.
Time pressure is another barrier of communication, some organizations especially those that have to achieve a certain set target within a given period tends to either shorten the message or give partial messages which are not complete and lack the essential details.
Noise and emotional distractions affect the effect of massage sent, in a noisy place the message will not be well understood as it will be interrupted by the noise and thus the message will not be clear and the recipient will not be able to get the real meaning of the message.
A stressed person will not be able to understand the message sent because his or her attention is diverted due to stress or emotional state of his body and mind. Complexity of the organization structure is another barrier that leads to an effective communication across the organization, where the hierarchy has a large number of management levels and becomes difficult to pass information from one level to the next (Guffey, 2008).
Organization can ensure that various barriers of communication are avoided by applying the right channel of communication. They should ensure that the right information is sent to the right person at the right time. The hierarchy structure of organization need to be made simple to allow easy flow of communication from senior most managers to junior staffs.
The use of E-mail message system should be ensured to be reliable by choosing a reliable network provider to ensure that any information communicated through the internet will reach the intended person on the right time.
The amount of information sent should not be too large to an extent of boring the person receiving the information, on the other hand the message sent should not be too small to a point that the person reading the message will not be able to understand the meaning of the message.
Information tampering while being transmitted to the recipient party is another barrier to effective communication in an organization. This normally happens when there are third parties involved to deliver the message. Third parties may misinterpret the intended message making the recipient to receive distorted information thus making different decisions from the intended ones.
Information tampering can also be done through hacking of the bank systems to change or destroy saved information. To avoid this type of communication barrier, the bank should have strong systems in place to keep of hackers. Direct communication should also be encouraged between the management and junior staff to avoid communication breakdown through misinterpretation.
In conclusion Standard chattered bank should enhance its communication channels and seal any loophole that may hinder effective transmission of information from the sender to the recipient.
Reference List
Guffey, M., E., 2008. Business Communication: Process and Product. Boston: South- Western College Pub
Ober, S., 2007. Contemporary Business Communication. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.