Introduction
Organizational communication may be regarded as an indispensable and critical tool for a company’s performance. Without the development of efficient policies, procedures, and strategies for organizational communication, there will be no understanding of how tasks should be completed. In other words, communication holds organizational processes together, builds trust between employees, contributes to corporate goals achievement, provides opportunities for professional and personal growth, and allows to avoid misunderstanding and conflicts. Thus, communication among teams should be regulated and facilitated by an efficient managerial communication strategy to improve workers’ productivity and create a company’s competitive advantages.
Peculiarities of a Company’s Communication
First of all, in order to develop a plan, it is essential to define the peculiarities of a company that determine the features of its employees’ communication. Thus, the plan is required for a virtual company that operates in the sphere of online education. In particular, it focuses on the creation of content for people who wants to improve their habits and have a more healthy lifestyle. All materials are created through the collaboration of teams of nutritionists, fitness instructors, scientists, activists, and coaches who inspire customers to change their lives, consult on dieting and exercising, and create educational materials available online. All staff members work remotely either from their homes or in corporate offices in different locations. In this case, effective communication becomes even more important for the coordination of the activities of people who do not have an opportunity to meet each other regularly.
Policies for Oral, Written, and Non-Verbal Communications
In general, both verbal, including oral and written messaging, and non-verbal communications allow managers and employees to express themselves. At the same time, while people create messages on the basis of their individual values and norms determined by their culture, it is essential to make sure that these messages correspond to the norms of the organizational culture as well. In relation to the company under analysis, its values include mutual respect, politeness, tolerance to others’ peculiarities, needs, and ideas, cooperation for goal achievement, absence of silos, and focus on the results. Thus, policies for different types of communication may be presented in the following way:
Oral Communication (Identified policies allow to transmit information or express an opinion in a time-sensitive manner with respect to all parties included).
- Think before speaking
- Speak with confidence
- Be concise and clear
- Do not hesitate to ask questions if information is unclear to avoid misunderstanding
- Listen actively, carefully, and attentively
- Consider the audience’s peculiarities to avoid unintentional offending
- Consider your vocal tone and articulation
- Avoid jokes when opponents are not familiar enough
Written Communication. In general, the company allows to use two types of written communication. In formal communication used for formal emails for managers, reports, and memorandums, specific forms and templates should be considered. However, employees may use informal messaging within teams and for communication with managers for the provision of feedback and expressing ideas as well, especially when the tools for instant messaging are applied. In this case, there are no specific rules for informal communication except for showing respect to opponents and prohibition of offensive expressions.
Non-Verbal Communications. In relation to non-verbal communication, general rules are applied as well. Thus, it is important to pay attention to body language in order to avoid potentially offensive gestures or express disrespect. While honesty is appreciated, it is better to express dissatisfaction clearly, respectfully, and in oral or written communications. In addition, appearance may be regarded as another type of non-verbal communication due to its ability to convey messages – in general, the company does not have a particular dress code as employees’ performance and comfort for its improvement are valued most of all. At the same time, clothes should not bear any offensive messages, for instance, in images or inscriptions, as well.
Procedures for Communications
As previously mentioned, both formal and informal communications are used in the company. On the one hand, its managers consider specific standards that allow to enhance discipline and create competitive advantages. That is why the company applies the rules of formal communication in official written documents, formal emails, and presentations during annual check-ins or projects’ introductions and completions. On the other hand, managers value mutual trust and respect along with employees’ creativity, safety, and comfort. Thus, they pay particular attention to informal communication and activities that allow to improve the working environment and create a sense of unity and belonging.
The company’s values substantially impact its communication-related processes, including decision-making and conflict management. In particular, decisions are majorly made with particular attention to employees’ attitudes to their rationale, and workers may express their opinions directly to managers. In addition, while information concerning changes is disseminated officially, rejections are addressed individually with respect to individuals’ concerns. Individuality is considered in the case of conflict management as well – regardless of a conflict’s reason, including communication gap, task conflicts, differences in working styles, and personal misunderstanding, the resolution requires addressing both parties and the working environment in general. In other words, if a conflict occurs between two employees due to misunderstanding, their positions may be assessed, and solutions may be provided through informal communications. However, if conflicts occur frequently, the procedures of communication in the whole company should be reviewed and improved.
Processes and Tools
For formal communication, phone calls, emails, and video-conferencing should be used, and their duration depends on tasks and their completion. On average, team leaders may present official reports to managers via emails and using web conferencing platforms, such as Skype, GoToMeeting, or Zoom every week to demonstrate the progress. Moreover, departmental managers may make scheduled calls via these platforms as well to assign tasks and control their completion. In addition, phone and video calls should be used in the case of an emergency or when information transition is urgent.
At the same time, multiple tools for informal and semi-formal communications between team members and managers should be used on a daily basis. They include web conferencing platforms, communication platforms for instant messaging, such as Google Hangouts, Flock, Slack, or Viber, and asynchronous tools, like wikis, SharePoint, and discussion threads. In addition, employees may use an inner social platform or be united at popular social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. In other words, they should have an opportunity to communicate with each other in the workplace, discussing tasks and coordinating activities in their own comfortable manner, and outside the working place, sharing news, ideas, opinions, and jokes to create valuable and efficient collaboration on the basis of mutual trust and respect (Forbes Business Council, 2021). Moreover, managers should use available tools for both formal and informal communications with their teams to ensure that workers feel secure and valued as they have an opportunity to contribute to the company’s growth and development through the expression of their opinions through different channels and they will not be ignored or disrespected.
Conclusion
Organizational communication is an essential element of any company’s performance for the coordination of organizational processes. It contributes to the creation of competitive advantages, the improvement of employees’ productivity, and the avoidance of misunderstanding that may lead to conflicts. The current communication plan describes the policies of both verbal and non-verbal communications, introduces procedures, and addresses communication tools essential for the coordination of virtual teams and the cooperation of their members.
Reference
Forbes Business Council. (2021). 11 effective ways to support enhanced virtual communication. Forbes. Web.