Every organization has to change sooner or later, as change is often required for expansion of the company. Transparency in internal communication has been demonstrated to be a valuable attribute for many businesses. Therefore I have chosen to implement it into my organization. This paper will cover the value of this change and the methodology I chose to implement it.
Discussion
Effective internal communication is one of the essential parts of a successful company. This level of communication can be achieved by creating a culture of transparency within the organization. In a culture of transparency, every team member is allowed to provide feedback on the projects of the organization. They can freely communicate with employees of higher ranks, while also gaining more information about upcoming changes and projects. Studies on transparency and internal communication have shown a variety of positive outcomes when a company nurtures a culture of transparency.
First of all, this type of culture increases the trust of the employees in the company. This trust can be seen when employees become more motivated and focused on fulfilling the goals of the organization. Another positive outcome lies in the ability of both managers and team members to provide feedback to each other, without fear of offending anybody. A culture of transparency lets information flow freely despite the differences in the hierarchy of the organization. With a large amount of regular feedback, the company can analyze it and make changes according to the wishes of the employees. This aspect of transparency makes it highly valuable for my organization. It makes transparency not only a change that would improve morale but would also give a platform for future organizational improvements (Mishra, Boynton, & Mishra, 2014).
To properly implement this change within the company, a bottom-up methodology should be utilized. The nature of transparency in internal communication makes it essential to consider the ideas and feedback of employees. By choosing a bottom-up approach, the employees will realize that this is not a half-hearted gesture but rather a complete commitment to change implementation. The choice of this method would serve as the first step to achieving the desired result. Although this approach would certainly take longer to implement than a top-down approach, it offers several benefits over the latter.
A bottom-up approach allows every member of the team to participate in the decision-making process, which means that no one would be left without a voice on the matter. When people see that their suggestions have been considered, or even implemented, they will begin to gain more trust in the company. This feeling also comes with an impression that this change is not just a mandatory order from the manager but rather a thoughtfully constructed program that the employees themselves can help implement. The bottom-up method of implementation would also help prevent errors or oversights in the original plan. For example, perhaps the employees would like to receive less feedback on certain types of activities; this kind of information would be essential to gather and analyze for a proper facilitation of the culture of transparency (Kuipers et al., 2013).
Conclusion
Most successful organizations value internal communication. With studies showing a positive outcome, it seems sensible to try and implement it into my organization as well. This type of change should be implemented through a bottom-up approach to show the employees that their voices are important and can lead to serious changes for the company.
References
Kuipers, B., Higgs, M., Kickert, W., Tummers, L., Grandia, J., & Van Der Voet, J. (2013). The management of change in public organizations: A literature review. Public Administration, 92(1), 1-20.
Mishra, K., Boynton, L., & Mishra, A. (2014). Driving employee engagement. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), 183-202.