Q.4 - Why effective communication is important for efficiency?

Explain with the channels

of communication in a familiar organization which channel do you think is effective and
why explain with illustrations.

Answer:

“You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can’t get them across, your ideas won’t get you
anywhere.” This quote by Lee Iacocca (2007) emphasizes the importance of effective
communication. Communication is only successful when both the sender and the receiver
understand the same information as a result of the communication. The key element is
“understanding”.

Communication is effective if the message that is received is the same one that is sent (J.
Davidson Frame, 2003). By successfully getting your message across, you convey your thoughts
and ideas effectively. When not successful, the thoughts and ideas that you actually send do not
necessarily reflect what you think, causing a communications breakdown and creating
roadblocks.

As stated by J.Davidson Frame (2003), information is the lifeblood of any organization and
communicating this information effectively to relevant parties is vital for the success of any
project. A project team can be inefficient because its basic design ensures inefficiency, or
because organization friction keeps. Poor communication can waste time and energy and cause
conflict between people. Effective communication increases the morale of the employees which
in turn increases the organization’s ability to reach its goals and vision. Effective communication
connects the organization and enables it to find solutions to problems and expand on success.
Without effective communication an organization cannot function properly.

Alan Zaremba in Organizational Communication, Foundations for Business and Collaboration

(2005) reiterates, in any situation where groups of people with differing views, cultures, and
beliefs come together, barriers exist. He also believes that these barriers can be easily avoided if
effective communication is practiced.

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Getting your point across in a well understood manner and to ensure that people get moved by it,
is all about effective communication. Anyone can achieve effective communication by using a
simple tool that has an uncanny ability to pinpoint why any message works or doesn’t work, and
how to improve it.

Isabelle Albanese (2007), demonstrates the 4Cs Model of communication which stands for
Comprehension, Connection, Credibility, and Contagiousness. It is a useful tool for objectively
evaluating the effectiveness of many forms of communication: what’s working, what isn’t
working, and why. The 4Cs can assess marketing communication, as well as business
communication, political communication, entertainment, and plain old everyday person-to-
person communication, from email and blogging to relationship talk.

The various channels of communication used in the organization I am presently working with are
described as below:

Introduction:

Wataniya Telecom is a Kuwait based Mobile telecom operator that was commercially launched
in 1999 as the first privately owned operator in Kuwait. Today, with a market penetration of over
80%, it delivers mobile communication services to all sectors of the Kuwait consumer and
business community. Wataniya aims to become a trusted communication company that always
keeps customers’ needs at the heart of the business.

Channels of Communication in Wataniya

As any organization, two basic channels of communication exist in Wataniya. Both formal and
informal channels are important as both carry messages, sometimes reinforcing and sometimes
conflicting, throughout the organization.

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Formal channels are ones which have been set up by the organization; usually Human
Resources along with Internal communication department play an important role in developing
these channels in Wataniya. Messages flow in three directions: downwards, upwards and
sideways. The downward message consists primarily of information which is necessary for any
staff to carry-out their work, such as policies and procedures, orders and requests which are
passed down the appropriate level in the hierarchy. A good example would be when new
services, updates or modifications need to be announced within the entire organization; PMO
department releases a relevant policy. Upward messages are reports, requests, feedback,
complaints etc. Helpdesk in Wataniya is primarily responsible for communicating customer
grievances and technical issues to Product development for enhancements in service and quality
control. Sideway messages are usually transferred between different departments such as
Marketing, sales and Business intelligence share information and coordinate closely for new
product launch and promotions.

Gerald M. Goldhaber (1986), talks that informal channels spring up by virtue of common
interests between people in the organization. These interests may be caused by work, social or
outside relationships. The grapevine is very powerful channel. It has been estimated that
managers receive over half the information they need for planning purposes through the
grapevine. Its messages may frequently be distorted, but they often carry more credibility than
those coming from the formal channels. Informal channels become the only means of
communication when the formal channels become blocked or break-down.

Communication is evolving with time and the means have expanded with technology and
different methods. Communication, both formal and informal, is crucial to the success of the
enterprise.

Wataniya being a telecom organization promotes a lot of oral communication as it is quick,

creates transparency and is based on two-way communication and therefore promotes an

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understanding of the real information need(s) and the communication of relevant information.
Almost instant feedback through the body language and reactions of the receiver helps to gauge
the level of understanding of the receiver and sender both. In day to day operations of Wataniya
oral communication is used for conducting management and team briefings, meetings between
various departments, and as the main basis for customer touch point. Training Department,
Public relations, Call center and staff in branches use oral communication to address customers
and their queries.

Written communication in the form of Email, product documents, reports etc is widely used in
Wataniya. It is quick and helps to keep trail of different updates that happen on a timely basis.
Marketing division within Wataniya functions with the help of various external contracted
agencies these agencies needs to be sent regular updates through a creative brief document as per
new marketing promotions and campaigns. Human Resources communicate in writing to
employees regarding the changes in their job descriptions, salaries, bonus and other benefits
through personal and confidential letters. Information pertaining to the changes in organizational
structure, appointment of senior management personnel, employee policies etc. is communicated
through internal memos by way of mass email. External communication in the form of print
advertisement, hoardings, press releases in newspaper and on Wataniya corporate website, SMS
broadcast etc. are also carried out.

Looking at day to day operations of Wataniya functions and the culture there in, oral
communication is very effective. Too many people take the easy way out and try and do
everything via e-mail, this however, consumes a lot of time on both sides which can be easily
avoided by simply picking up the phone or going to see the person. Face to face communication
helps in getting a better response that an email.

D. Frame (2003) states that personal discussion is the foundation of communications.

Accordingly, for customer care and sales, a training session would provide better understanding

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in terms of the positive and negative aspects of various products and services that Wataniya
offers rather than giving them a copy of the policies and procedures manual. Also, employees
during training have the advantage of getting their concerns and queries answered immediately
and thereby ambiguity can be avoided.

When a feedback is provided over an email, the receiver may have a completely different
perception about its relevance. This effect is amplified when you are not communicating face-to-
face. A face-to-face meeting gives you the opportunity to put your point across, while being
sensitive and diplomatic at the same time.

There is a great risk of the message getting diluted when a responsibility gets delegated through
email. A team will definitely show a sense of ownership and complete tasks on time if
communicated face to face. Nonverbal communication, such as tone of voice, facial gestures and
eye contact help individuals understand the importance of a task and the need to complete it on
time.

Today, numerous channels are used for internal and external organizational communication. Yet,
the best way to communicate is in person. Technology has made communication very simple.
However, while tools like computers score high on convenience and speed, they lack the
warmth and emotion that face-to-face communication provides.

Conclusion:

Communication is an important skill needed in all aspects of life. Being able to communicate
effectively, we can build lasting and effective relationships, solve problems before they become
unmanageable, and eliminate confusion and misunderstanding that can occur. Communication is
not only an essential aspect of these recent organizational changes, but effective communication

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can be seen as the foundation of modern organizations. For an ideal communication to achieve
efficiency with effectiveness, it is important that the message reflects the intention of the sender
and is received correctly. Specialized business knowledge is important, but not enough to
guarantee success. Communication skills are vital.

(Word Count: 1531)

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References

1. Alan Jay Zaremba, 2005, Organizational Communication: Foundations for

Business and Collaboration, Edition 2, Thomson/South –Western, 2005

2. Davidson J.Frame 2003, Managing Projects in Organization, Edition 3,John Wiley and
Sons

3. Gerald M. Goldhaber, 1986, Organizational Behaviour, Edition 4, Wm.C. Brown

4. Isabelle Albanese, 2007, The 4c’s of truth in Communication, Paramount Market

Publishing.

5. John M. Ivancevich, Andrew D. Szilagyi, Marc J. Wallace, 1977, Organizational

Behavior and Performance, Good year Pub. Co.

6. Michael A hit, C.Chet Miller, Adrienne Colella , 2006, Organizational behavior a

strategic approach, John Wiley & Sons

7. Philip Kotler , 2000, Marketing Management, millennium edition, Prentice Hall