THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

INSTITUTE OF DISTANCE LEARNING (UNZA-ZOU)

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MDEA 501)

NAME: Morgan Chisha Ntinda

ID: 721000120

Assignment: Two (Term Paper)

Question: Discuss ways in which Internal Communication can be improved in

Educational Institutions.
Contemporary communication in organization coordinates the activities and
interpretations of multiple people into an organized, recognizable form and
sustains or alters this form for subsequent collective action. For any institution to
remain relevant and achieve its objectives, it has to build a clear system to
communicate with each and every department such a system is internal
communication system. Pryor and Ampiah (2003) defines internal communication
as a communication system that organization use to share information and
resources throughout the organization from top leadership to management and
staff members. If done well effective internal communication can facilitate
collaboration and engagement and clarify an organization’s core mission, values
and strategies. To this effect this academic writing will discuss ways in which
effective internal communicate can be improved.

The effective internal communication process contributes to proper functioning of

management system in any organization, on one hand. On the other hand, many
problems happening in the management system may result from poor
communication. Efficient flow of information within the organizational structure,
organizational work. Culture and work-related documentation management builds
internal communication (Richmond et al, 2005).

According to Armstrong (2003) Optimizing Huddles can help to improve internal

communication, as they are brief touch points among all members of a work
group or team that occur according to a predetermined schedule, often daily.
There’s one thing that all teams have in common: the need for communication
and alignment. No matter what people are involved in whether playing a sport,
working on a project, or sharing a shift, it’s important that your whole team is on
the same page. In the long run, but also on the daily basis.

From gathering feedback and aligning on vision, mission and goals to team
building and driving teacher engagement. Coming together before each a school
term starts or even during the term is a valuable touch point to get everyone on the
same page about the Term and year. While a team huddle is a great way to get
everyone energized, that’s not its only purpose. These quick meetings are a great
way to align on consistent execution, and reiterate core messages like school’s
mission statement. 

Additionally, Leadership sets the tone for team huddles, If they keep bailing on
huddles, members of staff won’t take them seriously, as such, there would be a
breakdown in communication, so it’s important that managers to stick to the
routine, if these are done on a daily basis then it should be like that every single
day. It’s important for employees to know they have the time to ask questions and
get a sense of what’s expected of them each day. If they keep getting cancelled,
you can’t expect to also get the benefits

Having a meeting agenda prepared is a best practice across all industries,

including education. As this will help in conveying precise message, thereby
helping in communication. So it’s important to lay out what the headmaster is
going to cover and what he/she want to focus on each meeting. This will help
ensure your huddle stays on track and you communicate everything that needs to
be shared. White et al (2010) adds that calling team huddles for more than 15
minutes isn’t sustainable over time. That also means one need to be strict about
staying on schedule and not veer off topic. When the meeting starts to bleed over,
it can throw off the entire day.

According Caetano, A. et al. (2000) Meeting employees where they are at, If the
administrations’ messages are to be communicated to members of staff
effectively, the management must serve them up where members of staff spend
their time, with use proper channels and tools of communication, for teachers to
be at their best, management has to lead with their best ability. People need to feel
emotionally, physically, and psychologically safe. They want to know that they
will not be emotionally attacked or dismissed for their feelings, that physically
they’re not exposed to anything that could hurt them, that psychologically their
ideas are safe, and that if they toss up a “crazy” idea that they will not be
ridiculed. Stability has always been important, but now it is dramatically
magnified. Members of an institution need to feel that their jobs, their income,
and personal lives are on an even keel and not threatened. It is incredibly hard to
offer this to people today so top management will have to find someplace, they
can give a sense of stability even if it is just your emotional support.

Many educational institutions lag in communication, due to the fact that many of
its members have lost or don’t have a sense of belonging (Brkanlić and Sandra,
2014). Many members of staff want to feel important members of their
organization and that their colleagues and superiors are glad we are on the team.
Without a sense of belongingness can lead to feelings of isolation and many miss
the comradely and collaboration they are used to. This is why regular check-ins,
short meetings, and virtual get-togethers are so important to help people feel
connected, appreciated for their work, and valued as part of the team. As such
communication can be effected, as every member will feel part of the institution
and will be eager to participate in the activities of the institution.

Another way to make internal communication effective is knowing the audience

(Zaremba, 2010), which is the team that one is working with. Sometimes fewer
messages that reach the right audiences are far more effective than lots of
messages being sent to all. For instance, instead of conducting a meeting were all
the teachers attend, but rather conduct a meeting were only heads of department
attend and later, they communicate that message to their colleagues in respective
departments. Getting to know your audience isn’t always a simple process, but it’s
a necessary one.

When an organization priorities communication, it will always think of internal

people first of all. Members of staff shouldn’t be surprised by reports of their
organization from external sources, they should hear it from the organization first.
In many educational institutions, there is always information meant for external
and internal consumption and sometimes information meant for internal members
only (Mayfield and Mayfield, 2018). For information for both audiences, it is
important that members of the organization are informed first, as sometimes may
act as the medium of communication for the external beneficiaries of the
information. For instance, informing parents and guardians of the pupils about
changes to the school calendar, without first informing the teachers about this
development, such can prove chaotic, as it will show ineffective internal
communication.

In this fast technology growing present day, it is also important to consider how
social media can prove to be an integral part in promoting internal
communication, this help and improve communication, through creation of a
teacher’s social media groups such whatsapp group which top management and
teachers can use for quick and effective internal communication. It’s also a great
platform for feedback channels (Gee et al, 1996). While many schools and
districts have been hesitant to create Facebook groups and whatsapp groups due to
the fear of negative comments or feedback from their community, some school or
district actually needs those comments to improve. However, it important to
create a Facebook or whatsapp group that feels like a “safe space” for, teachers to
come together, ask questions, give feedback, and connect with one another in a
place where it comes naturally.

Sometimes internal communication is ineffective and inefficient, not because it is

not done, but because is not done correctly or sometimes it’s attributed to
obsolescence. Robbins and Coulter (2005). Advises that sometimes it is of great
importance to forget what an institution did the previous year for communications
plan, or the year before. Therefore, it is sometimes important to Start from scratch
and start with the needs of the organization in the forefront of the strategy. For
instance, many educational institutions abandoned their usual communication
internally when coronavirus pandemic hit the lobe, as it came with so many
uncertainties in terms of how institutions conducted their businesses as well as
communication. Many resolute to having virtual meetings as opposed to having
physical contact.
Additionally, even when a proper strategy has been in place for a long time,
there’s always room for improvement (Clampitt, 2013). So after making a list of
what’s available, analyze how effective the channel is by giving each a score from
1 to 10, if for example everyone missed the latest email, it probably deserves a
low score, old habits can be hard to break, but change is inevitable.

The main purpose of internal communication is to make all company employees

influential, well-trained and integrated and to facilitate communication in the
workplace, making it clear to the internal public (Hargie, 2016). For this internal
communication to be successful, workers need to have a set of values that they
share. The spread of organizational culture is essential for effective
communication. Therefore, it can be concluded that internal communication is
important for an organization to thrive, because it determines the validity of an
organization and where alliances and understanding occur.

Everyone communicate differently, some members of staff would prefer emails,

and others would prefer a face to face meeting (Tkalac et al, 2017). Often it’s a
personal preference, or it can depend on what is available internally, preferences
also play a vital role in the establishment of effective internal communication. An
effective internal communication system will need to make use of a few channels.
As such, internal communication will improve.

It is worth mentioning that effective communication occurs as the decoding of the

receiver approaches the message intended by the sender (Ognjanov, 2005).
Another element that can be part of the communication process is noise. This, in
general, intends to disturb, disturb, confuse, diminish or even interfere in
communication wherever it occurs. With this, it is understood that noises are not
just noises, but other factors that can hinder or impair communication intentions,
and there may be problems in both the sender and the receiver. In addition,
redundancy in information or poorly prepared messages can also greatly hamper
the communication process (Fitzpatrick and Valskov, 2015).
One way communication is a thing of the past, members of staff who feel listened
to have enhanced feelings of trust. According to Cavanah, R. R (2011) facilitating
a two way communication helps to enhance effective internal communication in
any kind of institution, by encouraging members of staff to share their thoughts
and opinion, allow them to make recommendations these can include face to face
meetings, interactive video interviews, employee surveys and suggestion boxes.
Teachers significantly influence the outcome of any plans, project that the school
undertakes, if communication is flowing effectively from the top management to
ordinary members of staff and back to the top management through a two way
communication, it more likely to see all members of the institution work towards
a common purpose, toward shared organizational goals, This entails that
management should have the ability to listen to their subordinates. Effective
communication allows everyone to stay informed and eager to contribute to the
institutions success WHITE and STAFFORD (2010).

In conclusion, in this competitive and fast changing era, internal communication

in organization has to be on point and appropriate, for an organization to achieve
its goals and mission. Top management must put in place ways of communication
internally that will drive members of staff towards achieving intended objectives.
Without effective internal communication, members may stray away from the
organization’s main objectives. Internal communication creates a healthy working
environment which fosters cooperation and coordination in the work environment.
It is therefore important to follow some ways to implement effective internal
communication as the forgone discussion has demonstrated.
 REFERENCES

Armstrong, M. (2003). Students as Clients: A Professional Services Model for

Business Education. Academy of Management Learning and Education, Vol.
2, No. 4, pp. 371-374.

Brkanlić, Sandra (2014). The influence of marketing mix instrument on the

higher education image and students’ satisfaction, University of Novi Sad.

Caetano, A. et al. (2000). Organizational Change and Human Resource

Management. Lisbon: Observatory of Employment and Professional Training.

Cavanah, R. R (2011). Building engaged team performance Align your

processes and people to achieve game-changing business results. New York,
NY McGraw-Hill.

Clampitt, P. (2013). Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness: Problems,

Strategies, and Solutions. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

FitzPatrick, L., Valskov, K. (2015). Internal communications: a manual for

practitioners. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.

Gee, James, Glynda Hull, and Colin Lankshear (1996). The new work order:
Be- hind the language of the new capitalism, Sydney and Boulder CO.: Allen &
Unwin and Westview Press.

Hargie, O. (2016). The importance of communication for organizational

effectiveness. In F. Lobo (Ed.), Psicologia do Trabalho e das Organizações (pp.
15-32). Braga: Axioma.
Mayfield, Jacqueline, Milton Mayfield (2018), Motivating language theory:
Effective leader talk in the workplace, Palgrave Macmillan.

Ognjanov, Galjina (2005), integrated marketing communications, Publishing

Centre of the Faculty of Economics, Belgrade.

Pryor, J. & Ampiah, J. G. (2003). Understandings of education in an African

village: the impact of information and communication technologies. London:
DFID.

Richmond, V., McCroskey, J., McCroskey, L. (2005). Organizational

Communication for Survival: Making Work, Work. Boston, Massachusetts:
Allyn & Bacon.

Robbins, S. P and Coulter, M. (2005). Management. New Delhi.

Tkalac Verčič, Ana, Nina Pološki Vokić (2017), ˝Engaging employees through
internal communication˝, Public Relations Review, 43(5), 885-893.

White, C., Vanc, A., Stafford, G. (2010). Internal communication, information

satisfaction, and sense of community: The effect of personal influence, Journal
of Public Relations Research, 22, pp. 65-84

WHITE, C.; VANC, A.; STAFFORD, G. (2010). Internal Communication,

Information Satisfaction, and Sense of Community: The Effect of Personal
Influenza. Journal of Public Relations Research, 22 (1), pp. 65-84.

Zaremba, A. (2010). Organizational Communication: Foundations for

Business and Collaboration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.