Communication in Organizations: Challenges and Solutions

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MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY – MEMO

To: The Director of Communications at Company XYZ
From: Communication Department
Date: March 22, 2019
Subject: Understanding the Factors Affecting Effective Communication
Communication is the quintessential part of every organisation irrespective of its scale,
location, size, and other factors. For this work, I have taken up the secondary research
method, wherein I have reviewed three research articles on the factors affecting the effective
communication in the workplace and their impacts. There are many hindrances that might
negatively impact communication, thereby causing huge losses to the organisations. Hence,
managing those factors and issues are quite very important. This report outlines the
significance of an effective communication channel within an organisation and highlights the
factors hindering its effectiveness and its impacts. It also talks about the ways to improve the
existing communication process of an organisation.
Significance of Communication
In an organisation, communication is important for the smooth flow of information among
the people associated with the organisation. Argenti (2006) argues that employees and
management are required to communicate with each other in order to have a better
understanding of the tasks carried out by them (p. 12). Communication helps in the proper
management of the tasks and projects undertaken by the organisation. Improper
communication might result in clashes and misunderstanding among the team members,
thereby causing a decline in productivity (Widmar & Olynk, 2012). It is important for the
organisation to determine the factors affecting effective communication in order to establish a
healthy working environment. It is required from the employees to have a better
understanding of the communication process within an organisation.
Factors Affecting Effective Communication and Their Impacts
Communications process can be hindered by various factors, such as emotional, physical, and
personality. According to Snyder & Eng Lee-Partridge (2013), employees' behaviour might
impact communication. Hostile behaviour of one employee towards others might cause
disconnection. As a result, communication and office culture get impacted. Widmar & Olynk
(2012) outlined that the personality of an employee might affect communication. Employees

who depend on available data might find it difficult to work with the ones who prefer
personal observation and experience. This would create a communication gap. Argenti (2006)
highlighted that physical barrier might comprise demographic, availability of technology, etc.
The impacts of poor communication are low job satisfaction among employees, poor
productivity, high conflicts, high turnover, and low profits to the organisation. All these are
interrelated and might be handled if proper measures are taken timely.
Ways to Improve Communication in a Workplace
Good communication helps in establishing a worker-friendly environment that promotes
satisfaction and high productivity. Snyder & Eng Lee-Partridge (2013) argue that leadership
in an organization is responsible for establishing an effective communication channel. Hence,
appointing a leader that promotes a healthy working environment and team spirit can be a
great solution. All that is required is to listen to the employees and direct them wherever
required. In addition to this, Widmar & Olynk (2012) support the use of the latest technology
and software to remove the barriers to communication (p.36). Tools like Skype, Chatbox, and
emails have reduced the gap in the communication up to some extent.
From this memo, it is quite clear that communication serves an important role in the
functioning of an organisation. From the secondary research, it is pretty much clear that
communication impacts the motivation and performance of employees and reduces the
chances of error and mistakes. Hence, it is important to promote formal and effective
organisational communication for enhancing staff satisfaction and productivity.

References
 Argenti, Paul A 2006, ‘How Technology Has Influenced the Field of Corporate
Communication’, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 20, no. 3, pp.
357–370.
 Snyder, Jason & Eng Lee-Partridge, Joo 2013, ‘Understanding communication channel
choices in team knowledge sharing’, Corporate Communications: An International
Journal, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 417–431.
 Widmar, David & Olynk, Nicole 2012, ‘Communication barriers: identify them,
overcome them!’, AgriMarketing, vol. 50, no. 5, p. 33,.