UNIT FOUR: TYPES OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

Introduction
Communication in organizations needs a system for managing the flow of
information. Because communication in organizations is complex, there are some
systems for structuring who will communicate with whom. There are two kinds of
communication networks in organizations. These are formal and informal networks.
Informal communication occurs outside formal channels. It takes place continuously and
includes impromptu discussion and conversation among friends. It may be limited to two persons
or more. It is a communication, which is not deliberately designed by the organization. It is
rather created by informal groups in order to satisfy their need to interact and share information
among themselves. Informal communications are also known as grapevine communication
because of its structure less direction of flow. Non-verbal communication is also another aspect
to be considered in communication.
4.1. Internal and External Communication
Internal and external Communication
Information and communication are crucial in the life of any [Link] on, in
what the actor’s organizational activity is concerned, is probably the aspect that is most
connected to Global performance”. Without it enterprises could hardly establish strategic plans
to reach their main objectives through a holistic perspective. One could say that communication
assumes a fundamental importance, both in internal and easier as well as to have a better
performance. According to this point of view, communication relies on two essential functions
for its global activity: promoting and coordination internal and external communication.
Internal Communication
Internal communication involves all organization contextual activities that is responsible for all
the information production and flux between the actors of the organization and it is also inherent
to all activities developed by them.
Related to that, one can stress the activity of selecting and distributing news, producing and
managing multimedia content, organizing formative activities as seminars and workshops, as
well as putting into concept and elaborating propositions.
Press Review
This function exists in order to inform all employees about articles published in the press related
to Holos as well as its interventional areas like ICT’s development (Information and
Communication Technologies); it also includes information related to cultural and artistic
activities.
The process relies on searching, selecting and distributing information, so that employees can
constantly be aware of new developments, in a context of challenges and continuous innovation.
It also has a far more reaching goal, which is to stimulate the searching of information and to
motivate the employees for an active exercise of knowledge construction in several contexts.
Content production and Management
Multimedia content production and management is another activity developed by the Education
and communication team in order to produce and distribute news on the website, regarding its
interventional areas of domain.
Organization of Formative Actions
Being a “Learning organization”, this company is concerned with its own active learning and
evolution, thus it is focused in developing formative actions.
Holos has developed and organized diverse events as workshops and seminars in order to divulge
knowledge on different domains and to present its own products, promoting information and
communication Technologies (ICT) not only as a business support but also as an organization’s
dynamic and determinant element.
Cultural development proposals
Those activities consist in organizing guided visits to diverse cultural spaces for its employees.
As learning organization, those initiatives are meant to increase the employees’ interest in
education, art and Culture.
Valuing knowledge and increasing the diversity of cultural knowledge stimulates motivation for
self-formation and personal development.
It is perceived that the search for knowledge as a professional and a personal development may
increase the organizations’ actors’ self-esteem and self-confidence, thus contributing for their
performance and improvement of competences.
External Communication
External communication comprehends all information developed by the company, which is
related to its activity that is released in the press, for public knowledge. Such information is
crucial in order to promote the company’s image.
Those activities are developed around the company’s image management and they are related to
its thematic and concepts.
Methods, tolls and tactics
1. Public relation and publicity are not synonymous, but many PR campaigns include
provisions for publicity is the spreading of information to gain public awareness for a
product, person, service, cause or organization, and can be seen as a result of effective PR
planning. More recently in public relations. Professionals re using technology as their main
tool to get their massages to target audiences. With the creation of social networks, blogs,
and even internet radio public relations professionals are able to send direct messages
through these mediums that attract the target audiences. Methods used to find out what is
appealing to target audiences include the use of surveys, conducting research or even focus
groups. Tactics are the ways to attract target audiences by using the information gathered
about that audience and directing a message to them using tools such as social media or other
technology.
2. There are various tools that can be used in the practice of PR. Traditional tools include press
releases and media kits which are sent out to generate positive press on behalf of the
organization. Other widely-used tools include brochures, newsletters and annual reports.
Increasingly, companies are utilizing interactive social media, such as blogs, Twitter and face
book, as tools in their PR campaigns. Unlike the traditional tools which allowed for only one-
way communication, social media allows the organization to engage in two-way communication,
and receive immediate feedback from their various stakeholders and publics. One of the most
popular and traditional tools used by public relations professional are a press kit (also known as a
media Kit). A press kit is usually a folder that consists of promotional materials that gives
information about an event, organization, business, or even a person. What is included would be
a backgrounder or biography, a fact sheet, press release (or media release), media alert, brochure,
newsletter, photograph with a caption, copies of any media clips, and social media. With the way
that the industry has changed, many organizations may have a website with a link, “press Room”
which would have online versions of these pieces.
3. Publics Targeting
A fundamental technique use in public relations is to identify the target audience, and to tailor
every message to appeal to that audience. It can be a general, nationwide or worldwide audience,
but t s more often a segment of a population. A good elevator pitch can help tailor messaging to
each target audience. Marketers often refer to socio economy-driven “demographics”, such as
“black males 18-49,”but in public relations an audience is more fluid, being whoever someone
wants to reach, or in the new paradigm of value based networked social groups, the values based
social segment. For example, recent political audiences include “soccer moms” and “NASCAR
dads”
An alternative and less flexible, more simplistic, approach uses Stakeholders theory to identify
people who have a stake in a given institution or issue. All audiences are stakeholders (or
presumptive stakeholders), but not all stakeholders are audiences. For example, if a charity
commissions PR agency to create an advertising campaign to raise money to find a cure for a
disease, the charity and the people with the disease are stakeholders, but the audience is anyone
who is likely to donate money.
Sometimes the interests of differing audiences and stakeholders common to a PR effort
necessitate the creation of several distinct but complementary messages. This is not always easy
to do, and sometimes—especially in politics – a spokesperson or client says something to one
audience that creates dissonance that creates dissonance with another audience or group of
stakeholders.
Lobby groups
Lobby groups are established to influence government policy, corporate policy, or public
opinion. An example of this is the American Israel Public Affairs committee, AIPAC, which
influences American foreign policy. Such groups claim to represent a particular interest and in
fact are dedicated to doing so. When a lobby group hides its true purpose and support base, it is
known as a front group. Moreover, governments may also lobby public relations firms in order to
sway public opinion. A well illustrated example of this is the way civil war in Yugoslavia was
portrayed. Governments of newly succeeded republics of Croatia and Bosnia invested heavily
with American PR firms, so that the PR firms would give them a positive war image in the US.
4.2. Formal Flow of Communication
Communication in organizations needs a system for managing the flow of
information. Because communication in organizations is complex, there are some
systems for structuring who will communicate with whom. There are two kinds of
communication networks in organizations. These are formal and informal networks.
i. Formal Communication Networks
Formal communication networks are systems designed by management to dictate
who should talk to whom to get job done. We describe formal communication
network with organizational charts. Organizational charts show who is responsible
for others performance, and the flow of communication. Formal communication
includes:
1) Downward communication
2) Upward communication
3) Horizontal communication
4) Diagonal communication
Downward Communication: It flows from individuals at higher levels of the
hierarchy to those at lower levels. The most common downward organizational
communications are:
 Giving Job instructions;
 Giving Job descriptions;
 Passing organization policies, procedures and practices
Upward Communication: Widely used upward communication devices include:
 Suggestion boxes,
 Group meetings,
 Reports to supervisors,
Horizontal Communication: functional/horizontal channels for communications
include the communication process among equally positioned managers. It is based
on peer relationship
Diagonal Communication: diagonal communication is the channel of
communication in organizations. It is important in institutions in which members
cannot communicate effectively through other channels. The use of a diagonal
channel would minimize the time and effort expended by the organization.
 4.3. Informal Communication Networks
Alongside the formal networks, every organization also has informal
communication networks/ patterns of interaction based on culture, language,
friendships, shared interests, etc.
Informal communication can serve several useful functions. Some informal
communication confirms formal messages. Informal communication can fill in the
gaps left by incomplete formal messages. In addition to this, informal networks can
often deliver messages more quickly than official channels can. Informal contacts
can sometimes help employees and managers to bypass official channels that are
unnecessarily cumbersome and time-consuming. Furthermore, informal
communication allows jobs to be done better than the more formal variety can.
It is a communication, which is not deliberately designed by the organization. It is rather created
by informal groups in order to satisfy their need to interact and share information among
themselves. Informal communications are also known as grapevine communication because of
its structure less direction of flow.
A. Nature of Informal Communication
Informal communication occurs outside formal channels. It takes place continuously and
includes impromptu discussion and conversation among friends. It may be limited to two persons
or more.
B. Forms of Informal Communication
I. Grapevine
The grapevine is the communication system of informal organization. It co-exists with
management’s formal communication system. The grapevine in organization is made up of
several informal communications network that over up and intersect at a number of points.
It is not possible to predict the direction, speed, accuracy, or final content of a message carried
by the grapevine messages may be abbreviated, magnified, restructured, elaborated, or generally
twisted all out of shape. Sometimes official messages must be issued to counteract the in
accuracies of the grapevine. At other times it can spread information very quickly and accurately.
No matter how well it “works” or does not, it can be eliminated, controlled, and systematized.
The message invariably carries the personal impression and emotional reaction of each person.
Features of the grapevine are:
 Fast
Flexible
Personal
Influential
Short lived
The use of the grapevine
Even though the grapevine’s reliability can never be determined with complete certainty, it does
serve useful functions:
1. It satisfies a need, the opportunity for the employee to enjoy friendly relation with his
fellow employee(s)
2. It helps the employee to make sense out of his work environment, especially in
interpreting unclear order from superior.
3. It acts as a safety valve. When the employee is confused and unclear about what is
going to happen to them, he uses the grapevine to let out his anxiety. 4. When he .feels
powerless to direct his destiny, passing a rumor along the grapevine is away of
expressing and releasing negative energy.
5. When people gossip about someone who is not present, they often pass judgment.
Some people pass judgments on others to find out where they stand.

II. Rumor
The word rumor is used as a synonym for the word grapevine, but there is some difference
between the two terms. Rumor is grapevine information that is communicated with out secured
standard of evidence. It may be unverified and untrue part of the grapevine. The rumor gives
poor reputation.
Generally people who spread rumor are interested in the subject.
Some time the rumor plays as an agent for wish fulfillment. The problem with rumor is that it is
especially subject to distortion because people are interested in the subject matter.
Personnel manager, wishing to stop the rumor mongering, would try to stop only those important
rumors that affect morale and productivity. The rumor should be clarified as quickly as possible.
Face- to face conversion or group meeting are the best methods for stopping dangerous rumors
from spreading. It cannot be eliminated or completely controlled, no matter the effort. The best
thing is to try to understand it and know how to cope with it.
There are several reasons why informal networks are so important.
Amount of Information- Informal networks carry a tremendous amount of
information. In one study, researchers analyzed the communication of general
managers over periods of six months to a year. They found that the managers spent a
great deal of time with people who were not direct subordinates, superiors, or peers-
people with whom, according to the official chain of command, they had no need to
deal. Many of these people seemed relatively unimportant to outsiders: secretaries,
lower-level subordinates, and supervisors with little power. Despite their unrelated
job descriptions and low official status, successful managers all seemed to cultivate
these contacts.
Speed- Since they are not forced to follow official channels, these informal sources
often provide information much faster than official methods. While a memo
announcing a new policy is being typed and duplicated, a series of telephone calls
from one person to another can spread the news throughout an organization.
Accuracy- Informal contacts often provide more accurate information than official
channels. Research has demonstrated that informal networks are consistently
accurate-between 80 and 90 percent according to many studies. Informal messages
are relatively accurate because their face-to–face nature allows more clarification
than the written, one-way, serially transmitted messages that come via formal
channels. However, as the emotional impact of a message grows, the chances of its
being distorted increase.

Informal networks develop for several reasons. Some are based on physical
proximity. Despite their distance on an organizational chart, some people
communicate simply because they spend time close to one another. The office
workers who overheard the layoff information fall into this category. Other networks
form around the shared career interests of their members, as in the case of the
management trainees who use computer. Finally, some networks are based on
personal friendships. Sometimes these friendships would exist even if there were no
working relationship between the members. In other cases, the friendship is more of
a means to an end for one or both of the parties.
Cultivating Informal Networks
Developing a strong informal communication network is not all coincidence. Several
steps can help you to develop these important links.
Seek Exposure to People at All levels of the organization. Sometimes the best
informants are people with low official status. A telephone operator or receptionist,
for example, may have a better idea of who talks with whom than anyone else in the
organization. Secretaries are exposed to most of the information addressed to their
bosses, and they usually serve as gatekeepers who can give or deny access to them.
Custodial and maintenance people travel around the building and, in their rounds,
see and hear many interesting things. Besides, a friendly repairperson can fix a
broken widget now instead of insisting that you file a work order that probably won’t
get attention for six weeks.
Treat Everyone in the Organization with Respect. As you will soon read, perhaps
the most important factor in the morale of an organization is the degree to which its
members feel valued. Besides the fact that thoughtfulness and courtesy are simple
good manners, they can make the difference between your developing a network of
friends or a network of enemies. Remember colleagues on holidays. Ask about
children. Discuss hobbies. And, above all, be polite and pleasant.
Ask Questions. When you discover a knowledgeable information source, ask for
explanations of events. The simple question “What’s going on here?” can generate
more information than can a stack of policy manuals and managerial briefings.
The other key question to ask is “Who can help me?” Your personal contacts can
often direct you to the person or persons who can give you the information you need
or support your efforts.
4.4. Non-Verbal Communication
We need to begin our study of nonverbal communication by defining that term. At
first, this might seem like a simple task: If non means "not" and verbal means
"words," nonverbal communication means "communicating without words." In fact,
this literal definition isn't completely accurate. On the other hand, you'll soon read
that certain aspects of the voice aren't really verbal.
This isn't the place to explore the rather complex debate about what is exactly and
what isn't nonverbal. Interesting as the subject may be, we can move along with this
introduction by defining nonverbal communication as "those messages expressed by
other than linguistic means." This rules out not only sign languages, but written
words as well, but it includes messages transmitted by vocal means that don't
involve language- the sighs, laughs, and other assorted noises we alluded to a
moment ago.
Types of communication
Vocal communication No vocal Communication
Verbal Spoken words Written words
Communication
Tone of voice, sighs, screams, Gestures, movement appearance
Nonverbal vocal qualities (loudness pitch, facial expression and so on
Communication and so on)

The Various Types of Nonverbal Communication

Body orientation.
We'll start with body orientation - the degree to which we face toward or away from
someone with our body, feet, and head.
Posture.
Another way we communicate nonverbally is through our posture. To see if this is
true, stop reading for a moment, and notice how you're sitting. What does your
position say nonverbally about how you feel? Are there any other people near you
now? What messages do you get from their present posture? By paying attention to
the postures of those around you, as well as your own, you'll find another channel of
nonverbal communication that can furnish information about how people feel about
themselves and each other.
Psychologists have found that other postural keys to feelings are tension and
relaxation. They say that we take relaxed postures in non-threatening situations and
tighten up when threatened. Based on this observation, they say we can tell a good
deal about how others feel simply by watching how tense or loose they seem to be?
Gestures
We have already discussed how emblems and illustrators convey messages.
Sometimes, gestures like these are intentional - a cheery wave or thumbs up, for
example. In other cases, however, our gestures are unconscious. Occasionally an
unconscious gesture will consist of an unambiguous emblem, such as a shrug that
clearly means “I don't know”. Another revealing set of gestures is stoking or
combing one's hair, glancing in a mirror, and rearranging one's clothing.
Psychiatrists suggest that these behaviors signal some sort of interest in the other
party.
Face and Eyes.
The face and eyes are probably the most noticed parts of the body, but this doesn't
mean that their nonverbal messages are the easiest to read. The face is a
tremendously complicated channel of expression for several reasons.
First, it's hard even to describe the number and kind of expressions we commonly
produce with our face and eyes. For example, researchers have found that there are
at least eight distinguishable positions of the eyebrows and forehead, eight more of
the eyes and lids, and ten for the lower face. When you multiply the complexity by
the number of emotions we feel, you can see why it would be almost impossible to
compile a dictionary of facial expressions and their corresponding emotions.
Psychologists have identified six basic emotions that facial expressions reflect -
surprise, fear, anger, disgust, happiness, and sadness. Expressions reflecting these
feelings seem to be recognizable in and between members of all cultures.
People are quite accurate at judging facial expressions for these emotions. Accuracy
increases when judges know the target or the context in which the expression
occurs, or when they have seen several samples of the target's expressions.
The eyes themselves can send several kinds of messages. Meeting someone's glance
with your eyes is usually a sign of involvement, whereas looking away often signals
a desire to avoid contact. Most of us remember trying to avoid a question we didn't
understand by glancing away from the teacher, for example. At times like these, we
usually became very interested in our textbooks, fingernails, and the clock -
anything but the teacher's stare. Of course, the teacher always seemed to know the
meaning of this nonverbal behavior, and ended up calling on those of us who
signaled our uncertainty.
The eyes communicate both dominance and submission. We've all played the game
of trying to stare down somebody, and in real life there are also times when
downcast eyes are a sign of giving in. In some religious orders, for example,
subordinate members are expected to keep their eyes downcast when addressing a
superior.
Voice.
The voice itself is another channel of nonverbal communication. Social scientists
use the term paralanguage to describe nonverbal, vocal message. The way a
message is spoken can give the same word or words many meanings.
There are many other ways our voice communicates - through its tone, speed, pitch,
volume, number and length of pauses. All these factors can do a great deal to
reinforce or contradict the message our words convey.
Researchers have identified the power of paralanguage through the use of content-
free speech- ordinary speech that has been electronically manipulated so that the
words are unintelligible, but the paralanguage remains unaffected. (Hearing a
foreign language that you don't understand has the same effect.) Subjects who hear
content-free speech can consistently recognize the emotion being expressed, as well
as identify its strength.
Vocal changes that contradict spoken words are not easy to conceal. If the speaker is
trying to hide fear or anger, the voice will probably sound higher and louder, and the
rate of talk may be faster than normal. Sadness produces the opposite vocal pattern:
quieter, lower-pitched speech delivered at a slower rate.
Besides reinforcing or contradicting messages, some vocal factors influence the way
a speaker is perceived by others. People with more attractive voices are rated more
highly than those whose speech sounds less attractive. What makes a voice
attractive can vary.
Touch.
Touch can communicate many messages and signal a variety of relationships.
 Functional/professional (dental exam, haircut)
 Social/polite (handshake)
 Friendship/warmth (clap on back,)
 Sexual arousal (some kisses, strokes)
 Aggression (shoves, slaps)
You might object to the examples following each of these categories, saying that
some nonverbal behaviors occur in several types of relationships. A kiss, for
example, can mean anything from a polite but superficial greeting to the most
intense arousal. What makes a given touch more or less intense? Touch plays a
powerful role in shaping how we respond. One study showed that a restaurant
waiter's fleeting touches on the hand and shoulder resulted in larger tips.
Touch seems to increase a child's mental functioning as well as physical health.
Japanese researchers have conducted surveys that show that babies who have been
given plenty of physical stimulation by their mothers have significantly more
intelligent minds than those receiving less.
In our cultures touching is generally more appropriate for women than for men.
Males touch their male friends less than they touch their female friends, and also
less than females touch their female friends. Although females are more
comfortable about touching than men, gender isn't the only factor that shapes
contact. In general, the degree of touch comfort goes along with openness to
expressing intimate feelings, an active interpersonal style, and satisfactory
relationships.
Clothing.
Besides protecting us from the elements, clothing is a means of nonverbal
communication. One writer has suggested that clothing conveys at least ten types of
messages to others.
1. Educational level
2. Trustworthiness
3. Social position
 4. Level of sophistication
5. Economic background
6. Social background
7. Educational background
8. Level of success
9. Moral Character
Research shows that we do make assumptions about people based on their style of
clothing. In one study, a male and female were stationed in a hallway so that anyone
who wished to go by had to avoid them or pass between them. In one condition the
conversationalists wore "formal daytime dress"; in the other, they wore "casual
attire." passers-by behaved differently toward the couple, depending on the style of
clothing: They responded positively with the well-dressed couple and negatively
when the same people were casually dressed.
Similar results in other situations show the influence of clothing. We are more likely
to obey people dressed in a high-status manner. Pedestrians were more likely to
return lost coins to well-dressed people than to those dressed in low-status dressers,
even when it comes to violating social rules.
Proxemics.
Proxemics is the study of the way people and animals use space.
Researchers have defined four distances that we use in our everyday lives. They
argue that we choose a particular one depending on how we feel toward the other
person at a given time, the context of the conversation, and our interpersonal goals.
These are: intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, and public distance.
Each of these will be discussed in a considerable detail.
Intimate distance- We usually use intimate distance with people who are
emotionally very close to us, and then mostly in private situations - making love,
caressing, comforting, protecting. By allowing someone to move into our intimate
distance we are letting them enter our territory.
Personal distance- The second spatial zone, personal distance, ranges from its
closest point to its farthest. Its closer phase is the distance at which most couples
stand in public. But if someone of the opposite sex stands this near one partner at a
weeding partly, the other partner is likely to feel uncomfortable. This "moving in"
often is taken to mean that something more than casual conversation is taking place.
At this distance we can keep someone "at arm's length." This choice of words
suggests the type of communication that goes on at this range: The contacts are still
reasonably close, but they are much less personal than the ones that occur in closer
distance.
Social distance- Within it are the kinds of communication that usually occur in
business. Its closer phase is the distance at which conversations usually occur
between salespeople and customers and between people who work together. We use
the far range of social distance for more formal and impersonal situations. This is
the distance at which we sit from our boss (or other authority figure) as she stares
across her desk at us. Sitting at this distance signals a far different and less relaxed
type of conversation than if we were to pull a chair around to the boss's side of the
desk and sit only three or so feet away.
Public distance- Public distance is term for the farthest zone. The closer range of
public distance is the one that most teachers use in the classroom. In the farther
reaches of public space, two-way communication can become almost impossible. In
some case, it's necessary for speakers to use public distance because of the size of
their audience, but we can assume that anyone who voluntarily chooses to use it
when he or she could be closer is not interested in having a dialog.