Today’s manufacturing company and many other companies have numerous communication channels and tools which have been made available over the years. These channels and tools help the various stakeholders within and without the organization to communicate and keep in touch. However, there are still many scenarios where the stakeholders still do not communicate quite enough. In most cases, such area is the internal company communication. According to Karanges, Johnston, Beatson, and Lings (2015), internal communication can be defined as a vital and independent function within public relations and corporate communication scholarship. Its main purpose within an organization such as a manufacturing company is to span information and create a sense of community within an organization. Jacobs, Yu, and Chavez (2016) add that through communication, the organization's actions are stimulated due to the exchange of information and ideas between the stakeholders, especially between the staff – the department managers and the department teams. Failure to have a strong communication system between departmental heads and departmental teams can, therefore, be detrimental to the success of the company.
Many researchers indicate that internal communication is commonly broken within many organizations such as manufacturing company and that they need to improve. Research conducted by Jacobs et al. (2016) indicates that about 40% of the employees across the United States believes that the organization they are in are not collaborating enough because of various factors and mostly it is due to the poor communication system. About 75% of the same people believe that collaboration within departments managers and department teams is at the core of the success of industries. This study is equally reiterated by Karanges et al. (2015) who claims that about two-thirds (67%) of employees believe that communication between departments at their organizations are very poor and as result, the companies are not that successful as they expect them to be. This is a managerial communication plan report that can help facilitate effective and efficient internal communications between departmental managers and departmental teams.
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Possible Causes of bad internal communication at a manufacturing company
Before looking into the plan on how to improve communication between department managers and department teams, it is important to understand what are the possible causes of bad internal communication between those departments and teams in a manufacturing company. Firstly, bad communication between department managers and department teams can be as a result of broken information flow. Sometimes when everybody is busy doing their works at the company, some of the information might slip the cracks and end up not being shared internally. This eventually affects productivity. Secondly, there might be personal conflicts between the departmental managers and teams. Even a minor disagreement within an organization between the heads of departments or team members can interrupt the flow of information which affects the productivity of the organization. Thirdly, physical separation of departments or teams can lead to bad internal communication. It is true that with technology that teams can still collaborate virtually, however, this is not possible for all teams. Fourthly, office tribalism, religious affiliation, and racism can lead to bad internal communication. It is common that people tend to identify with the group they belong and that can affect the organization. Today, a new form of tribalism is cropping up in the organizations, “departmental tribalism”. Departmental tribalism is when one person is only concerned with the works of their department. Such individuals find it difficult to collaborate with individuals from other departments affecting communication. Fifthly, there are the industry stereotypes. In most organizations, especially in the manufacturing companies, there are terms which are used to refer to some people from some departments or individuals within department teams. For example, that or those geeky, the quiet ones, or the lazy ones. Such stereotypes can be fun at times; however, they eventually affect communication between department managers and/ or department teams. It is important to ensure proper communication and collaboration between departments in order for a manufacturing company to succeed. The following table indicates the essential items in the communication plan that will be used to facilitate communication at the manufacturing company.
| Facilitate communication between groups that usually do no interact | Choosing Communication tools | Designing Policies for oral, written, and non-verbal communication | Procedures for communications involving conflict management and decision making |
Identifying information needed by each department Having an open transparent and two-way communication channel within the company bridging the communication gap between various departments organizing an effective team building activity | Synchronous Communication channels: Face-to-face communication Telephone Instant messaging Video teleconferencing
Paper media Digital platforms | information overload Complex messaging Message competition Differing status Selection of the right medium Physical distractions | Horizontal communication for minor conflicts Upward communication for major conflicts and contribution and feedback to decisions Downward communication for passing down decisions |
Figure 1: Communication Plan Items.
Procedures to facilitate communications between groups that normally do not interact with each other.
There are approaches that will be utilized to break the barriers and improve communication between department managers and department teams and even those who do not interact easily within the company.
The first approach will be to identify the information that each department needs on a day to day basis. Information that is needed by the various department within a manufacturing company may include a report on materials available at the storage, the number of orders by the clients, the deadlines for particular product production, the supplies missing from the store, among many others. It is obvious that in a manufacturing company, these are essential information, as such creating a particular platform where each department can get such information can reduce brawls and also encourage the easy flow of information from one department to the next. A website platform will therefore be created where each department (store, sales and marketing, manufacture, administration, among many other departments) post important information.
The second approach will be to have an open transparent and two-way communication channel within the company. Having this particular platform which provides an open channel for employee feedback and encourages sharing of ideas and information will help increase productivity and reduce bad internal communication between departments managers and department teams. This platform can be a place where a question is posted and the employees are asked to respond by providing their thoughts and opinions in the comment sections. A website or a blog is a good communication tool that will be utilized. This will obviously encourage the employees to feel part of the team and eager to provide information which can be shared between departments.
The third approach will be bridging the communication gap between various departments at the manufacturing company. The communication gap between departments is usually caused as a result of transparency, mistrust, and communication, as previously indicated. It is important that whatever communication platform chosen, the teams and departments managers are encouraged to share news and updates of what is going on in the department. This helps each department fit itself into the bigger picture which is the company. It will also help every person within the company to appreciate each other's work, making them feel like a community. The team members shall therefore be encouraged to meet once in a week to improve on communication gap bridging.
Finally, an effective team building activity shall be organized frequently to bridge the mistrust between the departments teams and department heads. According to various researchers, team building is a very sure way of bringing various teams together and share information easily. They bring different team members and departments together where they share information and get to know each other better. It will be essential to hire a team building specialist who will help employees feel like a unit and understand the importance of sharing information and collaboration within the company. It will be important to ensure that all the team members are involved to ensure that the lesson learned is equal and can be applied by all.
Various Communication Tools that will be utilized
To promote communication between the departments and the departmental teams, or simply to facilitate the communication flow, there are some communication systems that can be utilized in the organization plan. Coiera (2006) define communications system as formal or informal structures that organizations use to support communication needs within the organization. Communication tools are included in a communication system which consequently involves people, the information wished to be conveyed, the technology utilized, and the organization which determines the policies of communication. The organization must also choose the communication channel to ensure proper communication flow. There are various basic communication channels that will be beneficial and chosen to be used at the manufacturing company: fac-to face verbal communication and written communication. These communication channels can be divided into two distinct categories: Synchronous and asynchronous communication channels.
Synchronous communication channels
Synchronous communication channels will be used when the individuals within the organization share information or exchange messages across a channel at the same time through a particular communication tool. It is, however, common that interruptions occur in this system of communication and highly affects individuals with low or high cognitive loads. For instance, a switch operator can fail to stop the switch at a manufacturing company because he or she has been interrupted by a telephone call. Face-to-face communication is considered the optimal channel of communication in the synchronous communication systems. Face-to-face communication facilitates immediate feedback. It can be in the team meetings, problem-solving sessions, and supervisor update. This form of communication brings team members together. Like previously indicated, other synchronous communication channels include telephone, instant messaging, and video conferencing.
There are scenarios where synchronous communication will come in handy at the manufacturing company: (1) Face to face communication will be utilized in meetings and morning updates by the supervisors and the departmental managers. (2) Telephones shall be used in cases of emergency, urgent information, and the need for quick response. For instance, if a switch breaks, if there is need for a material from the store, and if a client has some demands. (3) instant messaging will come in handy in scenarios where an urgent information is needed but silence is needed to be maintained. (4) video conferencing using skypes will be important when holding meetings when departmental teams and managers are far apart.
Asynchronous Communication Channels
Asynchronous communication, on the other hand, is channels which can be used when individuals are separated in time because there are no simultaneous discussion or conversations. These channels will be important in communications where teams are far apart or some are involved in other activities. The conversation in asynchronous communication occurs through a series of message exchanges. They can be in form of notes from one employee or department manager to the next or electronic message. Various Asynchronous communication tools will come in handy at the manufacturing company. These tools will include emails, newsletters, and social media sites. Today, many organizations have replaced printed newsletters with electronic versions and are used by the manufacturing company to share information between departments.
Email is one of the most effective asynchronous communication tools which will be used because it is immediate and can reach an audience fast. However, like many other asynchronous communication tools, the information can be misconstrued. However, they are fast, effective, and cheap as compared to other communication platforms. However, they can be misused by team members. For instance, an individual can send a bunch of long information which might become cumbersome to read eventually, the intended audience fails to get the needed information. Emails will be used to send important information which might not need quick response and need to be saved for further clarifications.
Another asynchronous communication channel which will be vital is the paper media, also known as the newsletters. These will be used to communicate various activities within the organization such as news, events, projects, new employees, interest, accolades, policy changes, and modifications, or even new strategies. Through paper media, the department managers and the management team will be able to communicate to the department teams about current issue and developments and new activities among many others without necessarily meeting face to face or calling.
Digital platforms which include an intranet, blogs, wikis, and social media will also be used since these platforms have quickly become essential to running of operations in various companies today. These platforms encourage the sharing of information between departments and encourage respect. These digital platforms ensure that information reaches various people and individuals even if they are not on good terms. In essence, the communication flow is facilitated regardless of "bad blood" between departments. The blogs and wikis will be used to pass important information within the various teams and departments. They will also be used by team members when they want to find some information or ask questions. The social media platforms will be used to share information and responses to various issues within the organization.
Policies that will govern oral, written, and non-verbal communications
For the communication plan to work perfectly well to facilitate communication between department managers and department teams, there will be a need for policies to govern oral, verbal, and non-verbal communication at the company. The policies will involve information overload, message complexity, message competition, differing status, and physical destructions.
Firstly, every employee at the manufacturing company will ensure that there is no information overload regardless of the communication channel. Therefore, the departments will ensure they provide information which is essential to other departments without unnecessarily overloading them with unrequired information. Each department will ensure that the information is clear, concise, and direct to the point using the communication tools described previously.
Secondly, the employees will ensure that the information they provide, the questions they ask, and the correspondence they give is easy to understand. As such, the employees will use specific terminology that is easy to understand and adhere to the point. In areas that are not clear, the audience will seek clarification to boost understanding.
Thirdly, the team members and managers will ensure that they create appealing messages which are easy to understand to the audience at the time when they are available. They will ensure that the information is not overloading so as to enable the audience to understand and grasp the information. In such scenarios, the members will use oral and face-to-face communication.
Fourthly, in cases of differing status, the information will be sent on time. To facilitate this, the team managers will hold daily face-to-face team huddle at the start of every working day to pass essential deadlines and progress.
Fifthly, the department teams and managers will use verbal and written mediums of communications to pass instructions and information. In most instances, a face-to-face communication will be used as it boosts the working relationship between the management and the workers.
Finally, the departments and the team managers will ensure that the conveyed information is devoid of physical distractions. The team members will also inform the managers and supervisors by phone in the event of machine breakdowns for a quick action to be taken.
Procedures for communications involving conflict management and decision making
It is obvious that there will always be conflict in the organization as well as decision-making scenarios. These lead to bad internal communication. It is therefore important in the communication plan a specific procedure is put in place for communication on conflict and decision making. It is important to note that there are various ways in which conflict can arise – between employees, managers, and between supervisor and team member. There are various methods of communication that can be utilized to resolve conflicts as well as make a decision – upwards, downward, and horizontal. However, it is important thatthe communication remains formal at all times.
In case of a decision already made on a matter affecting the departments, the management will be use downward communication process where information is passed from the superiors to the subordinates. This will prevent any form of miscommunication. It will be vital that the message is passed from the management to the department heads, to the team leaders, to the supervisors, and finally to the employees as shown below.
Figure 2: Downward communication process; Passing down of decision
In case of conflicts about certain issues or the need to contribute about the particular decision by the employees, the employees will use the upward communication system process. They will inform the supervisor, who if unable to solve the issue will communicate to the team leaders, who will pass the button to the departmental heads, and finally to the management. This will ensure that there is a consistent and efficient flow of information.
Figure 3: Upward Communication Process; Solving a conflict and contribution and feedback to a decision
In case of minimal conflicts which can be resolved easily among the team members, horizontal communication process will be utilized. Horizontal communication is the flow of messages between functional areas at a given level of an organization. This will obviously help in resolving conflicts among employees. However, in case the employees will not be able to resolve the issues they will utilize the upward communication system. All the communication tools previously mentioned can be used.
Figure 4: Horizontal communication process: Solving Minor Conflicts
References
Coiera, E. (2006). Communication systems in healthcare. Clinical Biochemist Reviews , 27 (2), 89–98.
Jacobs, M., Yu, W., & Chavez, R. (2016). The effect of internal communication and employee satisfaction on supply chain integration. International Journal of Production Economics, 171 , 60.
Karanges, E., Johnston, K., Beatson, A., & Lings, I. (2015). The influence of internal communication on employee engagement: A pilot study. Public Relations Review, 41 (1), 129-131.
