COMPLEX MESSAGESS IN LARGE ORGANIZATIONS

COMPLEX MESSAGESS IN LARGE ORGANIZATIONS

Introduction

Communication in organization

Communication is the process of conveying information by exchanging messages, thoughts, signals and behavior (Arnold,  Cooper & Robertson, 1998, p. 17).  Communication is a two way  traffic where there is a sender and a recipient but the recipient need not be present physically for it to occur in an organization is very important.  This is because the organization cannot work without communication since organization involve people. The staff in the organization will not  know the objectives, goals and mission of the organization without proper communication.  The management  would not be aware of their roles in the organization and the competitors of the organization would not be defined well or known.  This will ultimately lead to the failure of such an organization.

Disadvantages of complex messages in organizations

Effective  communication is key to success of many organizations.  However the information that is ambiguous is always interpreted differently by different people in the organization thus bringing about inefficiency.  The different interpretation would mean that the operation and implementation of the said information would be different in the different departments thus bringing confusion and failure.  One of the demerits of complex messages is that it is rarely well interpreted thus leading to misinformation in the entire organization.  The replication of such a message is that the intended function might not be performed.  The complex message can take allot of time for it to be apprehended thus slows down operations in organizations leading to poor performance of its functions in all the departments.  Another disadvantage of ambiguous  communication is how the it will break through the noise created by its competitors and reach its target group. An organization might want to advertise its products and services thus choose  a message that might be complex.  The message would be misinterpreted thus leading to failure of the advertisement objective of increasing sales.  Different personalities in the consumer require simple messages that are easily understood since the main reasons of the advertisement is to create awareness and realize higher sales.

Complex messages lead to provision of subsequent feedbacks.  Where effective communication is not utilized in an organization, workers would not understand the intention of the messages conveyed thus the issue of feedbacks arise(Dawson, 1996, p.29).  Feedbacks work to derail operations in an organization as regular reporting has to be done to ensure conformity  In the process companies end up using more resources than earlier projected.  Regular feedbacks also demoralize the workers and they tend to drag their feet while working.  This can be even more disastrous in organizations that practiced bureaucratic style of leadership where questioning is not allowed.

Ambiguity in communication leads to poor direction in organizations (Katz & Kahn, 1966, p. 28).  The message does not clearly state the goals and do not provide the necessary tools required in the accomplishment of those goals as well as objectives. Without clear direction, the recipient of the message often use their own judgement often leading to confusion and frustrations within and outside the organization.  In this case more time has to be sourced and resources to redirect the workers, delaying and increasing factors of operation.  Similarly, ambiguous messages do not provide clarity thus leading to confusion.  The messages thus lack purpose and definition of its intend. This leads to misunderstanding as people do not comprehend what is being communicated to  them or what the message is expected of them.  Clarity can only come from effective communication where the sender leaves the recipient with no doubts or misinformations.

The choice of communication tools in an organization is also important.  Of late many companies are embracing technological advances thus the use of electronic media to facilitate its channeling of information (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2004, p. 45).  Ambiguous messages can therefore lead to bad perception of the organization as the electronic channeling ensures that all people access the information.  Some medium of communication can also contribute to the complexity of the message especially when the sender doesn’t comprehend the medium through which the information is channeled.

Complex messages work to persuade and in turn manipulate the system in the organization.  Since the purpose of the message is not clear often the sender might use it for the purposes of manipulating the operation of the organization for his vested interests.  Manipulation of the messages often makes employees to make decisions without giving it a deeper thought.  The time frame of this message interpretation and manipulation always lead to higher costs (Eysenck, 2000, p.33).

Poor job satisfaction is characterized in organizations that does not provide  clarity in its communication conveyance (Katz & Kahn, 1966, p.45).  Workers in such an environment only live and work in fear us they are not sure of the job specifications or what they are required to do.  The situation is made worse in authoritative organizations as people are not allowed to question the communicative intention nor give feedback unless required by the senior management.  This, most researches show that tends to demoralize workers and their effectiveness in performance is reduced considerably.  The result of unsatisfied employee is poor functioning and operation of the company.  The company’s end products will be of poor quality and the clients will run away from such products resulting in the collapse of the organization.  Ambiguous communication relying also form part of major turnover rates of the employees (Chmiel, 2000, p. 51).  Workers would rather look for better working conditions where they are given clear information on their operations.

Another pitfall associated with complex communication is the fact that feedback is not instantaneous (Dance, 1970, p. 22).  This has been another source of frustration and uncertainty in the organization that require quick response to the communication mode .  Since there are many forms in which communication is channeled, this complexity can be more disastrous in the case of  verbal communication as it does not give time for reasoning and understanding the message before making a response.  The lack of response might also lead to stalling of certain projects and operations in the organization.  This eventually brings down the performance of the organization, adversely affecting its returns.

Challenges of communication in large organizations

Serious organizational problems can arise if effective communication is not ensured (Brehm  & Kassin, 1996, p. 32).  It is important to note that human factors, co-ordination and control are the three most effective organizational functioning for which good communication in the organization is vital and will have dire implications on the general performance of those large organizations.  The scope of communication and linguistic training and practice in large organizations is relatively limited and the terminologies as well as situations of communication encountered in the organization are different.  The difference comes in the form of the many departments of the organization (Janis, 1972, p.12).  The terms that are used by the finance department might be indifferent to those applied to the human resource department and all other departments in large organizations.  This implies that communication and feedback time is hindered and a lot of time has to be searched so that explanation is given in such cases. A failure would mean misinterpretation and a disaster in waiting for the organization.

In organizations with multicultural practices, communication presents another challenge (Hoogervorst; van  &  Koopman, 2004, p. 63).  The organization has to work hard and put in more resources in the system to accommodate the many cultures.   Communication requires effective utilization of many different media in an effort to support the cultures.  Large organizations that have many languages speaking customers would also require employees who are efficient in the different languages.  The company has also to make translation materials in the case of conveyance of information to all the staff of different nationalities. This increases the production costs thus eventually burdening the consumer as products and services will be expensive.  This requires strategic and systematic use of resources by the management to avoid losses.

Conclusively, large organizations face challenges of communication in their operations.  The problem in communication arises from the fact that organizations have people and they tend to comprehend differently on the same information given.  The modes of communication are also another problem.  This is because the different forms of message delivery require skills especially the electronic media thus needing more resources and time to interpret and give feedback.  The situation is aggravated by giving complex messages. This leads to poor functioning of the organization in all its operations

 

 

 

References

Arnold, J. Cooper, C, L. Robertson, I, T. (1998). Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. Harlow: Pearson Education.

Brehm S. & Kassin S. (1996). Social Psychology.   Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Buchanan, D. & Huczynski, A. (2004).Organization Behavior:  An Introductory Text. Manchester: FT Prentice Hall.

Chmiel, N. (2000). Introduction to Work and Organisational Psychology: A European Perspective. Oxford: Blackwell.

Dance, P. (1970).  The ‘concept’ of communication. Journal of Communication. 20, 201-210.

Dawson, S. (1996).  Analyzing Organisations. London:  MacMillan Business.

Eysenck, M. (2000). Psychology: A students Handbook. East Sussex: Psychology Press.

Feynman, R. (2001). What do you Care What Other People Think. London: W.W Norton and Company.

Hoogervorst, J; van der Flier, H; Koopman, P.  (2004). Implicit Communication in Organisations:  The Impact of Culture, Structure and Management Practices on Employee Behaviour.  Journal of Management Psychology.  Vol. 19, No. 3.

Janis, L. (1972).  Victims of Groupthink. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin.

Katz, D. & Kahn, R. (1966).  The Social Psychology of Organizations. New York: Wiley International.

 

 

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