Report on improving communication in the workplace

Abstract

Business communication forms an important aspect in the growth and development of an organization. Many organizations have worked their best to ensure communication in the workplace works at the best way possible by introducing different communication management incentives. Revolution Cleaners is a small company, and as a manager various communication strategies are required to improve communication between employees and line managers. The main ideas of improving communication include improving communication with all staff members, improving communication skills of managers, bringing managers together, and encouraging productivity.

Introduction

Business communication forms an important aspect in the growth and development of an organization. Many organizations have worked their best to ensure communication in the workplace works at the best way possible through introducing different communication management incentive. Communication acts as a means of transmitting information increasing the understanding amongst workers. Moreover, communication forms a vital and fundamental managerial function in all organizations. Most organizations draw a line between lower class employees made up of regular company employees and upper class people made up managers and company executives. The present of managerial lines affects the communication process because the lower line people fear approaching their bosses. Manages should understand how employees in their organizations communicate in order to avoid instances of poor productivity because of misunderstanding among employees or between employees and their seniors. There are many different types of communication flows that are used in organizations. Communication flow involves upwards, downwards, lateral and horizontal flows and managers should have skills of dealing with each type of the flow (Lehman and Dufrene, 2013).
I work as the manger at Revolution Cleaners where communication has been a major concern from the past. The following discussion will analyze Revolution Cleaner’s Company communication process and ways of making it more perfect. Revolution Cleaners is a small company that has created a managerial communication line between the upper class and the lower class of employees. As a manager, something ought to be done to ensure that communication process in the organization prevails and yields better returns at the end.

Objectives

The objectives of this discussion are:
Discussion
How to improve communication with staff members
The current situation at Revolution Cleaners calls for an immediate attention because the company lacks perfect communication channels between staff members and managers. The company has approximately 50 employees who work in the 5 store fronts located in the metro area and delivery services. Coordinating all these people requires knowledge and skills of a perfect management. An effective performance in an organization requires open communication, staff development, quality listening skills and employee relationship building among other qualities. As such, an effective manager should ensure communication at the workplace is maintained and staff members have the freedom to communicate with one another irrespective of the rank in the company. Most employees at Revolution Cleaners spend a good amount of their time at workplace as they offer services to the company customers. The rest of the time is spent while on delivery services representing time spent in the external environment that also calls for effective communication skills.
Communication has been a burning issue in most organizations as managers and executives look into new ways of streamlining communication flow processes in the work place. Revolution Cleaners experiences both upward and downward communication flows because it consists of lower and upper management. In improving communication with Revolution, the manager should focus on the following factors.
Firstly, the management should ensure that all staff members know their colleagues. Revolution Cleaners is a small company of 50 employees therefore; each employee must know one another. In addition, the upper management should know at least 20 employees from the company. The following factor will assist in improving communication because it eliminates awkward behaviors presented by some employees towards their fellows. Secondly, an effective team building process should be introduced to the company. The manager should bring together the upper management and lower management as a team working towards a specific goal. Teambuilding encourages interpersonal and group communication in an organization. In addition, the teams will discover each other’s human needs, gain trust amongst them and motivate others to perform well in the business activities (Lehman and Dufrene, 2013).
Thirdly, I will avoid getting personal when it comes to business issues. Most managers disclose all their problems in the workplace using employees as a means of releasing private stresses. Introducing personal issues in workplace destroys the relationship between managers and employees. In addition, controlling personal emotions in workplace is a crucial aspect that contributes to building a good relationship with colleagues and junior employees. Finally, a manager should learn how to listen to other people’s points of view. An organization cannot be run bya manager alone but requires ideas from other staff members. Learning how to listen to other staff members increases the closeness between the upper management and lower management narrowing the communication line (Lalo, 2009).

Improving manager’s communication skills

Communication skills are crucial in the daily management of an organization. According to Nelson and Economy (2005), an effective organization communication starts with the skills that a manager possesses in building the organizational communication foundation. Organizations should design various formats of communication that ensure information travels from one staff member to the next in an effective and convenient manner. At Revolution Cleaners, communication skills should be taught to every employee. As a manager I will ensure the following takes place in order to improve my communication skills. Firstly, I will use the most technologically advanced modes of communication in order to ensure every staff member receives every message sent. For instance, the company has had many problems in preparing spoken and written messages. The written messages will be presented using the BCOM format. People receiving the message should have an understanding on how and why to share the message. Moreover, the message should create an audience by using attractive words that do not intimidate staff members. In addition, the message should be free of mistakes and common errors capable of misleading the intended audience.
Secondly, I would ensure that the agenda of any meeting meets the audience expectations by thorough preparation and carrying out a complete research on the main topic of discussion. Most managers fail in delivering the expected messages because they drift from the main agenda and focus on other matters not included in the main discussion points. The messages delivered should be perfectly organized based on the points conveyed to the audience. In addition, managers should know how to deliver good and neutral messages to employees. Depending on the type of message, proper preparation should take place to avoid misleading other staff members by delivering the wrong message to the right audience. An effective workplace communication at Revolution Cleaners will ensure a correct and smooth flow of information from the upper management to the lower management.

Bringing management team together

A good manager should have the capability of bringing his or her team of employees together. After a survey with Revolution Cleaners Company staff members 20 of the respondents claimed to be satisfied with the company’s plans and progress, while 20 others were not satisfied. This is an indication that both the upper and lower management do not effectively bring the employees together. The responsibility falls to the company manager who should encourage the other managers to work together with the staff members. The best way of bringing management team together is by communication using the current technology. I will introduce electronic communication in my system because it is more efficient and reliable. Three types of electronic communication will be utilized; communication through text messages, emailing, and instant messaging. All upper and lower managers should have personal emails where the manager can send messages. According to Lehman and Dufrene (2013), most organizations use emails as the common method of electronic communication. The use of emails introduces a fast and convenient means of communicating information within an organization management and employees.
In addition, the managers should ensure their mobile phones are on all the time in case a message is sent through a text. Texting through mobile phones will ensure the message recipient receives the information and replies within a shorter duration. This method will be used in case of urgent meetings that require quick summoning. Text messaging has been widely used by the younger generation, and bearing in mind the company management is made up of young people the method will be effective. Finally, instant messaging will be used to communicate information to managers in case other methods fail to work. All these methods will ensure reconciliation of the management team to work together for the growth and development to the company (Nelson & Economy, 2005).

Importance of organizational communication in reference to the current company situation

Revolution Cleaners composes of employees from different cultures, denominations, and family backgrounds. The introduction of new communication programs will ensure the company achieves its goals and objectives. Currently, the company faces problems with communication because the upper management and the lower management have drawn a communication line. The current methods of communication at the company have both advantages and disadvantages. To start with, the current communication process has benefited many staff members because they can address their issues to the immediate manager. In addition, the process allows staff members to raise their concerns to the manager in an easier and fast manner. On the other hand, the company faces problems with communication between upper and lower management teams. The communication line seen between the two groups has introduced a lot of barriers that require intervention from the company manager. Because all managers require change in communication management, the following discussed actions should be adopted with immediate effect.

Conclusion

Communication stands to be the corner stone of all development and growth strategies not only in organizations, but all other sectors including the family. A person with effective communication factors always get along easily with others. Organizations should focus on improving communication in the workplace in order to achieve their aims, goals and objectives. Revolution Cleaners is a small company and with the following recommendations, it will be in a position to meet all the customer demands after fulfilling the company requirements. As a manager, I will ensure all the discussed communication improvement strategies are met and focus on continued organizational growth through effective communication.

References

Lalo, G. (2009). 8 tips to improve your workplace communication style- and keeping your job.
Retrieved from:
http://www. examiner. com/article/8-tips-to-improving-your-workplace-communication-style-and-keeping-your-job
Lehman, C. M., & DuFrene, D. D. (2013). BCOM (Student ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western.
Nelson, B., & Economy, P. (2005). The management bible. Hoboken, N. J.: John Wiley & Sons.