Formal and informal communication: Formal communication is relaying information by the official line of authority. The best forms are vertical, downward to subordinates, and upward from subordinates. This is the most efficient way of conveying clear information for work. Informal communication is more implicit and relates to the personal relationships between individuals in the organization. It is not based on an official position and is uncontrollable. It is an essential way of fostering teamwork and can provide emotional satisfaction, but it can detract from accomplishing tasks and objectives.
Verbal and written communication: Verbal communication uses sounds and language to relay a message. It has the advantage of being quick and allowing for instant feedback. However, the information may not be clear and can be forgotten by the end. Written communication uses visual symbols to convey meaning and has the advantage of providing a clear record of a message. However, written messages can be misinterpreted, and feedback may not be immediate.
Communication is sharing information, thoughts, and feelings between people through speaking, writing, or body language. Effective communication is the key to success for any manager because the manager is the central figure in the organization who has to link various parts of the organization and interpret the needs of top management into the work to be done by subordinates. Communication skills can be improved by self-development and learning from others. Training programs, books on communication, and consulting communication experts can improve communication skills. A manager must choose the communication method according to the nature of the information.
Effective Communication Strategies
Successful communication is essential in every work environment, but it can be challenging. Problems and conflicts often occur because of poor communication between individuals and groups. The administration has several ways of improving the flow of communication in an organization, which can enhance working relationships and minimize misunderstandings. One of the most effective ways to improve communication is by consultation. This involves asking for information or advice from employees on the issues or decisions that affect them. For example, management consulting with employees about a new roster system has the potential to identify any problems with the new system before it is implemented and involve employees in the decision-making process. This can lead to higher acceptance of change and the employee’s feeling that the organization values them.
A manager consulting with an employee about their performance provides an opportunity to give feedback on how the employee can improve. This is the chance to clarify expectations and set goals. Open questions and active listening can help show empathy and understanding and encourage employees to approach their performance proactively. This can help to prevent problems or misunderstandings from developing into more severe issues.
Building and Maintaining Relationships
Maintaining the relationship on an even keel may require active management in response to changes. If performance drops below expectations, it is too easy to damage the relationship by attributing the problem to personal failings or taking unilateral action on work allocation or conditions. The better course is to get a joint diagnosis of the problem focusing on work-related issues, and it may be helpful to renegotiate aspects of the work design. Let us consider this example: a change to a more complex computer-based tool has made a previously easy task now very error-prone. One employee may view the increased errors in a negative light linked to personal failure when it would be more constructive to view the problem as a change in task requirements.
A high level of trust is essential in times of change when there may be increased uncertainty and risk to an individual’s job or conditions. It is beyond the scope of this aim to discuss the full range of employment relations; suffice to say that the best outcomes are obtained where both employers and employees are acting responsibly and where there is good faith bargaining in conflicting interests.
Poor relationships are founded on distrust and a lack of respect, and time and energy are used, which may block helpful communication and conflict with effective work design. Clear expectations for the relationships between managers and staff are essential. Ideally, the relations should be based on respect for mutual competence and knowledge, an understanding of how each party contributes to outcomes, and an alignment of each party’s work with the work of the overall organization. When differences of outlook or opinion on work-related matters arise, they should be discussed openly in an atmosphere of mutual respect.
These conditions are mirrored in effective work relationships among staff, and the manager’s actions concerning staff set an example for staff-staff relationships. A sound level of interdependence is essential for work efficiency involving individual coordination. This is achieved through frequent informal communication, and in cases of remote work, relationships ought to require methods of communication that achieve the richness of face-to-face interaction.
Teamwork and Collaboration
Acting as a manager, one of your goals is to channel your staff’s different personalities and talents in such a way that they work together effectively as a team. In doing so, it is essential to understand what makes a good team and how to develop one. There are many different definitions of the word ‘team,’ but in this context, we can define it as a group of people working together to achieve a common goal. There are several advantages to teamwork, the most prominent being that there is the potential to produce better results and be more productive as an organization when working on a project compared to an individual working independently on the same project. This is because a team can plan its most compelling work, delegate tasks between members to utilize their skills best and make decisions much more quickly than an individual.
Teamwork can also lead to increased innovation and creativity in an organization as it brings together people with different experiences and perspectives. Finally, working as part of a team on a project can be more rewarding and satisfying for the individuals involved. This is important as employee motivation is critical to an organization’s success – this concept is widely explored and understood in management theory; it is defined in expectancy theory as the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depending on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome.
High motivation is essential to high levels of effort from employees. In high motivation, there is a strong correlation between effort and performance, and employees will remain with the organization. Satisfaction with the effort-performance relationship and the rewards gained depends on the rewards’ fairness, affecting an employee’s attitude regarding staying with or leaving the organization. Teamwork will help to achieve desirable performances and outcomes by satisfying employees’ needs and providing them with an essential source of feedback and potential reward in terms of job enrichment and increased opportunities. These are vital ingredients to a motivated workforce, which all managers should strive to have.
In contrast to these advantages, various disadvantages and potential barriers exist to effective organizational teamwork. These may include personality conflicts between team members, conflicts in leadership and a lack of vision, poor communication and coordination, and an inability to resolve disputes effectively. It is essential to recognize these potential problems from the outset so that they can be effectively managed and mitigated and not result in the team being disbanded and just one of the team members working on the project.