Managing Organizational Communication - Essay Example

Improving listening skills and learning to use and interpret nonverbal cues and verbal communication will help effective communication. Effective feedback is essential to let employees know where they stand and direct them to help achieve organizational goals. Organizations are made up of groups which are again made up of individuals. For sharing of information and coordination of activities, communication is absolutely necessary between groups and individuals. Individuals exchange knowledge, ideas, feelings and emotions using written messages, spoken words and gestures.

"Organizations survive by making sense of and giving sense to their environments" (Sutcliffe, 2001, p.197). Organizations collect, comprehend, communicate and control flows of environmental information to deal with foreseen and unforeseen issues. According to various researches, the success of an organization is based on the organization's collective knowledge about its "process capabilities and the abilities to learn and share this knowledge effectively" (Parnisto, 1995, p.154). Sharing information is imperative for work coordination and cooperation in an organization. . Managers facilitate organizational communicationCommunication plays an essential role in achieving managerial and organizational goals and objectives effectively.

Communication is essential to inform employees of their goals, to compare with co-workers' performance, and for assessing employees' overall performance. Managers, through appropriate channels of communication, give instructions to subordinates and receive information. Managers interpret this information and communicate the same to the employees. To do this, managers should have good communication and interpretation skills, as, ultimately, the employees' interpretation of information depends on the accuracy of the managers' comprehension of the information and the effectiveness of their communication ("Managing communication," 2004, p.264).Role of communication in decision-makingManagers take decisions that often have a major impact on the organization and its members.

Making relevant and sound decisions is greatly dependent on the availability of accurate and timely information ("Managing communication," 2004, p.264). The length of the communication chain is a significant factor that affect the accuracy and timeliness of the information received. The more the number of links in the communication chain, the more the probability is of the information being distorted. Similarly, the longer the communication chain, the less the chances are of getting the information on time.

Economic recession and competitive pressures have driven several organizations to reduce the number of managerial levels in the organizational hierarchy, thus facilitating more effective