Managing Communication in Business

Different communication processes available to a small voluntary organization

Communication is the process of conveying information between two or more people with an objective of understanding sender's intended message by receiver. Following are the steps of communication process :

Sender :A person who intends to forward the message with an intention of sharing important information is known as sender to others. In all the small organizations, similar process of communication is followed in order to share the information (Andrews and Russell, 2012). For Media-watch, the procedure of communication is almost similar and when it conveys any type of information to society, it is also called as communicator or sender.

Ideas :Ideas are the subject matter of the communication process as the process is totally based on them. Ideas can be in form of opinion, attitude, feelings, views, orders or suggestions which are shared by Media-watch to the society. The media-watch aims at providing socially responsible media and also protest against potentially harmful contents to the society (Benbya, Passiante and Belbaly, 2004). The ideas of the Media-watch are delivered to the society in order to protect them from unethical issues raised in the environment.

Encoding :As, the subject matter involved in the process of communication is theoretical and intangible so it is very important to use certain symbols such as words, actions or pictures. The subject matter of the communication process is transformed into these symbols for making it effective and this process is called encoding. Media-watch also transform its intended message by using words, symbols and picture order to delver the message effectively to the society (Desouza, and Awazu, 2006). If the message is properly encoded to the society, it creates a good impact on the society. In the campaign of Media-watch, it uses proper presentation and encoding of messages so that it could be shared properly and able to create an impact on society which lead to the change.

Communication Channel : After encoding the message, the communicator must use appropriate channel of communication so that it could be forwarded to the receivers. The information is transmitted by using specified channels which may be formal or informal. In addition, the channels of communication used by Media-watch are print media, social media, television, radio and media campaigns (Doole and Lowe, 2008). The objective of this firm is to safeguard the society from the unethical issues. To serve this objective, the communication channel must be appropriate so that it could have significant impact on society.

Receiver : Receiver is the person who has received the forwarded message by the sender and he tries to understand the message in the best way so that the desired objective could be achieved (Fulton, 2009). In case of Media-watch group, the receiver of the message is society for which the message is meant for.

Decoding:;The receiver of the message from the communicator tries to transform the message in such a way so that he can discover its meaning to achieve the objective. The society also tries to understand the shared message by this group as it is in their welfare and if properly understood, then it results into the drastic change in society (Greenbank, 2011).

Feedback:Feedback is a process which ensures that receiver has received the message and understood in the same manner as sender meant it. In case of Media-watch, the feedback from the society can be seen as the positive change followed by the same (Gupta and Et.al., 2007).

Improvement in appropriate communication and ensuring integration of systemsof communication

The major problem in Media-watch was that the volunteer supervisor was engaged in so many projects so she was not able to give time to delegation of projects by communicating with volunteers. Most of the volunteers of this firm are involved in updating databases, solicitations and mailings so writers volunteer focus was only on writing and doing special projects. Thus, in the organization only the horizontal top down communication from this particular supervisor was there and the vertical communication was thoroughly ignored which results into the miscommunication (Hall and et.al., 2011).In order to improve the communication at Media-watch company, the vertical communication must be installed in this organization so that everybody should know about each other's responsibilities and could not be dependent on each other to perform it. If the projects are properly delegated and everybody is made accountable for their own work then there will be a proper coordination in activities to be performed and also the fewer chances of communication (Hinton, 2006). The proper channels of the communication must be installed in this organization so that volunteers can communicate with each other regarding their projects and tasks. If there will be a proper vertical communication, then it will ensure integrity and fewer chances of omissions. In Media-watch, communication was totally external and internal communication was purely ignored which causes a great deal of confusion (Illia and Balmer, 2012). In order to remove confusions, the supervisor of volunteers should delegate the written instructions on hand outs to all volunteers for setting their time block and properly assigning the work. In Media-watch, it is very important to make the system of communication integrated with the internal as well as external environment. If the communication system of this organization is not integrated, it will not be as effective as it is expected to be. The internal communication system must be integrated with the external communication system in order to ensure effectiveness in work performance (Malhotra, 2005). However, proper communication channels must be installed in the organization so that volunteers can communicate with each other. If proper channel is installed in the organization, it will be able to avoid speculation and rumours among employees in lack of information. High quality of information system involves regular and timely two way communication regarding work related activities and tasks. After installing a proper channel of communication system in the organization, it is integrated to the external environment (Münstermann, Eckhardt and Weitzel, 2010). The integration of external and internal communication results into the organizational effectiveness.

Identify and recommend improvements to the organization's existing approaches

Collection:In order to improve data collection methods following initiatives can be taken by Media-watch:

• To modernize and improve the instruments of data collection.
• The methods should be applied systematically so that it can have a positive effective on response rates (Pulakos, 2009).
• To take systematically and effectively follow ups from respondents and correction in errors occurred.

Following are the strategic focus areas which may be taken in account while collecting data :

• Focus on utilizing administrative registers.
• Increasing automated data capture from businesses.
• Data collection tailored to the respondents information sources and preferences (Schmitt, 2011).
• Develop a professional support service.
• Data collection from Internet sources.

FormattingAfter collecting the data, data is sorted and categorized in order to generate the relevant information from it. The formatting of data can improved by using the advance tools of formatting and data sorting. Management Information System (MIS) is useful in sorting the data and making the effective use of this information (Tofanelli, 2012).

Storage:The Media-watch can use Management Information System (MIS) in order to store the useful information. Whenever, the manager needs the information, he can retrieve the data from this system. MIS is the study of people, technology and the relationship among them. It helps the firm in providing the relevant information whenever required (Walter, 2010). The appropriate data can be sorted from this system by sing advance tools.

Dissemination of information : If the message is conveyed by the social media sites like face book and twitter, it is very soon disseminated as there are many posts shared in a single day on these sites. So the message should be conveyed by using the appropriate tools such as magazines, print media and social awareness campaign so that it could have a impact in mind of society for a long term (Hall and et.al., 2011).

Knowledge:The supervisor must develop a time saving communication system such as memos, e-mails and written communication methods to assign the tasks effectively and in a specific time frame. In order to gain certain type of knowledge, the organization can install knowledge management (About Information Systems. 2006). Media-watch can be able to retain the useful data and extract the relevant information whenever required for a particular project.

Improvements in access to systems of information and knowledge

Following steps can be taken in order to improve the information and knowledge system by Media-watch :

Step 1 :Media-watch must develop a Technology Usage Agreement for its volunteers which provide cover against compliance issues like web surfing, data or music download policy and data confidentiality. It also helps the organization in prohibiting the visiting website categories which invite viruses such as torrent sites, gambling and file sharing sites (Illia and Balmer, 2012).

Step 2 :After developing Technology Usage Agreement, a comprehensive technology plan is created which involves systematic replacements of obsolete workstations and ways to measure the new technologies. It will provide a outline that how the information system installed by this firm will run in presents and in the future while taking in account the changing ternds of the information and knowledge industry.

Step 3 :This organization should contact to ts service provider to investigate about its bandwidth. These type of bandwidth makes the performing multitasking very easier and also decreases the hangups which are due to the slower updating (Walter, 2010). Media-watch must install the bandwidth, it will give it several benefits such as multitasking, faster speed  and ease in operations.

Step 4 :Media-watch should consult with other firms who are the provider of off-site storage for its key documents and databases. This service is very easy to install and provides easy disaster recovery if there any major system issues or virus occurred (Alna, Haccoun and Belcount, 2010). It will make the assess to information and knowledge very easy for this organization and it will be able to generate more relevant data for its projects.

Step 5 :The software is considered as a service option for functions like word processing, email and customer relationship management. This services enables the web based solutions which the organization install on its each workstation. The service makes the data more available for the user at any time and any sector.

Step 6 :The firm can also install free software; to make the technology budget fee up in order to update the machines faster. Many companies like Google, Sun and Adobe provide free services entice customers to retain them for along term (Tofanelli, 2012). By using this type of software, this organization will be able to update its machines and tools faster which results into the improved performance and better results of search outcomes.

Step 7 :Then the periodic maintenance downtime is scheduled and the volunteers of this organization must involved in managing updates, scan for viruses and examining error logs in duration of this scheduled downtime to provide cover against data loss. Media-watch should maintain its periodic downtime so that it could be able to prevent data loss in the firm.

Conclusion

It can be concluded from the above report that the communication system of any organization plays a significant role in the organizational effectiveness. In the above case study, the problems related to the communication system of Media-watch has been highlighted. It is observed that along with the horizontal communication, vertical communication also plays an important role in effective execution of its objectives. In order to improve the information and knowledge system, recommendations are provided. The recommendation are given in order to improve the organization's existing strategies such as data collection, storage, formatting and dissemination of information. Communication system of any organization can significantly contribute in its success or failure.

References

• Alna S., Haccoun R. and Belcount M., 2010. Managing Performance Through Training and Development. Cengage Learning publises.
• Andrews, G. and Russell, M., 2012. Employability skills development: strategy, evaluation and impact. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning.
• Benbya, H., Passiante, G. and Belbaly, A. N., 2004. Corporate portal: a tool for knowledge management synchronization. International Journal of Information Management.
• Clutterbuck, D. And Hirst, S., 2002. Leadership communication: A status report. Journal of Communication Management.
• Desouza, K. C. and Awazu, Y., 2006. Knowledge management at SMEs: five peculiarities. Journal of knowledge management.
• Doole, I. and Lowe, R., 2008. International marketing strategy: analysis, development and implementation. Cengage learning EMEA.

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