Forum (Spotlight Weekly)

Communication Problems In Organization

BY Dr. Niranjan Prasad Upadhyay

The term “communication” has a wide-range of meanings. To some it denotes the means or media of passing information, as for example the telephone, telegraph, or television. To others it has to do primarily with the channels of communication in the organization, such as the grapevine, the formal chain of command, the complaint box, and the grievance procedure. It is the act of inducing others to interpret an idea in the manner intended by the speaker or writer. The word “communication” is derived from the Latin word “communis”, which means “common”. Communication of ideas establishes common meeting ground for understanding. Communication is the lifeline of a modern organization. It blends together skills and understandings, language and logic, and the human attitudes that enable managers, employees, and customers to exchange information and to make decisions. Without communication the primary managerial functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling would be impossible; with communication, the organization’s goals-and the procedures for implementing them –can be attained.

Communication and organization

Communications are considered the agent and link that tie organizations together and, no doubt, it does work as “lubricant”. Organizational experts insist, however, that the domain of organizational communication is not fully mapped and defies definition. Mainly, organizational communication appears to be in an identity crisis in developing countries like Nepal. In the context of Nepalese bureaucracy, there is no open communication between the top-level executives and middle level managers. In real practice, most of the middle level managers do not prefer to take responsibilities. As a result, Nepali bureaucracy faces problems in decision-making, agreement with donor agencies, program formulation, negotiation, seminar and trade and treaty agreement.

The government imparts training to some of the staff on computer skills but the trained manpower is hardly utilized. In most of the government offices of Nepal, the filing and record keeping systems are very poor as well as coordination between employees is missing. At the same time, there is a lack of inter-ministerial communication. The entire administrative system is, therefore, not favorable to the healthy growth of bureaucracy.

Nepalese management and interpersonal communication

Nepalese management scholars observe that the environmental milieu of decision-making in Nepal is based on “Chakari” rather than increased productivity through effective decision-making. In reality, managers are not concerned about increasing organizational efficiency but are rather interested in safeguarding their “chairs”. The spirit of public relation is the establishment of link between organization and the public. Interpersonal communication should be effective in developing public image in organization. Effective communication is vital for the removal of dissatisfactions among the employees. Management experts urge that organizations have to manage with the changes that are taking place. They have to respond to the revolutionary advancement of technology, fast changes in global economy and the re-alignment of cultures. Generally, major organizational problem faced by Nepalese firms has been the lack of effective interaction between managers and workers.

Communication and administration

Communication is a vital managerial concern especially for the effective administration as well as for fulfilling the target of the organization. Chiefly, these days, every manager must be dynamic in resolving each aspect of organizational problems through communication. Particularly, manager indulges in diversified functions i.e. planning, organizing, controlling, procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance, and separation and to execute these functions he or she needs to interact with his or her subordinate staffs. Researches have shown that stress and conflict arise within organization due to the lack of communication between manager and employees. Usually, all these organizational problems are solved on the basis of scientific communication process. In spite of many barriers among people and groups in organizations, one of the basic propositions of organizational behavior is that open communication is better than restricted communication. For this reason it is important to try to improve communication whenever possible. In the process of communication, Prof. Yadu Nath Khanal (1995) states that in Nepal, unfortunately, no tradition of interaction between the politician and the administrator has been allowed even in modern times to develop within the autonomy and integrity of each structure. Politics was always restricted and has never been allowed to evolve through liberal political processes into an autonomous and responsive system capable of communicating with all elements of society and reconciling and resolving their varied interests.

Communication and management

Communication is very essential subject to any manager. Managing is getting things done through others - a task that requires the manager to communicate with other people. Both traditional and behavioral managers are interested in developing good communication. Management expert Keith (1981) stresses that all estimates concerning the percentage of time allocated to communication process is quite high, ranging from 75 to 90 percent of our working hours. Five percent of communication time is spent in writing, 10 percent in reading, 35 percent in talking and 50 percent in listening.

Management communication is also essential for managers to make sound decisions. Another reason for emphasizing management communication is that the scope of managerial influence typically is greater than that of workers. Inadequate information to managers can affect a broad area of performance, because their spans of supervision affect many people and activities.

“Management” has existed since people first realized that a cooperative society was necessary to accomplish their goals. The approaches to management of societal groups have paralleled the economic development and value systems of society throughout time. With the rapid expansion of science, institutions attempt to accomplish their purposes by structuring their organizations so that problems may be solved swiftly and efficiently. In addition, managers must influence the organizations (individuals and work groups) to work helpfully to achieve organizational objectives. As organizations have grown bigger since the beginning of Industrial revolution, the necessity for formalized systems of information flow has raised in parallel .The information requirements for managers must be satisfied by a management information system. This management information system must be designed on the basis of management tasks, management principles, individual managers’ styles and behaviors, and organizational structures and behavior. Therefore, MIS (management information system) requires foundation knowledge of management, organizational theory, and the system approach.

Concluding remarks

Organizations cannot stay alive without communication. If there is no communication, employees cannot know what their associates are doing, management cannot receive information inputs, and management cannot give instructions. Organizational experts state that every act of communication influences the organization in some way. Communication is effectual, and it tends to support better performance and job satisfaction. Usually, in a good working environment the people understand their jobs better and feel more involved in them.

(Dr. Upadhyay is a joint secretary at the Public Service Commission)