INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF BALOCHISTAN
TOPIC: FORMAL COMMUNICATION
SUBMITTED TO: SIR SHEHZAD
BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
SUBMITTED BY: KHALID KHAN
M 10
MBA 1ST SEMESTER
DATE: 19 SEPTEMBER, 2008
FORMAL COMMUNICATION
Formal communication is that which is connected with the formal organizational
arrangement and the official status or the place of the communicator and the receiver. It
moves through the formal channels authoritatively accepted positions in the organization
chart. Formal communication is mostly in black and white.
Formal communication can be defined as, “A presentation or written piece that strictly
adheres to rules, conventions, and ceremony, and is free of colloquial expressions.”
It connotes the flow of the data by the lines of authority formally acknowledged in the
enterprise and its members are likely to communicate with one another strictly as per
channels constituted in the structure. Thus, it is a purposeful effort to influence the flow
of communication so as to guarantee that information flows effortlessly, precisely and
timely.
It emphasizes the essence of formal channel of communication. The different forms of
formal communication include; departmental meetings, conferences, telephone calls,
company news bulletins, special interviews and special purpose publications.
The main advantage of formal communication is that the official channels facilitate the
habitual and identical information to communicate without claiming much of managerial
attention. Essentially, executives and mangers may devote most of their precious time on
matters of utmost significance.
But at the same time, the weakness of formal communication should not go unaccounted.
Communication through channel of command greatly obstructs free and uninterrupted
flow of communication. It is, generally, time consuming, cumbersome and leads to a
good deal of distortion.
FORMAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS AND NETWORKS
Formal communication channels follow the organizational structure or hierarchy and
flow in four directions:
These four directions in which communication can travel are: downward; upward; lateral
or horizontal; and diagonal.
Downward communication involves communication from higher to lower levels so that
leadership can communicate goals, strategies or role expectations.
Upward communication flows from lower levels to higher levels of the organization, for
example, when there is a need to communicate problems, results or suggestions.
Horizontal communication occurs across the same level and involves for example,
coordination of activities with peers (teams, committees), dissemination of useful
information from one department to another (for example sales forecasts from the sales
department to production, and problems such as a problem with product design from the
production department to research and development). Horizontal communication
facilitates the linking of different areas of expertise and this may encourage innovation.
Diagonal channels may potentially cause conflict as they involve communication
between the lower levels of one department to a higher level in another. In the diagram
above, this may cause friction between the employee in accounting department C and the
Vice-President (VP) of Accounting as the employee has gone around his or her own
superior. Nevertheless this type of communication may be useful as it may simply be
information relevant to the Marketing Department and the VP Accounting does not need
to be involved.
Formal communication networks also occur within the hierarchy of the organization and
reflect how groups of employees, for example those in a department, work together.
Networking or mapping the flow of communication in an organization can be a useful
device. This can identify who is communicating with whom and whether the lines of
communication are effective and efficient, or whether there is potential for destructive
conflict or tension arising from the communication channels (for example, inappropriate
diagonal communication).
