ORGANISATIONAL AND

MANAGERIAL
COMMUNICATION
Notes prepared by G. Boby
LECTURE 2
Communication Flow in Organizations

• There is a great deal of one to one communication going on in organizations.

• However, information has to also be transmitted to several people at once in
organizations and sometimes to a large group.
• Again small groups of people within the organization who work together need to:
- Pass information to each other
- Consult each other and discuss
- Arrive at joint solutions to problems
• In such situations, the simple one to one channel is not adequate.
• More complicated communication patterns form of their own accord or they are
deliberately set up by management.
• This is why people talk about the direction of information flow upwards,
downwards, horizontally and diagonally.
Why are these communication flow patterns important?
• There is need to get information moving from top to bottom.
• Every employee needs to know what he/she is supposed to do and how to do it.
• Every employee needs to know whom he/she reports to, gets instructions from and to
whom she gives information and instructions.
• They give explanations of policy or theory behind certain procedures.
• Management may need to know the needs of shareholders and they must be informed
of the situation of the organization.
• It is useful therefore to discuss communication in organizations in terms of direction in
which it flows. This flow can be categorized as follows:
a. Formal Internal Communication
- Vertical
- Horizontal /Lateral
- Diagonal
- Small Groups
b. Informal Internal Communication (Grapevine)
c. External Communication
INTERNAL FORMAL COMMUNICATION

Vertical
• This is the up and down chain of command.
• Communication takes place directly up and down the hierarchical structure at
different levels.
• Messages or information is directly passed from management to employees and
vice versa.
Downward
• the messages are sent from the top to the bottom. The kind of messages that
flow in this channel include:
• Job rationale – answers why a specific task is important and how it relates to
other tasks in the company. For example, telling the subordinate what the role of
his job is in relation to the objectives of the company as a whole.
• Policy and Procedures (Induction) – informing members about rules
and regulations of the organization. E.g “ All unused sick leave will be
converted into cash bonuses at the end of every year”.
• Instructions / Delegation of work – i.e on how to do something or
giving someone some of your responsibility or work.
• Feedback – this can be positive or negative. E.g appraisal of employee
performance
• Indoctrination (motivating) – this can come in form of motivational
appeals for employee support of organizational goals, customs and
culture. For example, statements like “If everyone worked extra hard,
we could become the number one bank”.
Challenges / problems with downward communication
• No differentiation between commands and instructions.
• Message ownership (gate keeping) i.e messages may not be passed
on to the appropriate receiver for fear of being replaced.
• Message distortion / misinterpretation (every time a message is
passed on it is altered).
• Messages are sometimes passed in raw form. Many managers simply
do not know how to make their messages understandable to workers.
Sometimes they may make assumptions or have no information to
share. For example, they may think employees are not interested in
information about shareholders.
Upward – refers to messages sent from the lower levels of the hierarchy to the
upper levels.
• Without upward communication, management would never know how their
downward messages were received and interpreted by the employees.
• The employees would not get a chance to be part of the organization through
participation.
• The effectiveness of upward communication depends on the climate set by
management. Normally it is positive if there is open vertical communication. The
kind of messages that flow in this channel include:
- What subordinates are doing e.g highlights of their work, achievements,
progress and future job plans.
- Suggestions / ideas for improvements within the departments or in the
company as a whole. (Criticisms in healthy organizations).
- Information on how subordinates feel and think about their jobs, their
associates and their company.
- Seeking authority to act (requests).
- Outlines of unsolved work problems on which help is required.
Problems / Challenges with upward communication
• Messages that travel up the ladder are often messages that higher – ups
(managers) want to hear. Workers are reluctant to send up negative messages for
fear that they will be viewed as trouble makers/ even lose their job.
• Dissatisfaction messages concerning workers are usually not heard or responded
to by management because of its preoccupation with productivity. When the
messages are ignored, workers feel there is no point hence this culminates into a
major problem.
• Issues concerning clarification of job assignments are not taken to management
because workers feel they will be branded incompetent. They would seek
information from fellow workers.
• Sometimes the messages never get through because of gate keeping. These
people (gatekeepers) may be so rigid that certain types of messages are
automatically sat on.
• When management becomes preoccupied with sending messages down the
ladder, it may lose some capacity for receiving messages. Managers are so used
to serving as sources of messages that they become
• Message distortion and misinterpretation is common. This may be done
deliberately by employees to either protect themselves or to make messages
acceptable to employers.
• This situation can be improved if management creates a climate in which subordinates
and managers have an open relationships in which true opinions and feelings are
communicated. This can be done through:
- Rewarding disclosure. For example, a simple verbal pat given in private or better still
in the presence of others.
- Establish a positive climate for disclosure (e.g management serving as a model in
disclosing opinions or problems.
- Building up trust. If employees trust their managers they are likely to open up in their
communication.
Horizontal (lateral)
• In this kind of communication, messages flow laterally between persons of the same
rank or position, but not necessarily in the same field. It is more informal than vertical.
Good horizontal communication can be used to:
- Coordinate tasks – for example employees or departments can work together in an
important project.
- Solve problems – individuals can brainstorm to come up with a solution.
- Share information – discussion of an easier way to perform a task.
- Resolve Conflict – for instance, the disciplinary committee can help to resolve
disagreements between co-workers.
 - Build morale - worker satisfaction and team spirit which in turn increase
productivity and eventually lead to success of the company.
- Nurtures emotional / social aspects of workers.
• Horizontal communication occurs at all levels of an organization. It is
marked by the increased frankness and ease with which groups at similar
levels communicate.
• They are less affected by the “chain of command” situation which they
tend to experience when they are communicating with their superiors.
Problems / challenges with horizontal communication
• Attitudes of rivalry / jealousy among workers e.g competition for
promotion or resources.
• Workers in some departments or sections view their areas as the most
important. This attitude prevents them from seeing the value of others.
• Remote geographical location prevents frequent communication. Take the
example of ESCOM and BWB.
• Specialized languages that departments of an organization may develop
are often unintelligible to receivers.
REFERENCES
• Certificate in Business Administration study manual, Introduction to
Business Administration, The Association of Business Executives.
• ICAP (2015). Business Communication, 2nd Ed. UK: Emile Woolf
International.
• Krizan, A.C., Merrier, P., Logan, J. & Williams, K. (2010). Business
Communication. Cengage Learning.