LESSON7

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WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
After studying this lesson, you will be able to:
1. Explain the importance and roles of communication networks in the workplace.
2. Write professional communications like memo, business letters and minutes of
the meeting.

Time Frame: 6 hours

 Let’s Read and Discuss

Professional communication refers to all of the spoken and written exchanges of ideas and information
between and among the people directly or indirectly involved in the organizational setting or the
professional organization. Professional organization is a stable system of individuals who work together
to achieve, through the hierarchy of needs and division of labor, common goals.

Principles of Workplace Communication(The R.E.S.U.L.T. Principle)

Reason

All communication must be for a reason and the most effective dialogues will have a sole purpose or
objective that the instigator wants to achieve as a result of the communication. The more thought you put
into why you want to open up this process the more objective and focused your purpose will be.

The most productive communications have a single objective ensuring clarity and ease of
comprehension. Any conversation, discussion, or meeting can have many exchanges but focusing on a
single objective will ensure your success.

Once you have established the reason why you want or need to communicate you can structure the
format of your message according to the principle's other components.

Environment

In your management role you will find yourself needing to communicate in a wide variety of situations - for
example, with your team, colleagues, management, stakeholders, suppliers, etc. For your
communications to be effective it is essential that you define the nature of each situation and adapt your
message to fit what you see.

Is the environment a positive or negative one? Are the individuals reacting to events or being proactive?
Is there conflict, aggression, dissension, or apathy? The questions are endless, but by asking just a few
simple questions you will gather the necessary intelligence to communicate effectively. This preparation
enables you to adopt the best style of communication to suit your approach and prepare for potential
arguments or problems.

Specific
Having defined your reason for communicating and the type of environment it will take place in you must
now specify exactly what it is you want or need from the other person. You must make sure that you have
any supporting information, background, or data that guarantees that your message and exchange will
have clarity.

In some contexts, you will need to break down your supporting information into manageable chunks. For
example, if you have to report on the progress of an event or project you will have to adjust your message
according to the specific audience:

• Executives want to hear financial and business aspects

• Users will want to hear how it is progressing

• Project members want or need to know how well each phase or individual process is going in
comparison to the plan

• Stakeholders want to know that business needs are being met.

Being specific is not just related to the message itself; it is also about who needs to informed. Many
people gloss over this aspect of communication and cause themselves problems by sending
inappropriate messages to the wrong audience, resulting in unnecessary interruptions and diversions.

If you select only those who have a real need to know the contents of the message you will have more
effective communications. Technology such as emails and texts make it all too easy to copy in
unnecessary and inappropriate people. Lead by your own example and you will create an open and
honest communications culture.

Understanding

Whatever form of communication you need to conduct, an essential part of the process is ensuring that
the recipient actually understands correctly the message you want to give them. You also want to be sure
that resulting action by an individual or group is what you want and expect so that you achieve your
communication objective.

You can't afford to make any assumptions: you need to get confirmation from the recipient that they have
the same understanding as you about what a situation may be and what the required action plan is. It is
vital that you remember that comprehension is a two-way process. Not only do you need to know that
others in the communication process understand you, but you also need to confirm that you have
understood what they have told you.

Listen

You will only gain this level of 'true' understanding if you actively listen to what is being said and observe
the behaviors of those involved in the communication. Make sure that your own verbal and nonverbal
communications convey the message you want.

Remember; use your observation skills throughout the exchange to gauge the attitude and acceptance of
your audience. Ensure that you are totally focused on what is being said and feed back your own
understanding of what you are being told.
If you do this you will avoid any unnecessary confusion and misinterpretations that often occur when
someone does not take the time to listen properly.

Timeframe

The final aspect of the RESULT principle is concerned with the amount of time you have to prepare for
and conduct the actual communication. Not all exchanges occur in situations where you have all the time
you want.

Frequently you will find that the time you have to prepare is very limited and you will have to adjust your
preparation to fit what time you have at your disposal. However, much time you have, make sure that you
use it effectively by following these principles. The better prepared you are the more effective and
productive your communications will be.

(http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/faqcm/effective-07.htm)

The Power of a Good Workplace Communication

by: Patrick Bosworth

Good communication is an important skill in any environment with human interactions. However, when it
comes to communication in the workplace, good communication is an integral element to business
success.

In the workplace, good communication isn’t just about mitigating conflict (although that is an important
benefit of communicating effectively). Good communication is also an important factor in client
relationships, profitability, team effectiveness, and employee engagement.

Good Communication Mitigates Conflict

One of the times an organization is most likely to seek communication training is when there’s clear
tension or conflict in the workplace. Regardless of the conflict, communication is usually an underlying
factor.

Conflict typically comes down to:

Misunderstanding/feeling misunderstood. Even when someone feels like they are communicating well, if
the person to whom they’re speaking has a different communication pattern then there may be
misunderstanding. With communication tools such as identifying communication patterns and making
small communication adjustments, new information can be dispensed in a way that is easy and clear to
understand, and the listener can better communicate their understanding.

Not understanding how others communicate. Miscommunication also comes down to communication
patterns. When someone who hasn’t undergone an individual or team communication program, they
default to presenting information using their own communication pattern instead of considering the
communication pattern of the receiver.

Someone feeling their emotional needs are not being met or are being disregarded. If an employee feels
disrespected, taken advantage of, or disregarded, then it may lead to tension or conflict. A better-
communicating team lays the groundwork for expressing and understanding needs, which also increases
employee engagement and performance.
Good Communication Increases Employee Engagement

Communicating is more than just talking. It’s about connecting with people. One of the most powerful
benefits of better communication in the workplace is more engaged employees. Employees are more
engaged in their work and can better align with company objectives and goals when a culture of good
communication is established in a team or workplace.

Communication can improve employee engagement in the following ways:

 Gives you tools to better understand the needs and goals of your employees.
 Allows you to better understand what motivates and fulfills the employee.
 Better understanding of employees’ talents and skills that may otherwise go unnoticed.
 Ability to cultivate talents and skills in a way that develops them in line with company goals.
 Improved connection between co-workers for a more positive and satisfying work environment.
 Better relationship with managers and leaders

Good Communication Creates Better Client Relationships

This one is a biggie if you have client-facing employees, since client interactions are usually the
difference between a satisfied customer and a disgruntled one. When your employees are trained to
communicate more effectively and to connect with others they can better:

 Mitigate and resolve conflict

 Understand needs
 Help the customer feel understood
 Present new information in a way in which the client will be more receptive

Good Communication Results in a More Productive & Talented Workforce

Employee engagement is a significant factor in the productivity of a workforce. But besides contributing to
increased employee engagement, communication skills can also help foster a more productive and
talented workforce in many other ways:

 Understanding team talents & skills. In a company culture focused on connecting with others,
managers better understand the talents and skills of their workforce. Some communication
patterns aren’t forthcoming with their talents and skills, or express them in ways a fast-paced or
high-level-thinking communicator won’t naturally notice. Mastering the identification of
communication patterns empowers a leader to better understand the skills and talents of their
team.
 Achieving more buy-in. With the right communication tools, a leader can influence initiative buy-in
from their team.
 Innovation and creative thought. A workplace that communicates more effectively establishes a
“safe” place for people to think creatively and express their ideas. It helps employees feel more
comfortable taking ownership for challenges and projects, and typically results in more creative
brainstorming or problem-solving initiatives.
 More strategic team building. Understanding communication patterns gives a leader more
information about their employees, and often information they would have otherwise overlooked.
This powerful insight lets the leader make more strategic decisions on delegation, employee
development, team development, and strategic initiatives to drive business success.
What’s the Bottom Line?

The bottom line is that good communication isn’t just about being able to more accurately and
concisely present information and ideas. It’s also not just about mitigating conflict or creating a more
positive team environment. Communication is integral to sales, client relationships, team development,
company culture, employee engagement and buy-in, and innovative thought.

Source: (https://leadershipchoice.com/power-good-communication-workplace/)

Communication Networks represents the way communication flows in an organization. It can be formal
or informal. Formal communication flow includes upward flow, downward flow, horizontal flow, and
diagonal flow.

Upward flow provides the manager with information to make decisions, identify problem areas, collect
data for performance assessment, determine staff morale, and reveal employee thoughts and feelings.
This is also known as the hierarchal structure (chain of command).
Downward flow involves passing information from supervisors to subordinates. this includes meeting
with employee, written memos, newsletters, bulletin boards, procedural manuals, and clinical and
administration systems.

Diagonal flow is a flow that refers to the sharing information among different structural levels within a
professional organization which leads to informal communication.

Informal Communication is when messages flow an informal path known as the “grapevine”. The type
of information the grapevine carries depends on the “health of the organization”.Grapevine is an informal
way of spreading information or rumors through conversation; a person to person means of articulating
information or gossip. The organization can be considered healthy if the managers are open with the
employees and send all necessary information through formal channels. When the channels, however,
fail to do the job (the message delivered is not understood or not accepted by the employees) the
grapevine, which usually carries only personal interest items, begins to carry information about the
organization which turns out to an unhealthy organization.

Activity 1. Read and Role play the given situation. Identify the
communication problem and give a solution you think best in solving the said
problem which you will include in your role play. Limit your presentation to 3-5
minutes only.

Let’s Read!
Sara Lang is a charge nurse at Sunny Nursing Home and has worked under the same president,
Lisa Davis, for five years. In fact, the two have become good friends. They frequently socialize
after office hours. Rick Walters, Director of Nursing, is a capable person who has been working
there for three years. Four nurse (Anna, Barbara, Charles, and Dan) report directly to Sara.
Anna, one of the nurses, was having personal difficulties. She asked Sara if she could charge
her work schedule from the usual 8-hour shift of 4 days with 3 consecutive days off to 16-hour
shifts for two days and 5 consecutive days off. Sara thought that was not a problem and told
Anna that she would enter the information into the computerized scheduling system, and that she
would tell Lisa Davis of the change, since they were getting together for a drink after work.

Barbara overheard the conversation between Sara and Anna, and she immediately went to see
Rick Walters and complained that Anna was getting preferential treatment and she wanted the
same schedule. Rick, who always wanted to make sure that nursing staff were happy and got
along, approved Barbara’s change in schedule. He made this change through the computerized
schedule and did not tell anyone else.

Barbara, who is a good friend of Charles told him of her new schedule. Charles, who works
closely with the Chief of Staff, Dr. Goodman, told Dr. Goodman of the change in Barbara’s
schedule and asked Dr. Goodman to change his. Dr. Goodman thought it was a good idea and
emailed Charle’s new schedule to his assistant, Susan Stevens, to enter into the scheduling
system.

Activity 2. Conduct an interview with a member of your family who is

working in a professional organization. Ask the following questions:

1. In the workplace, where does your message flow? (Note: if

possible, ask him/her to draw the organization’s communication
networks.)

2. What area of communication are you usually exposed to in

the workplace? Why?

3. What problems in your workplace have you encountered due

to miscommunication?

4. How did the organization solve the problem?

Be ready to share your findings to the class.