1.2 The Need for and Practice of Organizational Communication

In this course, you will learn the basic principles of effective organizational communication. Organizational communication refers to all channels of communication that occur within an organization. Organizational communication can include corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, and government bodies and covers a wide variety of communication types. Since organizational communication covers a broad spectrum of communication types, it can be helpful to think of it as the communication methods an organization uses to collaborate effectively and reach its goals.

Why Do You Need Organizational Communication?

Communication is a vital part of any organization. Not only does communication influence public image, it is also necessary to keep operations running smoothly. When communication fails in an organization, it can cost time, money, and effort and sometimes brings devastating consequences. In fact, some claim that ineffective communication is responsible, at least in part, for all organizational failures.

Think of a situation in your life, either professionally or personally, when a miscommunication caused a problem that could have been easily avoided otherwise. This could be as simple as a misunderstanding of who was supposed to send an important email, pick a child up from lacrosse practice, or complete a certain portion of a group project. In the last example, a lack of communication might have led to a bad grade or meant you had to spend all night scrambling to complete work that could have been done easily if everyone had communicated better. In organizations, especially large corporations, the consequences for such miscommunications can be far more serious than being a little sleepy the next day.

Take, for example, the incident that occurred in a Philadelphia Starbucks. On April 12, 2018, the store manager called the police on two Black men who were waiting for a friend before ordering. The arrest was caught on camera, leading to public outrage. In a follow-up statement two days later, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson wrote, “The video shot by customers is very hard to watch and the actions in it are not representative of our Starbucks Mission and Values. Creating an environment that is both safe and welcoming for everyone is paramount for every store.” He admits, “Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome.”1 In this case, Starbucks failed to effectively communicate its values to employees or give them adequate training to handle the situation.

In response, Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for racial bias training, held an internal investigation, and reached a settlement of $200,000 with the two men, which was given to fund a program for young entrepreneurs. Although most people find Starbucks’s response to the incident to be the right approach, if the company had put more effort into their training and internal communication in the first place, the situation could have likely been avoided altogether.

This is just one example of how effective communication is important to organizations. Good communication is necessary for all of the following organizational functions and more:

  • Aligning employees to company mission and values

  • Managing change

  • Creating training and development programs

  • Keeping day-to-day operations running smoothly

  • Avoiding mishaps due to miscommunication

  • Maintaining public image

Good communication leads to the following:

  • Increased efficiency

  • Employees with aligned goals

  • Increased motivation

  • Increased collaboration and the spread of ideas

  • Clarity on projects and initiatives

  • Good management and staff relations

  • Innovation

It is easy to see why good communicative practices are important to the success of any organization. While basic communication skills are an important part of organizational communication, there are also some specific types and rules that apply specifically to corporations and other organizations.

Who Practices Organizational Communication?

Just like organizational communication covers a wide variety of communication types, many people participate in organizational communication. The short answer to who practices organizational communication is everyone within an organization. However, organizational communication will look different for different fields within an organization.

Public Relations (PR)

Public relations specialists manage the public image of a company and are responsible for external, client-facing communications. As a public relations specialist, you might be responsible for responding to events that occurred in your business, writing press releases for the media, attending events, and preparing executives for interviews. Kevin Johnson, the CEO of Starbucks, probably had a PR specialist help him draft his statement and decide on the next steps for the company to take.

Human Resources (HR)

Modern-day human resources managers often fill a variety of roles, but their main job is to work as a mediator between the organization and its employees by hiring and training individuals and maintaining a positive work environment to maximize productivity and employee satisfaction. A human resources manager will likely engage in a lot of interpersonal conversation with employees, but they are also responsible for managing larger communication projects such as employee training programs. Lastly, a human resources manager will also need to manage risk, communicating to employees and other frontline staff procedures related to preventing discrimination and harassment, ensuring occupational health and safety, and guiding overall employee conduct.

Project Management

A project manager’s main job is to help plan, manage, organize, and execute organizational projects and to make sure these projects adhere to set budgets and deadlines. Effective communication between project managers and employees is essential to keep projects running smoothly and to make sure employees are aligned on the project goals.

Marketing

Marketing specialists create advertisements, social media posts, blog posts, and other forms of media to help attract clients to an organization. It is important for marketers to maintain the organization’s voice and values and communicate in a way that draws clients to the organization.

Management

Managers are often responsible for the day-to-day operations of an organization, and it is their job to work with employees to implement projects or training programs developed by HR or project management. If communication fails at this level, it is likely that organizational initiatives will fail as well.

People Operations

Managers and other support specialists who work under people operations are more concerned with employees’ well-being and productivity. This department may or may not fall under human resources. Strategy will be focused on leadership development and providing employees with training and other resources to help them be better workers.

Customer Relations

Customer relations specialists are concerned with communicating with an organization’s clients and identifying roadblocks within the customer journey that the company should know. These include troubleshooting issues with clients, filing complaints, and creating long-term solutions.

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