Common Channels of Communication in the Workplace

Now that we’ve built a foundation for organizational communication, let’s review our learning before moving on to other aspects of workplace communication. Remember that the channel, or medium, used to communicate a message affects how accurately the message will be received. Verbal, written, and nonverbal communications have different strengths and weaknesses. In the workplace, the decision to communicate verbally or in written form can be a powerful one. In addition, a competent manager is aware of the nonverbal messages conveyed by both types of communication, as noted earlier; only 7% of verbal communication comes from the words themselves.

Information Richness

Channels vary in their information richness. Information-rich channels convey more nonverbal information. As you may be able to guess from our earlier discussion of verbal and written communications, verbal communications are richer than written ones. Research indicates that effective managers utilize more information-rich communication channels than their less effective counterparts (Allen & Griffeth, 1997; Fulk & Boyd, 1991; Yates & Orlikowski, 1992). Table 4.1 illustrates the information richness of different information channels.

Like face-to-face and telephone conversations, videoconferencing has high information richness because communicators can see or hear beyond just the words—they can see body language or hear the tone of their voice. Handheld devices, blogs, written letters, and memos offer medium-rich channels because they convey words and pictures/photos. Formal written documents, such as legal documents, and spreadsheets, such as the division’s budget, represent the least richness because the format is often rigid and standardized. As a result, nuance is lost. When communicating verbally or in writing, ask yourself: Do I want to convey facts or feelings? Verbal communication is a better way to express emotions, while written communication conveys facts more effectively.

The key to effective communication is to match the communication channel with the goal of the communication (Barry & Fulmer, 2004). For example, written media may be a better choice when the communicator wants a record of the content, has less urgency for a response, is physically separated from the receiver, doesn’t require a lot of feedback, or the message is complicated and may take some time to understand. Oral communication is more effective when conveying a sensitive or emotional message, requires immediate feedback, and does not necessitate a permanent conversation record. Table 5.2.2 provides a guide for deciding when to use written versus verbal communication.

Business Use of E-Mail

The growth of e-mail has been spectacular, but it has also created challenges in managing information and an ever-increasing speed of doing business. Learning to be more effective in your email communications is an important skill. To learn more, check out the business e-mail dos and don’ts.

An important, although often ignored, rule when communicating emotional information is that e-mail’s lack of richness can be your loss. As we saw in the chart above, e-mail is a medium-rich channel. It can convey facts quickly. However, regarding emotion, e-mail’s flaws make it far less desirable than oral communication; 55% of nonverbal cues that make a conversation comprehensible to a listener are missing. In a recent study, researchers note that email readers don’t pick up on sarcasm and other tonal aspects of writing as much as the writer believes they will (Kruger, 2005). The sender may think they have included these emotional signifiers in their message. But with words alone, those signifiers are not there. This gap between the form and content of e-mail inspired the rise of emoticons, symbols that offer clues to the emotional side of the words in each Message. Generally speaking, however, emoticons are not considered professional in business communication.

You may feel uncomfortable conveying an emotionally charged message verbally, especially when it contains unwelcome news. Sending an e-mail to your staff that there will be no bonuses this year may seem easier than breaking the evil news face-to-face, but that doesn’t mean that e-mail is an effective or appropriate way to deliver this kind of news. When the message is emotional, the sender should use verbal communication to convey it effectively. Indeed, a good rule of thumb is that the more emotionally laden messages require more thought in the channel choice and how they are communicated.

Direction of Communication Within Organizations

As we learned in our previous chapters, information can move horizontally, from a Sender to a Receiver, as we’ve seen. It can also move vertically, down from top management or up from the front line. Information can also move diagonally between and among levels of an organization, such as a message from a customer service representative up to a manager in the manufacturing department, or a message from the chief financial officer sent down to all department heads.

There is a chance for these arrows to go awry, of course. As Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2004), author of best-selling books such as Flow, has noted, “In large organizations, the dilution of information as it passes up and down the hierarchy, and horizontally across departments, can undermine the effort to focus on common goals” (p. 75). Managers need to remember this when they make organizational design decisions as part of the organizing function. The sender’s organizational status can affect the receiver’s attentiveness to the message. For example, consider a senior manager sending a memo to a production supervisor. The supervisor, who has a lower status within the organization, will likely pay close attention to the message. However, the same information conveyed in the opposite direction might not get the attention it deserves. The senior manager’s perception of priorities and urgencies would filter the message.

External Communications

External communications deliver specific business messages to individuals outside an organization. They may announce changes in staff or strategy, earnings, and more. The goal of external communication is to create shared understanding. Examples of external communications include press releases, advertisements, web pages, and customer communications, such as catalogs.