CHPTER THREE

FORMS AND TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

3.1 Forms of communication

Based on the type of channel used, communications could be formal or informal.
3.1.1 Formal Communication
Formal communication is the organizational communication that involves the formal transfer of
information through the organizational hierarchy. Formal communication follows prescribed
channels of communication throughout the organization- typically, the chain of command.
Transmission of messages is made as per the procedures specifically set up for the purpose in the
organization. Flow of orders and instructions from superiors to the subordinates and the reports,
suggestions, and recommendations from the subordinates to the superiors as per the routine
evolved in the organization structure constitutes formal communication.
Formal communication normally occurs in four varieties: downward, upward, horizontal, and
diagonal. These structural factors can both facilitate and hinder communication.
i) Downward Communication
Downward communication implies the flow of information and command from the top to the
bottom levels of the organization. Downward communication normally follows the hierarchical
lines established by an organization’s structure. Managers communicate downward in the
organization, i.e., to individuals below them in the organizational hierarchy.
Managers typically use downward communication to provide directives to employees, to
indoctrinate company goals, strategies, policies, and procedures, and to appraise subordinates’
performance. Managers can encourage face-to-face communication with subordinates by
scheduling frequent staff meetings, making periodic contact by telephone or using letters or
email, etc.
Even the best organization often doesn’t use downward communication as effectively as
possible. Either, there isn’t enough information or messages sent downward are not clear and
complete: The problems are:
1) Lack of awareness- Managers give instructions naturally, but no explanation behind the
rationale and giving feedback are not so obvious.

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 2) Insufficient and unclear messages- It might be too brief, lacking enough details to make it
clear or it might be too vague to be useful. E.g. a manager telling his subordinate that ‘I
want to see you later in the day’; this instruction is vague, as the manager is not exact on
the time he wants to his subordinate.
3) Message overload- Sometimes the problem is not too little information but too much; e.g.
there can be too many messages, making it difficult to pay attention to any of them.
Similarly, messages can be too long, disguising important information in a sea of details.
4) Bad timing- Giving a good and clear message at the wrong time can cause trouble. For
example, a boss giving instructions to his subordinate while his phone is ringing or both
are in a hurry should not expect complete understanding.
5) Filtering and distortion- It is very difficult to listen openly and objectively to someone
who talks about your sloppy work or bad attitude, especially when that person has the
power to reward and punish you.
6) Serial transmission- As information passes from one person to another it becomes less
accurate. The problem of serial transmission is especially great in ‘tall’ organizations that
have several levels of authority.
7) Built-in-resistance
ii) Upward Communication
Although downward communication is the dominant form, many organizations try to make some
provisions for information to flow in the opposite direction. Upward communication refers to
messages employees sent to their managers or to others who hold higher positions in the
organization.
Upward communication is helpful in knowing the effectiveness of downward communication.
Upward communication provides feedback to supervisors about their subordinates’ thoughts and
performance. Upward communication is meant to keep the superiors informed about progress in
the work, difficulties in working out the orders, to suggest measures for improvement, grievances
to be settled, etc.
Indeed, it can be often being beneficial for managers to receive open, honest, and accurate
information for control purposes. Management is able to know how well its plans, policies, and
objectives are understood by those working at lower levels of the organization.

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Upward communication can increase employees’ morale by giving them an opportunity to
participate in the affairs of the organization. Thus, upward communication is necessary in order
to discover clashes of interests, to reconcile conflicts, and to coordinate efforts.
To put it in a nut shell, upward communication is important to extract information on the
following:
 What subordinates are doing
 Unsolved work problems
 Suggestions for improvement
 How subordinates feel about each other and the job
Limitations of upward communication include:
1) It can be intimidating to many employees: Employees have much to gain by opening up
to the boss, but there is a chance of big losses as well. Expressing frustration with your
present job might earn you a promotion, but you might also get fired.
2) It is subjected to substantial distortion: One fact of organizational life is that negative
information is less likely to be communicated upward than positive information. This
makes sense: reports that a project is going badly, for example, might make the boss
unhappy, and he bearer of grim tidings could wind up-fairly or not-being associated with
the unpleasant message. Distortion is not entirely the fault of subordinates. Since many
managers dislike bad news the subordinates often twist or screen it out.
3) Some superiors may actively discourage upward communication using their autocracy:
Many bosses are members if the “I talk, you listen” school of management. They have
the idea that listening to the factual reports of subordinates is all right but that ideas and
opinions should flow downward.
4) Lack of awareness of employees to initiate or respond to upward communication
(barriers for feedback)
Since most of the responsibility for improving upward communication rests with managers,
they should:
 Announce their willingness to hear from subordinates.
 Seek other ways such as ‘open – door’& ‘open-floor’ policies, grievance procedures,
periodic interviews, group meetings, suggestion box, etc.

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  Utilize informal contacts such as chats during breaks, in the elevator, or at social
gatherings.
iii) Horizontal/Lateral Communication
In addition to transmitting messages up and down the organization, the formal communication
network also carries messages horizontally from one department to another.
Horizontal communication refers to the flow of messages among people in the same
organizational level or with similar status. An example of horizontal communication is when the
manager of the marketing department communicates with the manager of production department,
or other departments.
Horizontal communication is formal communication, but it does not follow the chain of
command.
Examples of horizontal communication messages are: information sharing, feedback, task
coordination efforts, efforts to seek assistance, etc.
Horizontal communication is needed to save time and facilitate control. Horizontal
communication is especially important in an organization for the following purposes:
To coordinate tasks: when several employees or departments are each working on part of
an important project.
To solve problems: such as how to reduce waste, etc.
To share information: such as an easier way to perform a task.
To resolve conflict: such as disagreement between co-workers.
To build rapport: group member’s interactions, to build understanding and friendship.
To give feedback

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vi) Diagonal Communication
It constitutes the flow of messages between people in different organizational levels, but without
direct reporting relationships. It is designed to support the vertical and horizontal communication
systems.
3.2 The Informal Communication – (The Grapevine)
Every organization has an informal communication network – a grapevine – that supplements
official channels. Grapevine is the flow of information in any direction throughout the
organization. More and wide information can be transmitted through grapevine. As people talk
casually during coffee breaks and lunch periods, the focus usually shifts from topic to topic.
According to Prof. Keith Davis, "Grapevine arises from social interaction, it is as fickle,
dynamic and varied as people are. It is the exercise of their freedom of speech and is a natural,
normal activity".
Grapevines develop in organizations to handle communication that formal communication
channels do not handle. For example, if employees believe they do not get enough information
from their boss, they may cultivate other sources of information.
Employees may also participate in a grapevine to meet social needs. The grapevine serves as an
excellent source of information about employee attitudes as well as an emotional outlet for
employees.
It is informal communication because it is not official or sanctioned by management.
The information that travels through a grapevine typically takes the form of gossip (beliefs about
other people) and rumors (efforts to predict future events). Thus, gossip might describe an
incident in which a manager lost his temper, and a rumor might concern expectations that a new
sales office will open next year.
Although the grapevine is not officially sanctioned, the quality of information is surprisingly
good. It is faster than the formal communication. Research into the grapevine has also found that
about 80 percent of the messages are work related, and 70–95 percent of the details are accurate.

Characteristics Informal or grapevine communication has the following characteristics:

(1) Formation through Social relations: This communication is born out of social relations who
mean that it is beyond the restrictions of the organization. No superior-subordinate relationship
figures therein. A more sociable superior can gather much information through this channel.
(2) Two types of Information: Through this communication, information about the work and the
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individual can be collected.
(3) Uncertain Path: Since it is beyond the restrictions of the organization, it follows no definite
channel. Like a grapevine, it moves in a zigzag manner.
(4) Possibility of Rumour and Distortion: Responsibility for the true or false nature of
communication does not lie on any individual and, therefore, not much attention is paid to its
meaning while communicating. Consequently, the rumors keep floating.
(5) Quick Relay: Informal communication makes news spread like wildfire. Not only this,
people start adding something of their own which sometimes changes the real meaning of the
communication.

Common grapevine networks

There are four operational networks of grapevine.

Single-strand – It is like one person giving information to the second and the second informing
the third and the chain continues.
Gossip chain – In this type of informal network one person spreads information to all. Gossip
chain is an interesting phenomenon; its topics can be varied and wild. The discussion may
include topics like someone’s personality, personal life, likes and dislikes etc… It can be harmful
if the person discussed in the circle is emotionally hurt due to such talks, or the gossip tarnishes
the image of the person who is discussed in the group.

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Probability chain – One person informs, may be, other two randomly and they in turn continue
informing others following probability rules. Information spreads quite fast in this manner and
many people receive information (sometimes) without any indication of the origin of such
information. In this kind of a network, some people do not receive information due to random
dissemination of information and not due to lack of proximity or closeness.
Cluster transmission– One person communicates information to two other employees, who do
so in turn, duplicating it throughout the organization. The information is disseminated based on
the choice of the sender. The selected receivers of the message could be based on relationship or
the nature of information. This practice is very common in organizations. For instance, an
employee is unhappy about his pay-hike, he may communicate this to two of his colleagues, who
may pass on this message to a few more and so on.
Negative Attribute of the Grapevine
Sometimes pass distorted information from sources carried by rumor.
Grapevine is often fragmentary and incomplete resulting in misunderstandings,
confusion, and wrong action.
Rumors travel like a wild fire across the boundary of an organization thereby
spoiling the public image of the organization.
Lack of accountability: grapevine is informal; consequently, members do not have
to answer to their superiors for any misstatement of facts.
Importance of the Grapevine
The grapevine serves some important purposes to organizational members, as follows:
i) It is used by employees as a safety valve: all confined emotions, fear, and
frustrations within an individual can easily be brought out and discussed
through the informal channel.
ii) The grapevine promotes organizational solidarity and cohesion: People
have inborn interest to interact and they satisfy their need for friendliness.
It also helps members to share love and acceptance by their peers.
iii) Provides accurate feedback to management: It enables managers to know
the real responses of employees towards a policy or other issues from the
grapevine leaders informally.

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To sum up, management should accept the grapevine as inevitable fact organizational life; and
be in touch with informal networks, participate in them, learn from them, and use them tactfully
to disseminate information.
3.2 Types of communication
Based on the organizational boundary, a communication can be internal or external.
a) Internal communication-comprises all the communication form discussed so far which
made with the organization.
b) External Communication
Just as information flows up, down, and across the organization, it flows in and out of the
organization. The external communication network links the organization n with the outside
world of customers, suppliers, investors, and competitors.
Organizations constantly exchange messages with customers, vendors, distributors, competitors,
investors, journalists, and government and community representatives. Much of this
communication occurs informally, and some communication is carefully orchestrated.
Even though much of the communication that occurs with outsiders is casual and relatively
unplanned, most organizations attempt to control the information they convey to customers,
investors, and the general public.
An organization is greatly affected by its external environment. Therefore, in order to exist, any
organization has to adjust its activities in accordance with external influences.
Communications to persons outside the company-customers, inquirers, suppliers and the public-
can have a far-reaching effect on the reputation and ultimate success of the organization. The
right letter, telephone call, or personal conversation can win back a disgruntled customer, create
a desire for a firm’s product or service, can negotiate a profitable sale, help an inquirer who is a
potential customer, and in general create goodwill.
Reputable organizations are also seriously concerned about enhancing their public image through
various communications. Among these communications are public speeches by their executives,
tactful replies to comments and criticisms from consumer groups, free informative pamphlets,
interviews with news media. All these forms of communication are transmitted with a greater
emphasis on truthfulness.
Thus, employees who communicate effectively can contribute in a variety of ways to the
lifeblood of their organization. Successful messages:

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  Eliminate unnecessary additional correspondence.
 Save time and expense
 Build favorable impressions.
 Enhance goodwill, and
 Help increase company profits.
Therefore, in brief, effective internal communication integrates and facilitates the managerial
functions at all levels; and effective external communication relates and integrates an enterprise
successfully to its external environment.
Concluding Remarks
Effective internal communication integrates and facilitates the managerial functions at all levels;
and effective external communication relates and integrates an enterprise successfully to its
external environment.

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