Management Assignment: Improving Internal Communication inData Solution
Question
Task: In this task, you will write a memo in response to the case study provided below. The memo must be logically structured, free of grammatical errors, professionally styled; in addition, follow the writing conventions for memos as discussed in the lecture and supporting material.
Case study: You are the CEO of Data Solutions, which is a medium sized company that sells data management software. The company is based in Brisbane and has offices in both Melbourne and Sydney. You have become aware that although the external marketing and promotions communications are effective there is a problem with the internal communication. There are three primary general problems:
1. Decisions made at the executive level are not being communicated clearly and in a timely manner to the employees.
2. For the most part supervisors and employees do not work in the same offices. Due to this situation, the supervisor to employee communication is ineffective. 3. Emails are being sent out that are unprofessional.
With these problems in mind, you undertake research in order to understand these problems more specifically and come up with logical and practical recommendations to solve these problems. As you refine your knowledge of these problems you narrow each one down to one specific issue. So for example for problem one, the issue could be that the employees do not understand why decisions are being made. For problem two, the issue could be that employees do not feel comfortable seeking work-related feedback from their supervisors. As you develop your recommendations you make sure that you clearly link the problems to the solutions (as articulated within the recommendations).
Answer
To:Employees of Data Solutions
From:Chief Executing Officer, Data Solutions
Date: 9th August 2018
Subject:Promotion of Useful Communication Process
Objectives and background
Data Solution is an organization that deals in data management software. The business is small scale and is based at Brisbane. The organization has offices in Sydney and Melbourne. For purpose of communication, the organization uses promotions and external marketing to communicate with the external stakeholders(Burke, 2017). The organization is currently facing problems in internal communication process. The supervisors and the employees are not at the same premise every time and this build in barriers in their communication process. At particular time intervals, the instructions from the management level are not clearly conveyed to the employees. When employees cannot understand the instructions, it hinders the flow of work.
Here, the objective is to devise effective plans so that internal communication within the organization gets improved. When communication is smooth, it increases the quality and quantity of work in the professional place.
Specific purpose: The decisions, which are being devised in the executive level, are not reaching the employees in the lower tier, which in turn possesses a problem for the employees to understand and implement the decision. Therefore, devising an effective communication process would help in better communication between the management and the employees of the organization.
General purpose: The general purpose of this memo is to devise solutions for Data Solutions, to improve its communication process within the organization. This will help the employees understand the meaning of the decisions that are being taken. Implementation of the decision would also helpful if effective communication processes are being devised.
Context
This memo, which has been constructed by me, indentifies the communication related problems in Data Solution. As the CEO of the organization, I have observed that there has been a lot of communication gap in the organization between the employees and the higher authorities. This gap in communication is not letting the productivity of the organization reach new heights. Data solution has multiple premises in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and deals in data management software. The organization is facing issues regarding the internal communication system.
Problems
The CEO of the organization, which is hindering the process of internal communication, has identified some problems. The problems are as follows:
Problem 1-It has been observed by me that, the instructions that are being constructed at the executive level are not reaching the employees in the correct time.
All the traditional methods of communication do have qualitative significance. These traditional means offer appropriate feedbacks through expressions, body languages and emotions, which are connected, to the receiver as well as the sender. The digital methods of communication do possess quantitative significance. All the data that is obtained using digital methods can be stored effectively. These information can be used later to obtain quick and effective decisions which helps in increasing the productivity of the organization.
Problem 2-The second problem, which has been identified by, is that, the supervisors and the employees do not always work in the same premises. This is affecting the internal communication process which is slowing down the performance of the employees.
The communication procedures that target a single group of individuals have qualitative significance. These methods help us to understand the mindset of a particular group of people. Feedback from the target group is important to draft effective decisions. Communication mediums, which are decentralized,have quantitative significance (Lindlof & Taylor, 2017). These decentralized communication mediums helps to understand the viewpoints of the entire workforce
Problem 3-The emails sent by the organization are not well structures as well as they are unprofessional in their approach
According to me, the meetings that are held in the organization should be conducted in an effective manner. Effective meetings provide the qualitative significance of the employee’s viewpoints those who belong to the organization. Although, the results that are obtained from these meetings and gathering possess a quantitative significance (Oetzel, 2017). This is because the results do not emphasize on the perceptions and the ideas put forward by the employees according to their different activities. All the objectives in the organization can be achieved if the different activities are executed in proper manner.
Action steps to solve the problems
Solutions to above stated problems have been deduced.
1. The organization should indulge itself in drafting effective and transparent communication procedures to solve the communication gap between the employees and the management. All the decisions and information that are drafted in the executive level should be conveyed to the employee in clear and understandable format. This will help the employees to understand the objectives of the organization and to align their work according to it (Ulmer, Sellnow& Seeger, 2017). Departmental meetings and usage of personal emails will help in improving the communication process the employees and the executives present in the organization.
2.The organization needs a structured communication channel, which will ensure that all the employees present in the organization can communicate properly. A decentralized communication medium or channel will allow spreading of information to more number of employees who are present in the different premises of the organization. When the organization is opting for communication with a specified group of people, it can consider the centralized method of communication channel and medium. According to the need of the organization, it should select the appropriate method of communication (Austin & Pinkleton, 2015). The centralized method would help the organization to engage employees in different discussions.
3.Meetings and discussion sessions are very important to decrease the communication gap between the employees working in the organization. The last problem, which has been identified in this memo by me,can be solved by organizing meetings within the organization. This is due to the fact that meeting provide the employees with detailed information. Emails are efficient medium of delivering information to the employees but the email should be properly structured with all the relevant information. There should be no grammatical errors or what so ever. In addition to structured emails, meetings will also be helpful in bridging the communication gap. All the information given out in the meetings can be recorded and given out to the employees who were not present in the discussion sessions.
Closing
Briefly outline a synopsis of the memo
In the concluding note of this memo that if the steps jotted down in this document is implemented in the organization in an effective manner, it will surely solve various problems related to internal communication. After analyzing the situation in the organization,it was clear that the organization needs some drastic changes in the existing communication procedures. In the memo, the steps, which have been recommended, will surely help the organization to overcome the problems, which have been stated. Effective internal communication process needs to be implemented in the organization in the soonest to keep the productivity of the employees high. This will help the organization Data Solutions to achieve its organizational goals.
Offer assistance and provide contact details
Individuals who have any kind of query regarding the memo can contact me any time in the e-mail address provided at the end of this official memo. Suggestions are welcomed, which will help us in improving internal communication in our organization.
Ceo.01@datasolutions.com
References
Austin, E. W., & Pinkleton, B. E. (2015). Strategic public relations management: Planning and managing effective communication campaigns. Routledge.
Burke, W. W. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons
Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2017). Qualitative communication research methods. Sage publications.
Oetzel, J. G. (2017). Effective intercultural workgroup communication theory. The International Encyclopedia of Intercultural Communication, 1-5.
Ulmer, R. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Seeger, M. W. (2017). Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage Publications.
