Managers spend one third of their time communicating up and down the organizational hierarchy. Communication is the transfer and understanding of information from one person to another. The communication model comprises of several parts.

We want to examine the communication pathway or medium in which communication is delivered. The communication pathway is the way messages are sent, including:

• Face-to-face meetings.
• Electronic mail and online discussions.
• Written letters or memorandums.
• Telephone or voice-mail, among others.

While some people may be better at using certain mediums over others, some mediums can be better suited for the specific message being conveyed. For this week's discussion, suppose you are a manager who needs to communicate several messages to employees of the company.

Messages

1. The CEO abruptly resigns after the news media reports that the CEO embezzled millions of dollars.
2. A plan to relocate the company.
3. The death of an employee.
4. The reassignment of one division to a new location.

 

a business is trying to convey a message to their employees, it is best if they use the most appropriate medium to get the message across. Sometimes it can be challenging in situations to determine which medium is the most appropriate. The first example in where a CEO abruptly resigns after news media reported that the CEO embezzled millions of dollars I think should be conveyed to the employees via written communication. I think that a written letter of memorandum is most effective because it can reach all employees swiftly. It would be very challenging to get the message to employees face to face quickly enough. There will be office gossip and this would help ensure that all employees are receiving the exact same message at the exact same time so there is less confusion. A plan to relocate the company should be done the same way. I think that face to face is always preferred but I do not think that this is always possible. For the death of an employee, I think that there should be a face to face meeting with those who worked with the employee the closest. There could be an email sent to those who did not work of know the employee but to let them know what was going on and that grief counseling is available upon request. I think that the reassignment of one devision to a new location should be either in face of through a memo. Face is preferred. I do not think that any of these situations leaving a voice mail is appropriate. I voice mail is not personable and is almost never appropriate in my opinion in delivering information that is this important to employees. I think that simple messages do not require as much personal touch and the message needs to be tailored to the audience.

Step-by-step explanation

This is an interesting discussion because each of these situations have occurred during my career in one way or another. The way employees are notified of critical information shows them how the company values them and where they fall in importance to the corporation. Employees hate to be the last to know information, especially if it involves their jobs or the company's reputation. That creates distrust. When you can't trust the company that you work for to give you important information in a respectful and timely manner, it leads to disloyalty and low morale. 

We had a serious situation with my company 2 weeks ago that was being widely reported on the news and for the most part, we heard it first from our customers and online. Since we deal directly with customer's and our outside employees wear a uniform with the company logo, not having a company line for dealing with inquiries was very annoying. Leadership kept saying tell them "business as usual" but they didn't have any more information than we did. We didn't get an email from corporate regarding the news story until a week later. At that point, we had already figured out what we were going to say to the public on our own and started implementing it.

Message 1:

• Medium Used: Electronic Mail
• Reason: E-mail will be the best way to communicate such news because this is a type of negative news and just like any other negative news we must communicate this in a well-drafted e-mail message to the entire company.

Message 2:

• Medium Used: Written Letter/Memo
• Reason: This is more of a sophisticated communication about a big plan to relocate to a new location. Hence, it is necessary that we communicate through a written letter or a memo to all the employees.

Message 3:

• Medium Used: Electronic Mail
• Reason: This is another form of negative news and it would be better to communicate it through e-mail.

Message 4:

• Medium Used: Face to Face meeting
• Reason: This is a case where the assignment to a new location for a department is to be carried out. Hence, it is necessary to have a personal touch and conduct face to face meetings to convey the message.

The choices chosen in communicating above messages is very crucial in maintaining the credibility among the employees. Employees can lose the credibility they associate with their company if the mode of communication chosen is incorrect or not appropriate for the situation at hand. It is, therefore, necessary that we have proper communication mediums set for communicating a particular type of massage. Hence, this is how the choice of medium changes the degree of trust and credibility among employees.