Importance of Communication in an

Organization
Effective Communication is significant for managers in the organizations so as to perform the basic
functions of management, i.e., Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling.

Communication helps managers to perform their jobs and responsibilities. Communication serves as a
foundation for planning. All the essential information must be communicated to the managers who in-turn
must communicate the plans so as to implement them. Organizing also requires effective communication
with others about their job task. Similarly leaders as managers must communicate effectively with their
subordinates so as to achieve the team goals. Controlling is not possible without written and oral
communication.

Managers devote a great part of their time in communication. They generally devote approximately 6
hours per day in communicating. They spend great time on face to face or telephonic communication with
their superiors, subordinates, colleagues, customers or suppliers. Managers also use Written
Communication in form of letters, reports or memos wherever oral communication is not feasible.

Thus, we can say that “effective communication is a building block of successful organizations”. In
other words, communication acts as organizational blood.

The importance of communication in an organization can be summarized as follows:

1. Communication promotes motivation by informing and clarifying the employees about the task
to be done, the manner they are performing the task, and how to improve their performance if it is
not up to the mark.
2. Communication is a source of information to the organizational members for decision-making
process as it helps identifying and assessing alternative course of actions.
3. Communication also plays a crucial role in altering individual’s attitudes, i.e., a well informed
individual will have better attitude than a less-informed individual. Organizational magazines,
journals, meetings and various other forms of oral and written communication help in moulding
employee’s attitudes.
4. Communication also helps in socializing. In todays life the only presence of another individual
fosters communication. It is also said that one cannot survive without communication.
5. As discussed earlier, communication also assists in controlling process. It helps controlling
organizational member’s behaviour in various ways. There are various levels of hierarchy and
certain principles and guidelines that employees must follow in an organization. They must
comply with organizational policies, perform their job role efficiently and communicate any work
problem and grievance to their superiors. Thus, communication helps in controlling function of
management.

An effective and efficient communication system requires managerial proficiency in delivering and
receiving messages. A manager must discover various barriers to communication, analyze the reasons
for their occurrence and take preventive steps to avoid those barriers. Thus, the primary responsibility of
a manager is to develop and maintain an effective communication system in the organization.
Importance of effective Communication
in an Organization
Effective communication is important for the development of an organization. It is
something which helps the managers to perform the basic functions of management-
Planning, Organizing, Motivating and Controlling. Communication skills whether written
or oral form the basis of any business activity.

Communication serves as the foundation of every facet of a business. Thus, it can be

said that effective communication is the building block of an organization. Some of the
benefits of effective communication skills are:

– Communication keeps the foundation of motivation. It helps the employer to know how
a job is being performed and to improve performance if it is not up to the mark.

– Communication acts as a source of information and helps in the decision making

process and helps in identifying the alternative course of action.

– Communication also helps in building people’s attitude. A well informed person will
always have better attitude than a less informed person. Different forms of
communication like magazines, journals and meetings will help the employees to form
different attitudes.

– In the current business scenario, no business can survive in isolation. Socializing is

very important and communication is the tool that helps in socializing.
– Apart from the other functions of management, it also helps in the controlling process
of management. It allows the managers to know about the grievances of the
subordinates and helps the subordinates to know about the policies of the organization.

Communication is one of the basic features of management. It is instrumental in raising

the morale of the employees. It is through communication, verbal or non-verbal, that
people submit different feedback and requirements to the management.

Communication Flows in an
Organization
In an organization, communication flows in 5 main directions-

1. Downward
2. Upward
3. Lateral
4. Diagonal
5. External

1. Downward Flow of Communication: Communication that flows from a higher level in an

organization to a lower level is a downward communication. In other words, communication from
superiors to subordinates in a chain of command is a downward communication. This
communication flow is used by the managers to transmit work-related information to the
employees at lower levels. Employees require this information for performing their jobs and for
meeting the expectations of their managers. Downward communication is used by the managers
for the following purposes -

Providing feedback on employees performance

Giving job instructions

 Providing a complete understanding of the employees job as well as to communicate
them how their job is related to other jobs in the organization.

Communicating the organizations mission and vision to the employees.

Highlighting the areas of attention.

Organizational publications, circulars, letter to employees, group meetings etc are all
examples of downward communication. In order to have effective and error-free
downward communication, managers must:

 Specify communication objective

 Ensure that the message is accurate, specific and unambiguous.
 Utilize the best communication technique to convey the message to the receiver in
right form

2. Upward Flow of Communication: Communication that flows to a higher level in an organization

is called upward communication. It provides feedback on how well the organization is functioning.
The subordinates use upward communication to convey their problems and performances to their
superiors.

The subordinates also use upward communication to tell how well they have understood the
downward communication. It can also be used by the employees to share their views and ideas
and to participate in the decision-making process.

Upward communication leads to a more committed and loyal workforce in an organization

because the employees are given a chance to raise and speak dissatisfaction issues to the
higher levels. The managers get to know about the employees feelings towards their jobs, peers,
supervisor and organization in general. Managers can thus accordingly take actions for improving
things.

Grievance Redressal System, Complaint and Suggestion Box, Job Satisfaction surveys etc all
help in improving upward communication. Other examples of Upward Communication are -
performance reports made by low level management for reviewing by higher level management,
employee attitude surveys, letters from employees, employee-manager discussions etc.

3. Lateral / Horizontal Communication: Communication that takes place at same levels of

hierarchy in an organization is called lateral communication, i.e., communication between peers,
between managers at same levels or between any horizontally equivalent organizational member.
The advantages of horizontal communication are as follows:

It is time saving.

It facilitates co-ordination of the task.

It facilitates co-operation among team members.

 It provides emotional and social assistance to the organizational members.

It helps in solving various organizational problems.

It is a means of information sharing

It can also be used for resolving conflicts of a department with other department or
conflicts within a department.

4. Diagonal Communication: Communication that takes place between a manager and employees
of other workgroups is called diagonal communication. It generally does not appear on
organizational chart. For instance - To design a training module a training manager interacts with
an Operations personnel to enquire about the way they perform their task.
5. External Communication: Communication that takes place between a manager and external
groups such as - suppliers, vendors, banks, financial institutes etc. For instance - To raise capital
the Managing director would interact with the Bank Manager.

Types of Communication in
Organization1
Communication is a very important part of any organization. It takes place among
business entities, within markets, various groups of employees, buyers and sellers,
service providers and clients, sales person and prospective buyers, and within the
organization and with the press.

Communication can be Internal, External, Upward, Downward, Formal, Informal,

Lateral, Interactive, Mass or Grapevine.

Internal Communication
Internal communication takes place within the organization or group–among people
within, among different groups of employees and between employers and employees. It
could be oral or written, visual or audio-visual, formal or informal, and upward or
downward. Internal communication serves to inform, instruct, educate, develop,
motivate, persuade, entertain, direct, control and caution people in the organization.

When a personal letter is written at an official address, besides writing the name of the
addressee, the envelope is superscribed ‘Private’ or ‘Confidential’ to convey the nature of
communication. Knowledge, skills, goal orientation, sharing of corporate concerns,
review and monitoring, performance appraisal, counseling and training are among the
issues that internal communication addresses.

External Communication
Unlike internal communication, external communication flows outward. It addresses
people outside the organization, like the prospective customers, competitors, public,
press, media and the government. External communication can take place in various ways
and through different channels.
Letters, notices, brochures, demonstrations, telephone calls, business meetings, press
releases, press conferences, audio-visual presentations, publicity films product launch
events and advertisements are all examples of external communication. It is important to
note that the external agency or person targeted through such communication, quite often
forms an image or impression based on such communication and it is, therefore, very
necessary that adequate care is taken in making it clear, intelligible and appealing.

There may be some communication, which would move both upward and downward. A
typical example of this is performance budgeting, which is a two-way process. It is a top
to bottom as well as bottom-to-top exercise

Upward Communication
Large organizations have different hierarchical levels or tiers. Banks, finance companies,
insurance businesses, railways and such other people-oriented organizations have
typically a 3-tier or a 4-tier structure. The process of communication to be complete and
effective, should encompass all these levels and tiers. Upward communication is one
which moves upward, i.e., from bottom to top levels in the hierarchy.

Any communication that moves from employees to supervisors, supervisors to managers,

managers to executives, regional manager to general manager and so on, may be
categorized as upward communication. Similarly, communication from branches to
regional offices, regional offices to zonal offices, zonal offices to head office is referred
to as upward communication. Employee suggestions, market reports, performance
reports, feedback on new products and requests for facilities or instructions are all
examples of upward communication in the organizational context.
Downward Communication
Downward communication moves from top to the bottom, i.e. from the CEO downwards.
It travels through senior executives to junior level functionaries, from the controlling
office to the branch, from the head of the division to the head of the unit. Corporate goals,
business priorities, motivational letters, work-related instructions, newsletters, letters
from the CEO/General Manager’s desk are all typical examples of downward
communication.

There may be some communication, which would move both upward and downward. A
typical example of this is performance budgeting, which is a two-way process. It is a top
to bottom as well as bottom-to-top exercise

Formal Communication
Towards ensuring communication on an on-going basis, organizations develop formal
systems. Staff meetings, union-management meetings, branch managers’ conferences,
periodical sales review meetings and customer meets are examples of forums that
facilitate formal communication.

Formal communication generally follows a well-defined hierarchical pattern and

periodicity. Memos, circulars, instructions, guidelines, clarifications, agreements and
reports are some of the channels that facilitate the flow of formal communication in
business organizations.

Informal Communication
This type of communication takes place in an unstructured manner and outside the formal
forums. There is an element of spontaneity in this comm2unication. Informal
communication works well in smaller, loosely knit organizations. It is used more often in
situations where there are no rigid hierarchical tiers.

While formal structure of communication is a must in large organizations, it is the

informality that helps sustain goal orientation in small well knit units. Informal
communication takes place through chats, conversations, informal talks and the like.

Lateral Communication
Lateral communication generally takes place in an organization and is neither upward nor
downward. It proceeds in a horizontal manner and takes place among equals and at peer
level. It may also be described as peer level communication.

Any communication that takes place, orally or in writing, from one branch head to the
other, from one division head to the other, from one group head to the other, may be
described as lateral communication. An important point worth noting in any such lateral
communication is that there is not much difference in terms of the hierarchical levels or
positions of the sender and the receiver.

Interactive Communication
Interactive communication is essentially a two-way process. It takes place through
meetings, conferences, teleconferencing, multimedia presentations, group discussions and
other such active two-way exchanges. Interactive communication is most appropriate
when the message or subject is to be presented at length, e.g., in practical sessions, case
study discussions and strategy formulation. When many speakers are involved, there may
be a need for a moderator who will facilitate effective flow of communication from
different speakers.
Mass Communication
Mass communication is distinctive in view of its scale. Essentially, it addresses a large
mass of people. Public speaking, newspapers, magazines and journals, radio, television,
dotcoms, etc. are channels of mass communication. Mass communication has developed
into a specialized area of study.

Each of these areas or channels calls for distinct skills. By its very nature, mass
communication addresses a vast, well spread out and heterogeneous group of people and,
as such, special efforts will have to be mode to sustain their interest and achieve the
desired response.

At the government level too, there is often a separate ministry or department of mass
communication to deal with this functional area. Main branches of study relating to mass
communication are public relations, advertising and publicity, journalism and digital
media.

Grapevine
Grapevine is a kind of informal communication that prevails in organizations and
businesses. The source of such communication may not be clear. It spreads by way of
gossip and rumors. It travels through informal networks and quite often travels faster than
the formal messages. Sometimes, it gets more powerful and becomes more receptive than
the formal communication.

The prevalence of this type of communication in an organization has to be recognized

and accepted. A skilled communicator can derive benefits from such a communication as
well. It may not always be possible to control the grapevine, but, nevertheless, an able
communicator knows how to influence it. Like any other type of communication, this one
has its own merits and demerits.

NEPAL TELECOM
In Nepal, operating any form of telecommunication service dates back to B.S. 1973. But
formally telecom service was provided mainly after the establishment of MOHAN
AKASHWANI in B.S. 2005.Later as per the plan formulated in First National Five year plan
(2012-2017), Telecommunication Department was established in B.S.2016. To modernize the
telecommunications services and to expand the services, during third five-year plan (2023-
2028), Telecommunication Department was converted into Telecommunications
Development Board in B.S.2026. After the enactment of Communications Corporation Act
2028, it was formally established as a fully owned Government Corporation called Nepal
Telecommunications Corporation in B.S. 2032 for the purpose of providing
telecommunications services. After serving the nation for 29 years with great pride and a
sense of accomplishment, Nepal Telecommunication Corporation was transformed into
Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (NDCL) from Baisakh 1, 2061. Nepal Doorsanchar
company Limited is a company registered under the Company Act 2053. However, the
company is known to the general public by the brand name "Nepal Telecom" as its
registered trademark.

Nepal Telecom has always put its endeavors in providing its valued customers a quality
service since its inception. To achieve this goal, technologies best meeting the interest of its
customers has always been selected. The nationwide reach of the organization, from urban
areas to the economically non- viable most remote locations, is the result of all these efforts
that makes this organization different from others.

Definitely Nepal Telecom's widespread reach will assist in the socio-economic development
of the urban as well as rural areas, as telecommunications is one of the most important
infrastructures required for development. Accordingly, in the era of globalization, it is felt
that milestones and achievements of the past are not adequate enough to catch up with the
global trend in the development of telecommunication sector and the growth of
telecommunication services in the country will be guided by technology, declining
equipment prices, market growth due to increase in standard of life and finally by healthy
competition.

Converting Nepal Telecom from a government owned monopoly to a business oriented,

customer focused company in the competitive environment, Nepal Telecom invites all
the shareholders in the sacred work of nation building.