Reflections on the Role of Communication in Contemporary Organization Essay

Reflections on the Role of Communication in Contemporary Organization - Essay Example One impression is that it is difficult to have a good communication within a big organizational structure because of the number of its employees and departments. However, the company has demonstrated overall satisfactory results when compared to its actual communication culture. Being a market leader of the software industry in Australia, Master ERP crafted innovative ways in having an effective communication system among its employees such as the development of a strong feedback initiative and encouraging open dialogue and knowledge sharing. According to Proctor and Doukakis (2003), effective internal communication is the key to a successful organization. How the staff and officers behave and feel about the organization can give a huge impact in the company’s reputation. From the course of interviews that we conducted to the employees, all were aware of the company values and principles and they were positive and passionate in working at Master ERP. Communication is the proce ss of conveying ideas, thoughts, information, emotions, etc. between and among people. Notwithstanding of the perspective in which this communication occurs, there are certain basic ideas about it which always apply (Roman, 2005). With the communication set up that we saw with the company, it can be said that it is indeed functional and promising. Based on our research, Master ERP encouraged communication throughout its organization by developing a feedback initiative called â€Å"Say it as it is†, whereas all staffs were trained in giving feedback thru a self-explanatory program, and by launching the ‘Purple Awards’ to recognize good work. Internal communication embraces both the official form of communication, such as memo, policies, guidelines, etc., and the unofficial form of communication, like the exchange of ideas between colleagues and simple conversations among them (Johnson & Johnson, 1997). Due to the open type of communication and advanced ways in hav ing a strong link among its peers, the said organization was able to maintain a healthy flow of information among its employees. For instance, Master ERP’s CEO encourages everyone to directly talk to him via the â€Å"Ask Tim† site on SharePoint. There is also a monthly Buzz meeting to give updates to the employees. Other innovations in communication noted were the replacement of a receptionist by a touch screen tablet with a phone and directory, conducting orientations to staff depending on their position in the company, and adopting social networking in the workplace. These strategies gave us a better understanding in the importance of communication, and that it is achievable particularly on a complex organizational structure like this. After observing an ‘almost perfect’ approach in organizational communication, we found out that there are flaws when it comes to the departmental communication structure of Master ERP. During the interview conducted, it h ad been found out that some issues were raised by unsatisfied customers regarding a new product that was launched. A possible explanation for this could be the ineffective communication between the departments that handle key roles in the release of the new software like the marketing and technology departments. Encouraging a dialogue in the interdepartmental level is very important to the strength of an organization, and disregard of dialogic practices can create