Section 1: How do organisations communicate?

How do organisations communicate?

Formal communication methods in practical terms includes such things as meetings; management committees; staff forums (face-to-face or intranet); focus groups; newsletters; suggestion schemes; trade union liaison or employee surveys. In section 3 of the course you can find out more about the different methods available.

For now it is important to appreciate that formal communication has the following characteristics:

• established rules and methods
• can be top-down, and bottom-up
• provides evidence of communication process
• is tangible and explicit
• can be instructional or feedback centred.

Of course different contexts may require different levels of formality. To try and understand this further take a look at the matrix below which uses two intersecting dimensions: formality and consensuality to distinguish between different types and cultures of communication.

Roll your mouse over the diagram to find out more about where various organisation types would sit.

Activity Use My notes to make a list of the types of formal communication in use in your organisation. How would you categorise your organisation in terms of the formal/consensual matrix?