In the graphs above they do have some similarities but there are also differences such as the category “letters”, this is understandable because in the 21st century hand written letters don’t seem very formal and professional, but older generations may still enjoy hand writing letters to their friends instead of e-mailing or calling them, so even though the questions seem to be much alike, they are very different.
Q3) What Types of Problems do You Encounter during Communicating with Your Colleagues?
I wanted to find out what was causing the problems in companies with communication; although this company seemed to have a good and smooth system of communication, the results are displayed below:
The majority of the people within a company suggest that the main problem is of equipment breaking down, but there are also elements of other equipment-related problems, the side that suggests that the communication runs smoothly within the organisation is that five or more people replied that there were no problems or it was not applicable.
Q4) What Do You Think Can Solve The Issues?
I asked the audience this question because I was just interested in the views on what could solve communication issues, as the previous question brought up issues with equipment I hope to see a correlation between the previous question and the current.
I’m glad to see that the results are reliable because the previous question suggested that there were problems with the equipment, and the highest recommended category is “Better Equipment”. This proves that the questionnaire is effective and it was filled out well.
Q5) Who or What do You Think is Responsible For Miscommunication?
I asked this question because I wanted to see who was responsible for the miscommunication, their ranks and what the employees thought the responsibility belongs to. I believed this is important to the coursework as it can give me an insight into communication in companies. (Please Note: the results presented below have had categories added to them; in order to make it more understandable.)
As you can see there are a variety of results, ranging to nobody and everyone but looking more carefully there are significantly more people blaming everyone in the organisation for the miscommunication, and some just blame themselves or colleagues, even the manager, and that the smallest category is “you” meaning people aren’t blaming themselves but other people, overall I believe communication plays a part in anyone that’s involved that’s why most people just ticked “everyone”.
If this information was not available to me, I would be able to research up on other famous researchers that carried out similar projects. I could also use the web to find out different ways and common ways of communicating within a business. Points from researchers: - “the goal of internal communication is to create a better working atmosphere.”, “Increased Productivity”. Also there is information about Upward and Downward communication this means when messages are passed from a lower level of a hierarchy to a higher level and vice versa for downward communication.
Interview Questions & Answers (Edited)
Interviewee Name: Kate
Location & Time: Work Experience, Barking.
What do you think of communication within your organisation?
Because our organisation is so big, it’s hard to get absolute clear messages through but then again communication is absolutely essential in our company: managers and directors do all they can to try and keep communication in our business as easy and simple as possible; which doesn’t eradicate all errors but reduces them majorly.
Who do you think is responsible for miscommunication within your company?
Everyone is, because the e-mails and the faxes and information being written then said then written again, makes it so hard to pick out certain individuals that made the error and quite frankly it isn’t their fault.
What do you think can solve any miscommunication in your company?
Nothing, as I said nothing can solve it but it can be reduced so the company runs fairly smoothly with a few occasional errors...
What sort of communication do you use most and why?
I use emailing the most, because it’s easy there’s rarely any mistakes as you can just alter and forward, for example face-to –face somebody might misread or mishear something and pass on the wrong message which could create havoc within the organisation.
Communication
Communication is a process where there are two or more agents; who include a sender and a recipient; it is where a message of some sort or kind is attempted to be “sent” by the sender to the recipient in hope that the recipient understands, the diagram below can help.
“Communication” can be very vague there are many different ways of communicating, many different forms of it and different channels which it can go through; these channels are usually called vertical (upwards) horizontal, downwards and diagonal, this paragraph will explain these different channels and what happens during them. Horizontal communication is where there is communication within the same level of a company, in a hierarchy there are ranks and levels, by communicating within your own ranks there is no interference between higher levels in the hierarchy. Within my business people communicate with departments close to them and in the same building easily, so horizontal communication is used a lot. There is also vertical communication (upwards & downwards) where upper and lower levels of the hierarchy communicate by sending messages through higher levels and lower levels than themselves; within my company it is easy for this to work because on each floor there is a manager whom can pass on messages to higher ranked employees.
Types of Communication
There are many different types of communication and methods but essentially they’re the same thing, in this section I will be analysing each method of communication its disadvantages, its advantages and differences between them whilst I also attempt to link them with the data I collected; below are the main methods of communication.
E-mail
E-mail is a fairly new method of communication; it started to develop from 1961 even though there was no “worldwide web”. It’s a process where an agent sends a message via the internet to another agent with special IP addresses; it’s very common in all ages and a very handy way to communicate. Advantages of this method are that it’s quick, easy and there are many other options that you can add to e-mails to make it even more efficient. Disadvantages are that it relies on computers and the web, if a computer breaks down all the information needed is gone; if the internet server stops functioning in the area there is no way to communicate with other people. Then again with a e-mail you can do practically anything with it, things you cannot do with a letter without going through a lot of trouble within a minute you can forward the message, attach files to the message and even change it. On a phone call you do not actually have the information physically but instead in your mind, with e-mail you can look directly at it and make sure it’s entirely correct, etc...
Phones
Phones are a well known device known globally; Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone in 1876 it then processed into more recently known and more developed devices: mobile phones. Phones are essential to a business/company it is a reliable way of a getting in contact with another person and an easy way to as well. It does have its disadvantages by talking to someone and transferring information through it, it can easily be misinterpreted and mistakes are prone. On the other hand something like a letter or an e-mail the information is right there in front of the contact, it is much harder to make mistakes. I think that phones are much better for more unprofessional communication, for friends and family to communicate.
Letters
Letters have been around for a very long time, it’s got its advantages and disadvantages. Letters are a very insecure way of communicating; putting an important document in the post box, to be whisked away to another country can be very risky. It is also very time consuming, more and more people are switching to e-mail, and as it is much safer, a message can travel around the world within seconds, without the risk of being lost and it is very easy to access. Letters although insecure are very formal, sending something by e-mail can be considered to be unprofessional and informal.
Fax
Fax is a useful way and a safe way of sending documents to people over distances, a document is scanned then printed at another fax machine at a different location. This is like sending a letter but a much easier way, usually faxing is a last-resort alternate in case the internet dies. It’s a safe and a secure way to send information. Disadvantages are that it’s a relatively long process, and it could easily be sent to the wrong person and it has to have resources to function: ink and paper, problems could occur if the ink runs out or a paper gets jammed.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging is used worldwide, it gives the option to talk to people in the same area or a different country, and it is a program which sends out messages within seconds to other computers, so you can have a virtual conversation. A good example and the most well-known and used is MSN, it is used within companies and I have experienced it myself, it’s used in professional ways and just to communicate over long distances. It is a very informal way of communicating but very efficient, it’s fast and effective although it’s usually used by teenagers there is some companies which use it within their business for communication across floors and buildings.
Mouth-to-mouth
This is the most well-known way of communicating worldwide, 98% of us can do it, and we can talk. We do it subconsciously we don’t think that this is a way of communication but talking is essential for businesses to run smoothly. There are its disadvantages if messages are passed on they can be heard wrong and delivered wrong, it can create many complications. On the other hand is an advantage: receiving a message upfront, you can know exactly what you have to do or ask any questions and sort out any problems that face you.
