THE CURRENT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
The current communication strategy which is adopted by West Ham United Football Clubs Hospitality department is outlined in appendix 1.
Looking through it, it seems to me that the strategy for the employees higher up in the hierarchy is being followed, but for the kiosk assistants and the team leaders it isn’t. The strategy seems to be well thought of and well structured with everyone included.
I have obtained an action plan sheet (appendix 2) from Debbie Laver, which shows that they are taking this communication strategy seriously higher up in the hierarchy.
As I work there I can surely say that it isn’t being followed as far as the kiosk assistants and the team leaders are concerned. Kiosk assistants are meant to be meeting with their team leaders as a group before each match and individually before each game, I have never experienced this, I have also asked other kiosk assistants and they don’t know anything about it either. Also all meetings must to be minuted, and I have never even seen a minute sheet before and I have been team leader for a lot of games.
The (should be) current communication strategy looks as if it would be very effective and it would bring the best out of the workers. All those who are not working to their full potential would be checked up on and there would be no room for slackness. The employees would probably find their jobs more interesting and this way they would get recognised for their hard work.
The communication strategy which I was given does not show the methods of communication which are to be used in order to carry out the tasks which are to be performed. As I work there I am already aware of the methods of communication, which are being used to pass on the messages. The use of memos to pass on information to all staff when they sign in at work at the beginning of the day is one method of commination that is used. The meetings that are held before every game are also a method of commination. This is used to pass on any messages, which will affect the work that will be done during the day. The Hospitality department also uses one to one conversations as a form of communication. An example of this is when an employee is being disciplined for some reason, he will have to go to see the kiosk manager with his supervisor.
If this communication strategy were stuck to then maybe overall performance for the department would improve. Obviously they haven’t devised it for no reason, maybe the director or manger should make sure that everyone is following this communication strategy.
What the text book says
Communication is essential to the achievement of organisational objectives. In an organisation the aim of communication is to influence others to work towards the achievement of the goals of the organisation.
Poor communication results in mistakes, creates anxiety, low morale, inadequate control and aggression. Therefore organisations have to constantly strive to improve the quality of their communication level. This means improving the communication skills of people within the organisation and it means developing systems of communications. Communication skills required by individuals are:
- Patience;
- Understanding;
- Assertiveness;
Systems can be improved by:
- Insuring that adequate feedback exists:
- Employing more than one communication network;
- Ensuring that all employees are aware of the importance of good communication;
- Minimising the chains of communication;
- Using a variety of media.
The communication process
The information, which is being sent, must be received and understood by the person or group whom it was sent to.
For the communication to be effective the correct message must be sent and received. This is common sense but it is possible that one can forget to pass on messages.
The communication can be along different routes and channels in the organisation, and in this case it is vertical between a manger and his sub-ordinates.
The information can be communicated in a variety of ways or through different communication media. This department uses many different communication media.
Communication is never complete until the message is received and the receiver confirms that it is understood through feedback of some sort. This is one stage which needs to be added to the communication process in the hospitality department.
Formal/informal communication
Within a business there are formal and informal channels of communication. Formal channels are approved and recognised by employers and employees.
Informal communication can both help and hinder formal communication. Informal communication can become distorted as it is passed through the grapevine.
Research has shown that effective communication requires both formal and informal channels.
Vertical communication
Information can be communicated upwards and downward. Downward communication has in the past been used to tell employees about decisions that have already been made.
Barriers of communication
There are a number of factors that might prevent good communication.
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The skills of the sender and receiver. The ability of the sender to explain a message and the receiver to understand the message.
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Choice of communication channel. Sometimes the choice of a channel to send the message through might not communicate the information effectively.
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Perceptions and attitudes. How the employees perceive other people can affect how they interpret the message that is sent. Employees are more likely to have confidence in people they trust, because of past experience of their ability. On the other hand, if an employee has learned to distrust someone, then what is said will be ignored or treated with caution. The way employees view things can be affected by being part of a group.
Practical suggestions on how to improve communication
As the results in the questionnaire show morale is lacking and confidence of the lower level workers are not very high with the management, and also there is a problem with communication within the lower levels of the department.
- Establish fixed criteria to measure the success of the department’s communication policies.
- Establish constant checks that the communication strategy that is in place is being followed.
- Introduce some sort of forum at a fixed time to improve links between management and employees.
- Increase the amounts of communication media used.
- Introduce a notice board where all staff can go to, to see if any thing relevant to them is introduced.
- Make management more active with the employees to improve the relations between the two.
- Ensure there are closer links between all employees and supervisors and managers.
- Follow the current communication properly, as it seems pretty effective.
Conclusion
- The current communication strategy has been devised very carefully and should be effective.
- Employees are not happy with their working conditions.
- Relations between employees and managers are not very good.
- Employees feel that there is a lot of discrimination within the department.
- The management seem to adopt a laissez faire approach to the department.
- Communication theory is not really important in the management’s view.
- The incentive scheme seems to be very.
- There is a wide span of control for the management
- The chain of command is pretty long.
Communication is not very important in the view of some employees.