Let It Pour: My First Assignment as Executive Assistant

Organizational Communications

Amy Dunn

University of Phoenix

Management Communication Skills - COMM/400

Nancy Dollar

October 3, 2005

Organizational Communications

This paper discusses the organizational flow of communications and information within a company. The company chosen for this paper is Cox Target Media (CTM).

How Information Travels at CTM Organization and the Relationship to the Communication Model

At Cox Target Media (CTM) there are a number of ways in which information must be communicated to various parts of the organization. CTM has two types of employees and these are internal and external employees. Internal employees are the production workers, management and home office teams that are the basic core group of employees. The external employees are comprised of the franchised network and company owned and operated locations. Each group is communicated to in a different way depending upon their status and relationship to the information to be communicated. The difference will be decided upon by the sender and to whom the message will be communicated to.

In the communication model the exchange of information must first be transmitted via a communication channel (Dessler, 2001). A communication channel can be any way or method in which to transmit a message. Some of these are but not limited to face-to-face, memos, reports, policies and procedures manuals, videotape reports, and e-mail. Face-to-face is by all means the most common of the communication channels (Dessler, 2001).

At CTM a communications department has been established to ensure that all levels of communication are established to better serve the company and relay communications to all levels of employees. This department is also responsible to reduce and eliminate the instances of lost messaging or distorted messaging as well as ensuring the messaging is received properly at all levels. To do this feedback is encouraged at all levels back to the communications team and questions are welcomed. The CTM communications team has found the encouragement of questioning the communications received has assisted them in growing their team and to better understand the needs of the employees in all areas thereby reducing mixed messaging.

CTM also follows up on the communications to employees and managers. To do this all levels of management discuss the latest news in weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly departmental meetings or one on one employee discussions. This type of interpersonal communications with individuals reduces the amount of hearsay and gossip within the organization and keeps the employees more informed.

CTM has a huge amount of technology that is used in communicating with employees. While face-to-face is the most effective, the most widely used at CTM is electronic and organizational communications (Dessler, 2001). The electronic communications is in the form of e-mail, centrally located kiosks in the production plant, and organizational meetings also known a Leadership or Town Hall Meetings at CTM.

The Five Levels and Functions of the Communications Hierarchy

Communication Hierarchy at CTM

At CTM as with any company it is important the communications be understood the same way by all. In other words the message must be clear and concise. To do this the CTM communication team follows five steps to ensure the communication is not misunderstood.

First, the communication to the network is decided upon and the audience is then determined. The facts or information is clearly stated to the audience. Second, the way the information is to be communicated is then determined. Many times CTM must consider any language or cultural barriers that may impede the success of the message transfer. Third, the information is summarized and the expectations, mission, goals, or objectives are clearly stated to the audience. In other words, what is important in the message and what should the take away be for the audience or if there is to be an action, what is the action. Fourth, the channel or the way and timeline on how the message is to be communicated, is determined. Not everyone at CTM has access to electronic messaging or organizational communications. The channel may be disrupted due to shift constraints and many times a language barrier issue. Fifth, if the message is requiring an action or response it must be determined on how this information will be received and sent back to the communication team or the person sharing the message. Lastly if there are actions or a response it must also be determined how the outcome of the participants is to be shared, if it is to be shared,