Barriers to Communication Report

Barriers to Communication Report
Name
Institution
Due Date
Executive summary
The CEO of this company has discovered there is a communication issue within his company and he wants to find out the root causes and how it can be addressed. He found out about the problem when one of his partners with whom they meet regularly mentioned an internal problem about a new software. Survey results from the HR department also showed a workforce which a large section of the employees do not understand their job description, are not satisfied with their job, they do not have faith in the senior management and most are not comfortable voicing their concerns to their managers. The management team also showed it tended to closely monitor its employees, overlook junior staff contribution to the company and tout themselves as approachable. Close examination of the survey results indicated that the company culture is the root problem of all these issues. few recommendations have been made for the CEO to implement to establish a more inclusive culture and improve the social working environment to encourage the free flow of information vertically and horizontally.
Introduction
Communication is an integral element of an effective workforce. A work environment without proper and effective communication channels has sub-par performance and productivity compared to the work environment where information flow is highly fluid in any direction. It can also be horizontal (between workers at the same level) or vertical (between senior employees and junior employees). Information is a very important factor of production CITATION Cha12 \l 1033 (Moller & Chaudhry, 2012) and communication is the process by which it is propagated. Any barriers in the process lead to poor decision-making and other issues that affect the productivity of the workforce. This report seeks to establish the main barriers to effective communication which are witnessed in this company and suggest the possible recommendations to remedy the situation.
Analysis of communication issues
From the case study, it is apparent that the employees are going behind the management’s back and informing the other partners of the business. Rather than voicing their opinion to the management, the employees are channeling their information through the partners who confront the CEO demanding an explanation as to why there are issues with the new software. It seems there is no formal channel of communication to the management and the workers have resorted to using unofficial and informal channels to communicate. It seems the management has established a very bad culture that does not encourage employees to voice their complaints, ideas and or opinions to the management for action. Even when the CEO directly asks the management team about the rumors he has been hearing regarding the new software, they seem fearful and hardly give any information. It seems the CEO has instituted a very poor culture which has become a barrier to communication because the employees seem fearful of the management. There seems to be no clear vertical communication from the bottom to the management and that has fueled the existence of grapevine and rumor mongering within the organization. The unofficial channel that informed one of the partners of the issues with the new software is the result of the clearly defined path of a bottom-up communication channel in the organization. If it exists, it means the culture does not encourage its utility and therefore it is prompting workers to root the information through other channels. Rumors and toxic grapevine communications stem from bad company culture which limits the employees to express themselves and approach senior management to voice their concerns CITATION Gra03 \l 1033 (Graduate School of Business; Kelley School of Business (Bloomington, IN), 2003). It is evident in this case in several instances which shows the management has instituted poor communication culture.
Secondly, there is poor horizontal communication. When the CEO convenes a meeting of the senior management, they seem reluctant to discuss the issue and find solutions. One of them storms out of the meeting allegedly to work because he found the meeting unproductive. When asked about their knowledge on the rumors about the new software, the IT guy storms out of the meeting after alleging that his team is dealing with problems caused by the rest of the workforce. He defended himself like a person under attack and tries to shift the blame to the other people. He is not open to ideas and neither does he want to discuss possible ways to remedy the situation. Poor top management communication trickles down the organization CITATION Joh181 \l 1033 (Hayes, 2018). It is a sign of poor leadership and unnecessary defense of his department could signify that the problem stems from there
When the HR manager brings the results of the previously conducted survey, she seems anxious and unsettled. She does not want to discuss them with the CEO probably because she is afraid of him as a person, his authority and or position he has in the organization. The HR manager also does not seem to understand how to break the bad news to his boss probably fearing his reaction. If employees are fearful of the senior management, they will not communicate and or voice their concerns to the senior management CITATION Nan99 \l 1033 (Hubbard, 1999). She considers the news on the HR survey ‘interesting’ which is a euphemistic way of saying they are not good. The conduct of the HR signifies a company largely controlled by fear from the senior management to the lower level employees which has stifled the free flo...