Organization Structure and Communication
Organization structure and communication is made up of system of network pathways which facilitates flow of messages within and outside an organization.
Two distinct process exist i.e. internal and external communication.
Internal Communication
It is a communication which occurs between employees internally. For it to occur smoothly, several factors are invoked;
- Control environment;- Internal environment refers to mechanisms available within an organization which can either promote or hinder communication process. An organization which maintains healthy systems such as competent personnel, support, integrity and morals encourages effective communications.
- Attitudes and sensitivities;- They influence communication within an organization. People are programmed with different attitudes and perceptions about others, hence, every person has to learn and respect each other.
- Ethics and pressures; – They contribute in shaping internal communication aspects in an organization. Ethics and pressures influences the way people see the world around them. Some can enhance stereotyping thus hindering relation whereas an open mindset and having appropriate skills establishes understanding between individuals.
- Preconceptions and prejudiced ideas;- Preconditioned or prejudiced build overtime with some individuals in an organization can create problems in facilitating effective communication especially in a multicultural setting.
External Communication
Is a communication process achieved externally through; customers, media and the public, various factors such as customer target, partner friendly, listening and persuasion influence its applicability in an organization.
- The customers;- are important aspect for any organization, thus when an issue arises effective communication skills or face to face approach can lead to less time and resources being wasted.
- Partner friendly or forming an alliance with other business;- This depends largely on good strategies of external communication hence integrity, honesty and suitable communication channel can win partners but lack of these facets can dwindle prospects.
- Emphasis on listening; – External communication not only spread information but also encompasses feedback. Hence good listening to the outside world can help strengthen organization repute.
Importance of Communication in an organization
Communication is essential in an organization for a variety of reasons. Organization can achieve increased productivity, employee motivation, improved coordination and organization credibility among other benefits.
Steps for Organizational Planning and Functional Management
Planning and Implementing Change
Planning and implementing change can be a challenging task, however, organization can benefit by;
- Identifying need for change;- the organization should determine why a change is imperative. Problems and opportunities should be critically evaluated, and define change in aspects such as technology, structure and organization culture (Denison, 2001).
- Communication; – Communication helps in assessing people thought about the anticipated change. An organization needs competent skills to effectively communicate efficiently the need for change in the organization (McNamara, n.d)
- Establish change culture;- Creating a change culture in an organization helps in simplifying change process. Communicating with senior leadership in the organization to determine the value of change as an organization culture helps in identifying better management practices in line with organization culture
- Clear plan; Smooth planning needs to be written. Project team should have a list of tasks which should be accomplished under a given time frame
Rehabilitation Centre Perspective
The application basing on rehabilitation will involve identifying need for change i.e. a need for expanding services to cater for in and out patients, communicating the need to the employees in the organization and training to encourage participation and reduce resistance
Organization Change
Strategies Encouraging Change
- Technology;- New technology for example new software or product in the market can entice organization to embrace a change
- Change in organization strategy;- an organization may devise new plans of executing its duties because of competition, market constraints or shareholders in order to improve product or service delivery
- Organizations culture;- an organization may shift or evolve in its convectional business culture
- Legal constraints;- an organization maybe compelled to change due to new legislations
- Structural organizations constraints;- a prevailing organization environment may compel organization to change
Strategies of Minimizing Change Conflicts
- Shared vision;- an organization should have a common vision with all stakeholders in the organizations i.e. sponsors, management and employees (Goman, 2000)
- Team approach;- change process should be embraced as a team process
- Define short term objectives;- an organization should embrace short term achievements in every phase a change is completed
- Training; – Training is important in enriching the needed knowledge for change. Organization has to develop training needs anchored on knowledge, skills and behaviors needed for effecting change (McNamara, n.d).
- Monitoring; – The change process should be monitored to ascertain if it adheres to preliminary plans, or other barriers have crept in. Monitoring should be a continuous process (Goman, 2000).
Strategies for Solving Conflicts
Some strategies can be instituted to reduce the extend of conflicts. However, resolving do not mean necessary solving the problem but aid in cooling conflict for a while.
- Withdrawal; – this process allows the manager or the management to let the party involved to content its trepidations. This occurs when the decision makers are involved in other vital activities or the issue at hand is un-important. With passage of time, the conflict is resolved naturally.
- Smoothing; – this involved the other party involved in the conflict to sacrifice his or her concerns. This happens when the magnitude of the conflict is small.
- Forcing; – this involves using authority to solve the conflict in cases of baseless conflicts.
- Compromising;- compromising involves give and take especially when the issue at hand is moderate
- Solving; – This involves obtaining guidance from organizations agreements and official manuals for a solution.
Ethical Issues in Modern Healthcare Organizations
- Competitive costs of health care; – competitions In terms of medical equipment’s, technology and insurance costs have influenced health care industry across the world.
- Diagnostic procedures;– The procedures for using any intervention strategy and technology without apt evaluation has contributed to ethical challenges such as; poor delivery of quality service, high costs and ultimately deaths.
- Protection of Information; – Sensitive information regarding a patient have been divulged to third parties such as law enforcement authorities thus contravening privacy.
Challenges of Ethical Issues in Implementing Change
- Resistance; – change can create resistance because employee can feel threatened in terms of job loss and creation of new responsibilities (Goman, 2000).
- Leadership;– lack of proper leadership can hamper change initiatives, especially when clear roles are not defined
Impact of Finance and HR Issues in Decision Making
Finance
Provision of financial resources; – The finance plays an important part in assessing financial resources for change implementation. Thus, allocation of required budget and monitoring its use will equally enhance the change process to run smoothly.
HRM
- Aligning employees with change strategy;– HRM will aid in aligning employees in tandem with the new change strategy in the organization.
- Reward schemes;– it will involve in ensuring reward schemes in relation to the new change is in place to motivate employees and boost work morale
- Layoff;– where new change is effected, assessing the number of employees and job responsibilities, excess number of employees will be laid off
- Training;– HRM with the change management team has to develop training needs anchored on knowledge, skills and behaviors needed for effecting change in the organization
Tracking Implementation
- Planning;– appropriate plans should be established on how implementation has to be carried thus, appropriate tools and strategies have to be instituted
- Monitoring; – Implementation should be monitored to ascertain if it adheres to preliminary plans, or other barriers have crept in. Monitoring has to be a continuous process, hence this will ensure any slight discrepancy is noted and appropriate measures instituted
- Balanced Scorecards;– Scorecards can be used to measure the organization or employee achievements as a result of change implementation. Thus, scorecards can enable organizations tailor its needs in fulfilling its objectives.
Processes to Alter Decision after Analysis
- Conducting gap analysis;– this process will aid in analyzing the change process to assess if the objectives meets the original requirements (Denison, 2001)
- Identifying the outcome of change objectives;– the process notes the comparison of original change plan in aspects such as budget and quality, and if challenges exists, the mechanisms of addressing are sort
Reference List
Denison, D.R. (2001) Managing Organizational Change in Transition Economies. New York: Routledge
Goman, C. K. (2000). The Biggest Mistakes in Managing Change. Web.
McNamara, C. (n.d). Basic Context for Change. Web.