Explain how technology positively and negatively impacted communication in the workplace?

BUSINESS HUMAN RELATIONS WRITING PROMPT: Minimum 100 words

1. Explain how technology positively and negatively impacted communication in the workplace?

CLASS LECTURE NOTES:

WHAT ARE THE FORMAL CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS?
Messages in organizations are sent over both formal (official) and informal (unofficial) channels. Formal communication channels are the official pathways for sending information inside and outside an organization. The primary source of information about formal channels is the organizational chart.

Company Blogs as Formal Channels
The company blog is a rapidly growing form of formal communication, paralleling the surging use of blogs in private life. Blogs can be used to communicate to employees, and for employees to communicate about shared projects. The vast majority of business corporations have entered the blogosphere if you include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as blogs.

Social Networking Websites, Intranets, and Webinars
Formal communication channels have kept up with Internet-based communication technology. Workers at all levels are expected to use these channels to send and receive messages and to work collaboratively with each other.

Social Networking Websites.
Websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have become natural channels for members of the same company to communicate. Many employers recognized that social networks are a platform for connection to others preferred by many employees. Members are allowed to create profiles of themselves and link up with others in a virtual community.

Intranets.
An intranet is essentially a company version of the Internet with the basic purpose of giving employees a central place to find what they need amidst a sea of digital information. Much useful company information can be posted on an Intranet. The wiki feature enables workers to encourage the information of their own to certain content, similar to Wikipedia.
Webinars. A webinar is a web-based method of holding a seminar. The speaker sends information to participants who cant interact with the conference presenter by computer.

Communication Channels for Managing Crises
One of the most crucial parts of a disaster plan is how to communicate with the company’s workforce during a crisis. A key part of the challenge is to locate and reestablish contact with employees who may be scattered in the streets or stranded in airports around the world. Websites have now become the premier formal crisis communication channel.

Communication Directions
Messages in organizations travel in four primary directions:

Downward communication.
The flow of messages from one level to a lower level.
Upward communication. The transmission of messages from lower to higher levels in an organization. The most important channel for keeping management informed about the problems within the organization. An open-door policy is a communication channel that is structured upward that allows employees to bring a gripe to top management’s attention without first checking with the employee’s manager.

Horizontal communication.
This involves sending messages among people at the same organizational level and is the basis for cooperation and collaboration.
Diagonal communication. The transmission of messages to higher or lower organizational levels in different departments. Because these pathways are infrequently spelled out on the organization chart, diagonal communication is usually an informal channel.

II. WHAT ARE THE INFORMAL CHANNELS OF COMMUNICATION WITHIN ORGANIZATIONS?
Informal communication channels are the unofficial network of channels that supplements the formal channels. Most of these informal channels arise out of necessity.

A. Networks of Contacts
Informal communication channels enable workers to accomplish many tasks they would not be able to do if they relied exclusively on formal channels. The network of contacts often means in practice that an individual worker might be in touch with people in her or her formal and informal communication channels.

Communities of Practice. Informal employee networks, or communities of practice, are an inexpensive and efficient vehicle for specialists to share knowledge and ideas. The communities of practice deliberately seek to expand the network of contacts of difficult technical problems can be conquered. Experts throughout the company share tidbits of knowledge.

The Shadow Organization and Social Network Analysis. Some observers believe the network of contacts explains how work really gets accomplished. According to this view, companies have hidden shadow organizations where much of the real work gets accomplished. Your network of contacts can also extend outside the organization.The shadow organization is revealed by social network analysis, the mapping and measuring of relationships and links between and among people, groups, and organizations. A question such as the following is used for social network analysis: “Whom do you go to for a quick decision?”

B. The Grapevine
The grapevine is the major informal communication channel in organizations. The grapevine refers to the tangled pathways that can distort information. The grapevine is often thought to pass along negative rumors and negative gossip, but it can also be used to pass along positive gossip. Positive gossip makes a positive contribution to the organization because trading information strengthens ties among workers and humanizes the workplace.