Communication is one of the way of sharing some of the power that the leader has with the employees. Leaders shares their thoughts and ideas and sharing them with the others. Studies differentiate two types of that communication: Centralised and decentralised.
We shall look at them in a little more details.
Centralised communication
Centralised communication can take three different approaches: Chain, Wheel and Y.
In the chain communication information pass from one person to another. For example in a meeting the senior management is briefed by the leader, the senior management brief the middle management and the middle management brief the team leaders and so on.
In the wheel communication there is one person in the middle that passes the information. This way the message will not get distorted but the leader has to spend a lot of time communicating to all employees.
In the Y communication information is passed along the chain and the person at the end of the chain is responsible for passing it to two others. The risks of message getting distorted are reduced and there is a level of consistency in the message.
Studies find ( Shaw,1978) that these types of centralised communications there is an unequal share of information. This is because all the information come from a centralised person. It is true that the people close to the person will receive most information and others less. The message is at risk of being diminished.
One common way for organisations to communicate is team briefings. Generally, the team leader communicates the information passed to him or her and their own information they want to communicate. This is the chain type where message can get easily diminished. Team leaders also have difficulties in answering questions as these questions cannot be directed to the central person. However, these briefings are still one effective way of passing the information. There are ways of improving it, for example through podcast, video conferencing or other technology. This way everyone can receive full message. Some leaders even allow employees to ask questions on the internet that can be answered directly.
Decentralised communication
There are two types of decentralised networks: Open and Circle.
The open communication is one unstructured type of communication. Leaders need to ensure consistent and positive message. Rumours can be very damaging as they distract employees from working as well as from the truth. A rumour is a mixture of believability ( originality) and fear and status multiplied by contacts.
If the rumour has a ring of truth, threatens our status or survival, increase our status, makes someone feel important and have the resources to spread it they can be very powerful.
In the circle communication information passes from member to member but it is a more formal structure. There is a high possibility that the information is more less accurate.
The comparison
In 1990 researches found that in decentralised communication there is a greater equality and decision making. In the centralised communications the people at the edges are less powerful therefore inequality is formed. These people are often left out from decision making process. Those in the centre of the centralised information are most powerful, but generally those around them are dissatisfied and number of issues, conflicts and power struggles arise.
However today's technology provides many opportunities to strengthen the communication to being everyone closer to decision making and access to information. Even an e-mail or memo can be powerful. But using technology loses the personal touch, information may be misinterpreted, people fear responses thus may write something untruthful. We may try to explain information a little bit more clearly, with a touch of sensitivity. With technology, there is also no opportunity for discussion and less chance to build up relationships.
Sometimes, a way of communicating may be offensive for different cultures. For example in some cultures it is expected to shake hands when meeting, or being offensive when a man shakes a hand with a woman. Body language can also be interpreted wrongly, for example in some counties it is confrontational to look someone in the eye and in others the lack of it shows dishonesty.
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