Instructions:
- Post a new discussion related to the topics covered in this module. Your post needs to provide specific lessons learned with examples from this module helping you enhance your leadership capacity at work.
- After posting your discussion, review posts provided by other students in the class and reply to at least one of them.
The concept of a leader creating a communication design that supports an organizational design stuck out to me. I feel as though this is important to crating an effective stream of communication throughout the entirety of the organization.
Organizational communication covers many areas. Most importantly, it is how your organization delivers information and executes daily functions. This form of communication is vital to solving issues with other agencies and collaborating to ensure community safety.
Organizational communication is vital for any organization. This is the foundation for effective collaboration, coordination, and decision-making. Successful organizational communication ensures all members of the organization are aligned with its goals.
"Communication is absolutely central to personal and organizational development.” I truly believe communication on all levels, contexts, and platforms has to be delivered deliberately and appropriately to have the desired effect on organizational motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and development.
Yes, communication is essential and must be deliberate. Communicating in this manner will ensure that all involved parties are informed. This method of communication will enhance productivity and performance.
This module gave some good insight into how intricate communication in organizations can be. It is definitely the case in larger organizations with different sub-systems in place. Dr. Long did a good job showing the importance of effective communication in organizations and how it can relate to personal and organizational development.
This module gave some insight into how these processes work together. Organizations can create an environment that is conducive to healthy communication and effective collaboration by using organizational design, communication design, and communication functions such as information exchange, decision-making, problem-solving identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management.
As previously stated communication is the driving force that creates the change needed or reason change is not being created. Communication in whatever form your prefer is vital to your leadership style.
Two key points I took from this module are "communication is absolutely central to personal and organizational development" and "organizational communication is the symbolic act through which organizations adapt to, alter, or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving goals".
I agree with both of your points. Poor communication is a killer of developing people or organizations.
This module did give a good insight into how these processes all work together. Using good communication and effective collaboration, any organization can be successful. Communication is central to personal and organizational development.
This lecture was a clear breakdown of the terminology related to organizational communication. They defined it as a symbolic act for an organization to adapt to, alter, or maintain its environment, to achieve goals. In the process, the outcomes of organizational communication were motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and development. For example, you may want to alter (improve) productivity (traffic enforcement) through communication to achieve a reduction in vehicle collisions. It is a decent way to process the purpose or goals of any form of communication and how to approach it.
Communication is the key for a leader to effectively lead and let the members of the department know what the expectations are. One of the keys to this level of organizational communication is to be adaptive and adjust to the environment as needed. The concept of the symbology and what a symbol is was an interesting way we communicate as this is the basis of our language and the way we are effective.
Communication can make or break an organization. In my experience, leaders who are effective communicators, articulate, and with tact are often memorable as being influential. These principles will allow me to make a more meaningful impact on those I lead.
Daniel, I think you are right two different leaders can deliver the same message but if they do not read the room or understand the way to deliver the message effectively, the content of the message can be lost. I have had great leaders deliver poor messages not due to content but due to lack of tact or effective messaging.
I agree Daniel. Some of the best leaders in my experience can take a group in a difficult situation and rouse them to turn it around.
Daniel you make a great point on the articulation and tact used in communication. Effective communication could make the difference on the impact that is made.
The four functions of communication: Information exchange, problem/solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management was a very simple and easy to understand way to wrap this module up. Communication is paramount. Always has been, always will be.
Well said Mitch. This provided some very useful information.
I appreciated the training on short, intermediate, and long-run goals. These goals' importance revolves around communication in and out of our department with the communities we serve. It also made sense to include the legal/political, economic, social, competitive, and technological aspects of our communication with the environment in which we work. All were informative.
* effective string*
*I agree*
Words, symbols, and gestures have weight and value. Our ability as leaders to choose the most effective sting of words, symbols, or gestures that captures our intent in the purest, least ambiguous, and non-offensive (unless that is your intent) way possible is critical. Effective communication both internally and externally is often undervalued in my experience. This module was a brief overview of organizational communication, and was enjoyable.
Jarrett, i agree with your assessment. Communication is the key to all leadership, organizations, and social environments we work in.
How an organization communicates effectively weighs heavily on its success. We used to think only of communication up and down the organizational hierarchy of the agency. Now, we must think of not only internal communication, but also about how we communicate with the public we serve, and also with the media, and other partner agencies inside and outside of law enforcement. We train very little on effective communication, and it is such an important skill. Successful agencies have communication plans and strive for constant improvement in communication.
Well said, communication is definitely key to having a successful organization. Development and improvement depend on good communication as well.
As we all know, communication is one of the most crucial challenges we face as law enforcement. Not just what we communicate, but how. I’ve been involved in several incidents where clarity of communication was not there and things went sideways. Others have been simply the way the other person or entity perceived the information and mistook it for something else. We just need to take a breath and make sure what we are communicating is actually being heard and understood so little to no mistakes will occur.
In this module I learned the importance of Organizational Communication and it's importance for all personnel associated with the organization is adapt, alter, or maintain the environment in order for the organization to survive. Organizational communication starts with and by the effective communication of the organization's goals and need to accomplish by the use of short, intermediate, and long range goals.
In this module, it shows that in every organization you need communication. You must be able to communicate with the members of the organization as well as the public we serve. If we as an organization cannot communicate our goals and what is going on within the organization, we are subject to fail.
Communication is the key to everything. The organization's mission is only as good as the leaders ability to effectively communicate to all the intent of the organization and the parameters set forth for all to follow.
So often a mission is written down but no one looks at it or talks about its importance. Great point you made about leaders communicating the intent of the mission.
As many others have stated in their discussion, I found it very hard to decipher many of the meanings. I understand the aspects of effectiveness and how adaptation to the environment and society can impact how we communicate. This comes down to being able to communicate with others “effectively” or being able to explain the “why” appropriately. If your peers and subordinates don’t understand your reasoning or mission, we have communication problems. This is also understood the same way we speak to our spouses; it’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.
Communication seems to be the driving force with developing leadership. A leader must be able to influence individuals through effective communication. Everyone in the organization needs to receive the message and the leaders of the organization are the ones responsible for ensuring the message is delivered, received and understood.
I agree. If the message is not sent out and understood, it will cause problems.
I agree. Effective communication is central to leadership and the influence needed to a strong leader.
Agreed, Elliot,
Leaders often send a message, believe it will be correctly interpreted, and conduct little to no follow-up to ensure understanding.
This section illustrated the importance of internal and external communication in an organization. There is a lot of external communication affecting hiring and retention, and politics, social influences and legal issues are constantly affecting it. As leaders, we will have to respond to the communications effectively.
A previous module illustrated that we must always be aware that what we say has impact as leaders. This module stresses the importance of what we say and how, showing the effects impact throughout the entire organization.
Joseph Spadoni, Jr.
Session #15
Organizational communication is just as important as trust, which we learned in the previous module. Communication is one of our most powerful tools within an organization. We need communication for the purposes of information exchange, problem-solving, behavior regulation, and conflict management. Utilizing organizational communication properly by using the four phases that Dr. Long described will allow an agency to lead to positive personal and organizational outcomes and make a leader and organization more effective.
Organizational communication is essential to an ever evolving world as it applies to the inner workings of an organization or the environment we are in. It is a systematic and revolving approach to maintain effective communication used a means to achieve short and long terms goals and it key to survival.
I agree. The methods and effects of communication are some of the least-discussed factors in goal achievement.
I agree effective communication is essential for agency's. We have to hear and respond to the communities we serve.
I feel that organizational communication is important to all law enforcement agencies. I have said that communication is one of the most important parts of our job. Communication can open doors that should not be open. We should always be aware of everything around us and that even means observations and listening.
Session #015
Communication in an organization is important, but it must also be effective. I think a lot of regular department meetings start out well-intentioned, but they turn into meetings for the sake of meetings.
Many of the most significant incidents we face in public safety are related to the breakdown in communication. I have often seen situations spiral out of control because officers didn't feel they needed to explain their actions to people at the scene of complaints they were handling. When an officer doesn't attempt to answer questions, they leave the door open for agitators to spin the situation in different directions. I have witnessed supervisors lose whole divisions because of relying on authority instead of communication
Good discussion, Walter. Breakdown in communications also comes into play with people's egos. They don't believe they need to tell someone what's happening because they are not in charge or the big boss. If everyone set that aspect aside and take a few min to share information, things would be understood, and everyone would be able to see how the other person is working, allowing others to handle what's not being taken care of.
I felt like this was a very technical lecture and once again one dealing with communication. I know I have expressed this in other discussions but it validates the importance of communication at all levels within the agency. The last graphic shown in the video, Fig. 1-4, reminded me of a flow chart when computer programming, which lends to the technical aspect of the lecture.
I found this module slightly challenging to wrap my head around. However, after reading some of the discussion posts, it made more sense to me. So, I rewatched the lecture, hoping to get a better understanding. What I take away is our environment dictates how we police. Based on environmental inputs, we may adapt, alter, or maintain our present course to achieve the outcome the agency and citizens desire. In addition, I found the section on employee satisfaction and productivity to be very insightful.
I found that this lesson is making sure that we communicate with our surroundings. It brought it all together at the end to show how communication needs to be adapted, altered, and maintained.
I found the concept of organizational communication difficult to understand. But I did manage to pick up that communication is key to organizational success. Effective communication is critical to a leaders success.
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I agree with you, Kecia. I found this module confusing at times. I believe an overall scenario would have helped clear this up. I had to review this discussion board to better understand the module. I believe they were trying to simply say that it is important to deliver a clear message that everyone can understand. Doing this will help the organization achieve its goals.
Organizational communication is how you adapt to meet new contingencies, alter to change the environment you are serving, and maintain organizational function.
This module was a good reminder and refresher about how vital good communication is to the effectiveness of the organization. I also learned that the outcomes of communication, motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and development are the measurements of the effectiveness of an organization.
Well said Lawrence. I have to admit I was a little lost at first, but the flow charts and such brought everything together for me.
In this module we learn about organizational communications, internal and external. What resonates with me was how the army recognized the groups they were catering to and “dumbed down manuals” for enhanced communication and a true understanding of missions. Something I’ll carry with me for future reference
Everything seems to come right back around to communication
Organizational communication: Thinking strategically, this is a tough concept to integrate agency wide. The organization must try and understand how to effectively communicate with the public, to the organization, and with individuals for a positive outcome. Trying to be all things to all people is a tall task.
Although not spoken on in this module, there are a lot moving parts to include the willingness of the receiver to accept the communication in a positive light otherwise the influence you hope to exert will be minimal. Putting that aside, organizational communication is central to the concept of organizational development and relates to earlier modules where communication, cultivation, and collaboration are basic tenants of leadership.
As public safety professionals, we are constantly bending (adapting) to the everchanging political environment where groups can be heard with the proliferation of social media. As law enforcement, we should not abandon our values but rather stay (maintain) the course, attempting to influence (alter) public opinion back onto the side of law and order.
This lecture showed how effective communication is the key to success within an organization. Communication within any organization needs to be consistent and able to adapt to changes within an environment. As leaders, it is our job to make communication a priority to make sure goals are being met.
Devon, I agree. we do need to make communication a priority so that we can meet our goals. and we must be able to adapt to the changes within the organization and within the generations to come during our tour of duty.
I appreciated that this module separated out dimensions of the environment, and I think it could have added some discussion about how those dimensions influence communication ins specific ways. For example, we have all likely learned (occasionally the hard way) how communicating in a technological environment through technological means is so different than in the social environment of the office. There's room to consider how understanding how each of these environments works influences the decisions we make in how to communicate. We have a tendency to think that all environments mirror, to come extent, the local social environment, and so we tend to think that the way we use language, symbols, and so on is transferable across environments. As most of us have learned, this is not the case. Better understanding of the environment leads to better decisions about communication.
This module was heavier on theory than most of the other modules, but it was good to consider how little we consider theory in law enforcement operations. I can sometimes lump organizational communication into interpersonal communication, but it is quite different in many respects. My essay focused on how the environment affects inputs and outputs from an organization. I specifically addressed how those inputs impact the mission and vision of an organization. Many employees do not understand why certain decisions are made but if the theory of how the environment influences inputs and outputs, more employees would gain a better grasp of how mission and vision are developed. I appreciated the module of moving employees to be both productive and satisfied in their job. I know strong internal communication, understanding theory, and understanding impacts and help usher employees into that realm of being both satisfied in their job as well as productive.
I certainly agree that many employees do not understand why decisions are made. I believe that in some cases, we fail to explain the “why” of the mission or decision and expect the officers to think the same way we do. We must remember generational differences, and our experience tends to make us think differently. Overall, better communication throughout the organization is vital.
You are 100% correct on this and a place where we fail in our agency. Explaining the "why" a decision was made can prevent officers from speculating and prevent the rumor mill from starting up, and while some people may not agree with the decision, they at least will know the real reason it was made.
I appreciated the final section that put the entire lesson together so you could see how all the element of each phase worked. Although technological communication means are great for the rapid transfer of information to large groups and persons separated by distance, I believe that face to face communication needs to be utilized whenever possible to enhance commination.
I really liked that, too, Kent. We all know that communication is important, but to see it all put together like that and see how the outcomes of communication are the measure for effectiveness in the organization is enlightening.
I agree also. The ending really pulled together the effectiveness of organizational communication and its purpose as it relates to an organization's output
AS it has been stated in the numerous modules in this course, communication is essential for leaders, individuals, the organization, and the community to accomplish goals and work together to provide effective law enforcement services to the public. This module broke down each part of the communication process in detail.
– Dan I agree, communications and effectively understanding has been a focus of many modules.
I found the discussion around the different types of goals interesting. The description of short run and intermediate goals were what I expected, but I don't think I considered the long term goal as being survival. The information provided supported this definition. The key point for me was ensuring that the short run and intermediate goals are effectively planned and accomplished to achieve the long term goal of survival.
Matt,
Long did simplify the long-term goals by describing them as merely survival. It seems easy to get caught up with the goals right in front of our face we lose focus on the long-term goal of survival. I believe the last couple of years, more than any other, has made many agencies see survival is not a guarantee. I know if we meet our short-term and intermediate goals, we should find a way to survive but we also must ensure our ears are open to goals we did not know existed. What I mean is if the environment around us demands some type of course correction, we must have our ears to the ground so we can include that into our short or intermediate goals and ensure our long-term goal is met.
I had similar thoughts about the "competitive" dimension of the environment. I don't think we're used to thinking about competition because we assume we don't have any. We're not a business after all, and there is no other Oklahoma City Police Department. On the other hand, when he mentioned "competition for resources, I thought about how the last few years have taken away our guarantees. We have to be able to communicate our own value as well as the efficacy of our plans going forward, not just without our own ranks, but to our community who is being told that money would be better spent somewhere else.
This module was confusing to me as it seems to be for most other people in reading other's comments about it. I know first hand from screwing up my communication with others that i have to be explicit and not "assume".
I understand how important communication is and how it happens. I am starting to understand the purpose of this module, however it would have been nice to have an example or two in the "put all together" section.
Communication is to me the most important part of leadership. As we were taught, it has to be up and down and must not stop and the rank.
I agree communication is key and must happen at all levels of the organization.
This module of organizational communication emphasizes the importance of effective communication both internally and externally. Leaders must appreciate that effective communication leads to positive personal and organizational outcomes. Dr. Long discussed the functions and uses of communication as information exchange, problem & solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management. These are critical components to what information is being shared and what mode of communication is being used. Sometimes the best form of effective communication is face-to-face conversation.
The functions and uses of communication are a processes we must all be examining regularly. How we exchange information in particular. We are in an age of technology and I think we rely too much on it. We have lost that human interaction that is so important because we not only use words, but we also use facial expressions and body language to communicated. That is all lost in an email. Effective personal communication goes a long way in addressing the other functions of problem solving, behavior regulation and conflict management.
I agree with you on the loss of human interaction when it comes to communication. It is far easier to send an email or text message than to have an in-person conversation. Albeit, there may be a time and place for this mode of communication. When it is critical to have effective communication, it is far more effective when it is personal.
I agree we tend to rely on the technological forms of compunction too much. It isn’t uncommon for people in adjacent offices to attempt near real-time conversations via e-mails. When this happens, I go see them in person. I believe that younger generations are more prone to this. The lack of non-verbal communication elements also contributes the chances that things will be miscommunication leading to conflict.
Organizational communication is the key to the department working together toward common goals. As has been stated throughout the modules communication is one of the most important elements of leadership. Understand how organizational communication can improve the department as a whole is a very important part of knowing what we need to work on improving inside our agency.
This module had a lot to teach about organizational communication. Organizational communication is the channels and forms of communication in which organizations such as law enforcement and governmental bodies engage, including both the internal communications that occur within an organization, and external-facing communications between an organizations.
Though this lesson was initially hard to understand, I watched it several times and was able to figure it out. These processes are standard practice, and I had never put much thought into them. I had to use a real life example of a recent problem and how we solved it as an organization, in order to break this topic down. It allowed me to see all of the intracacies of inputs and outputs, and how the process is constantly in action. I did appreciate how Dr. Long stressed the importance of communication starting at the top of leadership and going down the chain of command, but also requiring it to go back up from the line level and laterally across levels. Occasionally, an organization shuts off vertical communication from the bottom, which causes a lot of friction and unnecessary problems. Input IS important at all levels in the organization.
I am hoping we will spend more time on this topic. I can see how communication is what makes the organization effective. I felt this module made it confusing as to what the magic is for communication within the organization. I appreciate Dr. Long's lectures and experience, and I wish the module would have been a little less technical. Effective communication is what I come back to on most essays because I see its importance to a leader.
I agree! Communication is one of the foundations for running any organization. This module was very technical but also very informative.
So other than what has been previously discussed in past modules, this lesson echoed that organizational communication is essential to agency survival. We must get out of the mindset of “that’s the way it’s always been done” This no longer works, and we should always be looking for ways to improve our communications internally and externally. Law Enforcement is forever changing, and we must embrace the changes, and this includes how we communicate.
Hi Stephanie,
I appreciate your post, as so many miscommunications cause tough barriers to break down in our profession. Internal communications, external input communications from the community, etc, all need to be approached with a modern and collaborative focus, and improved communications and progress will follow.
V/r
Magda
Stephanie - I think if we could all get "that's the way it's always been done" out of our vocabulary, and the vocabulary of the entire departments, we could have some real progress at improving the status quo of what we do.
Throughout this program we have learned how effective communication if essential to an organization's success. I enjoyed that Dr. Long took it a step further to break down the different roles of communication and how it ties together with the effectiveness of the organization.
In this module, Dr. Long discussed Organizational Communication. We are continually learning without good communication, there will be no success. The departments within the agency have to be able to communicate with each other. The agency must be able to adapt to what is needed for the community. I liked how Dr. Long explained the four functions/uses of communication: information exchange, problem/solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management.
Organizational Communication is key to the success of the agency. The agency's survival is dependent on how well it adapts, alter, and maintains its environment. This module really helped me understand the larger role of communications.
Organization communication is a key component for the agency to survive. The module mentioned that the agency must adapt, alter, and maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving goals. In many cases, highly effective strategies are often sent from the top-down, so it is important that the information change from senior management is properly moved through the interior departments of the agency for success.
I believe we have, at least for the last 5-10 years understood the importance of communication in law enforcement. What I could not have fathomed was the importance of communication in the short, intermediate and long term goals of an organization. The way Dr. Long describes it in the context of the functions of communication made it real world applicable for me.
Trent, great post. The goals you mentioned give the individual a sense that you’re making progress towards greater milestones.
Communication is the key to success in all that we do. Without this, we are setting ourselves up for having a negative impact on not only the ones within our agency but the general public. The need for properly communicating is imperative as we function together for the issues that arise. It should be clearly stated and easily understood by the recipient and outline the goals that we should be expected to follow through with while being open to adjusting the way we communicate from top to bottom as the situation dictates it.
Jerod, I totally agree with you. Communication is key to success in all we do. From communicating our goals & intentions with our officers to communicating with the public. Effective communication skills are essential for a leader.
What I liked about this module is how Dr. Long broke down the different aspects of Organization Communication. From the definitions to the contexts. And then how he brought it all together at the end. It was very clear throughout the module that Organization Communication is complex and the different aspects make it important to understand. I lied the portion of the contexts of communication; dyad, group, public, and technological. Law enforcement operate within all of these communication contexts which is also why I think it is important.
I agree with you Jarod. We hear about communication all the time, but I think we fail to realize how complex it is and how incredibly important it is.
I had to review this module twice but I think I understand what they are trying to explain. Organizational communication is the communication and information flow within organizations using different roles of the media in order to accomplish objectives and goals. It's important to have effective communication to have positive outcomes for the organization.
Glenn,
That is a good idea to review it twice. I was a little confused as well after going through the module. I think you have summarized the objective of this module very well. Thank you for that!
Glenn, I had to as well. I can see the organizational flow, and I felt it was hard to follow. Dr. Long is a great teacher, so I watched it again and learned that it wasn't as instructional as it was descriptive of organizational communication and how it is disseminated.
I totally agree with you. I found the module a bit confusing myself.
Communication is key to everything internally and externally involving an organization. Expectations have to be clear and understood by all. This module showed how communication flows through the organization and its effects at different levels and ultimately what is accomplished by effective communication. This module also showed how the result could be recycled back through the various levels if the outcome is not the desired outcome.
We all know that communication is the key to understanding and that without it the job isn’t done properly. Reports must be clear, intentions, and what one thinks others are saying are all very important. Turning everything into this big of a process lost me though. I think we could simply say that communication takes place at all levels within an agency and that it must be clear and understood by all to accomplish the mission.
As I worked through this module, I found myself in the same boat. Some of this seems to be very much common sense. The take away I did have though was in the usage of the functions to achieve organizational goals. Having it broken down into those four and then further explained that enhancing each of those functions is what enabled task completion helped me to really digest all of it.
I think for organizational communication to truly be successful the agency must be transparent with both its employees and the public. Being upfront about failures and accomplishments will allow for their to be less bias towards the agency and its agenda. The mission and vison should be clear for all to see.
Andy,
I agree that being transparent is the best way to communicate. Even when we have a failure within our profession, it is imperative that we not hide anything and communicate well enough that our mission is not compromised, and that people see our plan to remedy the setback and move forward.
Effective organizational communication is paramount for an agency to survive and thrive. In order to survive, an organization must constantly adapt and alter its practices as needed to meet the goals from within the agency and also from the outside environment. For law enforcement, this means to have open lines of communication with the community and altering and adapting to societal needs and norms to foster allegiance.
People continually use the buzz word “transparency” in our current state of law enforcement. “XPD needs to be transparent!” The solution is to be bold and timely communicators. My previous employer did a phenomenal job of getting ahead of stories and built a great deal of rapport with local reporters. That led to everyone knowing what was happening with little left for people to question. As the world demands transparency, a great deal of Chiefs and PIO’s could use a lesson or two in crisis communication and getting a message in front of the media before the media puts a message in front of the agency.
ABSOLUTELY!! You're spot on. I love your solution, be bold and timely. Getting the right message out is the key.
Organizational Communication appears very intimidating at first. It helped that Dr. Long was able to define several aspects of this system. The role we have as leaders and how we communicate interpersonally, but also integrative as individuals, teams, departments all have an impact on the organization as a whole. The fact is, that we are constantly adapting, altering or maintaining our organization in an ever changing environment where effective, and clear communication is a must.
Very true, Jacqueline. Same holds true with our ability to effectively communicate with the public.
Jacqueline it is true that this type of communicating can be intimidating. Funny though, without this type of communication amongst all areas of the team to include the public usually leads to misunderstanding and misinformation.
This module was very informative and provided detailed information on organizational communication. The module did a great job with hitting the key parts of communication that are essential to having open and effective communication. The module provided a great understanding of what not having effective and organized communication can look like and the potential disaster it could lead to.
Should we as leaders provide incorrect information? Or we should expect officers to perform their assigned duties at a substandard level.
What are you saying, Jarvis? From how I read your comment you are posing two poor choices. The first choice is to provide incorrect information to your employees. The second choice is to have underperforming employees. Neither are acceptable. Maybe I am mis-reading your point or taking a sarcastic comment too literally.
Leaders need to provide accurate information in a timely manner. As a result, that should motivate some employees to perform at a better level because they have a sense of trust in the organizational leaders. Organizations with poor communication may also suffer from bureaucracy that limits the ability of line-level employees to take proactive actions without facing sanctions from their authority figures. That cultural philosophy needs to end.
There was a lot of information and terminology packed into this lesson. In the end, effective communication between work groups, divisions, external partners and the community is necessary to have positive organizational communication. This type of communication will yield positive personal and organizational outcomes.
I enjoyed getting to understand the organizational connection between effective communication and the achievement of goals. At all levels within an organization, staff must be able to connect with those we serve and without effective communication, there is no connection or future forward steps towards goals. Considering the word organization as a verb (process of collaboration) really instills a sense of urgency to adapt, alter or maintain the platform of communication so that our messages are understood yet we are willing to change to meet the needs of others so we understand. The quote "shift your thinking from saying the right thing to asking the right question" certainly applies to effective communication in organizations.
Effective communication throughout an organization is critical to the organizations ability to complete it's mission. Effective communication is accomplished through integrated approaches with emphasis in leadership, community and adaptation to fit the goals of the organization to ensure growth and long term survival in an ever-changing environment. For an organization to ensure survival and relevancy, communication must remain fluid, clear, and transparent both internally and externally.
Very well put, Kyle. As we have learned in this lecture and prior lectures the art of effective communication is key for an organization and community to thrive and accomplish their mission's.
Very well said Kyle. I think people often forget the purpose of communication and what the result of that communication is especially when it comes to technology. People forget the behind the scenes and the bigger picture of achieving goals.
Well put Kyle, that is what I was trying to say in my post. Although, I’m not sure any organization can live up to this goal in its entirety. Trying to be everything to everyone will leave a group or an individual on the outside looking in. However, I agree with your assessment that an organization must remain fluid and clear if they are to survive, well said.
Effective communication is key for any agency or corporations survival and growth. Once the "why" has been established, a plan needs to be developed to share that vision and mission effectively throughout the organization, while ensuring the necessary tools and training are acquired to meet the task. There also needs to be the mechanism in place to advertise or publicly announce the "how", so the public understands and sees the work being done to achieve the "what". And there needs to be a way to course-correct and communicate the information back to the necessary entities within the agency to make those necessary changes.
effective communication is essential to having a successful agency. The correct information has to continuously flow in order for it to work. Proper and factual information continuously flowing into the agency will help mitigate false information and rumors.
Effective communication is essential and vital in achieving goals and passing on information. Organizations, team members, and leaders must be flexible enough to adapt to the ever changing world and society to achieve their goals and objectives.
Kevin, I agree with what you said. Without good communication on all levels, success will not happen. I believe you have to be adaptable because people and scenes are never the same.
This module did a good job of further expanding the concept of effective communication. The four functions of communication were extremely helpful and the concept of developing short, intermediate, and long-term goals.
Proper communication is extremely important and is central to the development of the personnel within your team. This focuses on building relationships and forcing interactions within the organization. By having continual communication with the internal teams of the organization there will be a perception of consistency from the management. Consistency leads to confidence in the upper management by the subordinates of the organization.
Again, I learned how important effective communication is for an organization. I learned about short run, intermediate, and long run goals. I also learned the four functions of communication, which are information exchange, problem identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management.
Communication between two people can be complicated enough. When discussing organizational communication it becomes infinitely more complicated. Dr. Long breaks down the concepts of organizational communication in such a way that it can be understood. The definition and breakdown of organizational communication I found very interesting.
I agree Burt. Dr. Long found a way to explain this detailed process in an understandable way.
Communication is very essential to the success of the organization. Several years ago, my Sheriff started a video segment that each employee had to watched called “the Sheriff Said”. This was brought to light after the Sheriff learned that some practices being conducted were being blamed on him. When people would ask for clarification or question the why, they were told “the sheriff said”.
I like this idea. I think it is always important to maintain communication within the agency, including the top. It is obviously quite difficult for the Sheriff or a Police Chief to maintain a personal, face-face-communication with everyone in the agency. This is a good way to utilize technology and maintain communication from the top. This goes a long way for those further down the ladder.
I think this was a great approach to maintaining the Sheriff's vision with the rank and file, ensuring the message was provided the same to each employee and "from the horses mouth" without misinterpretation as the message moves down the chain of command. The limitation with this would be whether or not the message was understood, however that could be further clarified by the command staff who supervise the rank and file. I think the title to the video message further built rapport with subordinates, reminding them that the boss is human and even the boss can make "light" of the name and how the message made its way down the chain of command.
I find this very interesting and not sure what to think if I am honest. I think it's great the Sheriff took this on and personally shares his messaging with every Deputy in the office. And depending on how he communicates, it can prove extremely effective. I also enjoyed that he titled it after what people were calling it anyway. The other side of the coin is it is concerning that the Sheriff's messaging wasn't getting to the rank and file the way he wanted it through the command staff. It might bring up some questions regarding the level of trust between the Sheriff and commanders. I hope the Sheriff allowed command staff to share the messaging with their staff before the release of his video(s). And perhaps there is no trust issue, and the interpretation of the Sheriff's messaging is simply misinterpreted by the people receiving the message.
I thought Dr. Long provided valuable information when he stated that to understand what makes an organization effective is to understand the short term, intermediate, and long term goals of the organization. This made me reflect on the importance of defining these goals and ensuring a shared and tangible vision for organization members.
This was by far the most complex module for me to grasp so far. But after stepping back and looking at the larger broken down picture, I recognize the that the organizational communication is the symbolic act ( symbolic being what ever is used to relay the message) through which organizations adapt, alter or stay the same, to achieve the intended goal or goals.
I agree the concept seemed complicated. Going back and looking at tee definition and Dr. Long's breakdown of it helped make it clear.
The module was a bit difficult to grasp.
Dr. Long explained a lot in this module by defining communication, symbols, and the five dimensions of the environment. But what I found most useful was the explanation of the four phases of organizational communication process. I understand that information moves through the system but did not think of just how it moves and why. When Dr. Long broke it down it made sense.
Long, L. (2017). Organizational communication. Module 2, Weeks 7 & 8. National Command and Staff College.
I agree. I thought the 5 dimensions of the environment were especially interesting.
Organizational Communication encompasses so much more than just communication, as Dr. Long (2021) illustrated. Communication is not just within the boundaries of an organization, but also evident in its expectations, vision and output. Although his lecture explains and breaks down the process specifically, it also illustrates what makes an organization effective across the board.
The process requires significant preparation and planning for success and highlights the importance of anticipating where pitfalls in communication may lurk. As organizations are purposeful; collaborative efforts, it is imperative to understand that the lifeblood of such organizations is effective communication.
References
Long, L. (2021). Organizational communication. Module # 2, Week # 5. National Command and Staff College.
Dr. Long discussed several different areas of communication. I liked how he defined an organization as a group of people who collaborate for some purpose and to achieve a purpose. I agree that we should adapt , alter, and maintain. As the lesson stated communication is central to personal development, organizational development and it's the most obvious manifestation of management leadership. I think as leaders we should work to achieve short goals first, then intermediate goals, before trying to accomplish long-run goals. I agree with Dr. Long that communication is essential for development. I communicatee with my staff daily. I also send group text messages to my staff so we all can be informed of what's going on in our department. I find that communication is extremely important when it comes to accomplishing goals.
Kaiana,
I liked it as well, when Dr. Long included collaboration into the definition. Collaboration was covered thoroughly in developing teams out of groups. So tying that together within this module and organizational communication reinforces the lessons.
In our lecture, Larry Long provided some important aspects of Communication. They are central to personal & organizational development, inevitable consequence of the act of managing, used to define analysis, and key to having a relationship w/the environment (Long, 2017).
When we interact with our officers using verbal, written, or even non-verbal communications while we are assigning tasks that need to be completed to obtain set goal of the unit or department as a whole it should be correct and accurate.
This lesson highlighted the importance of communication and specifically organizational communication. They provided multiple definitions of communication, including specific symbols, and how it ties specifically into organizations. One of my takeaways from this lesson is the role communication plays in everything, and how effective communication leads to positive personal and organizational outcomes. I think it is easy in this electronic age to communicate in electronic ways. We need to remember to have those face-to-face styles of communication and make it a point to utilize them. However, we can't forget the electronic communications either. It is so very easy everyday when I get to work to start checking the numerous emails I received that day, filter through them, and many times fire off a hasty reply email. It is engrained in my daily routine and a necessity of my position. After going through this lesson, it highlighted the importance of email communication and making sure I am also utilizing the appropriate communication skills, even in what seems like the most mundane type of organizational communication.
This was a challenging module to be able to grasp all of the material the way it was presented and I’m glad I’m not the only one that thought that. What I thought was valuable is the portion on the importance of adapting altering and maintaining communication.
Travis, I also found this module to be a little challenging and confusing. I was still able to get some good information from it though. Effective communication is so vital and I know it is one area I need to improve on.
I think this lesson was rather complex but the ability of an organization to communicate it crucial especially when it's necessary for survival. An organization must be able to adapt and alter it's environment, much like a leader. This module was a challenge to grasp, but I think most of what was detailed makes a lot of sense when applied to the departments vision and mission.
Being able to communicate is an essential part of being a leader in a law enforcement organization. You have to be able to clearly communicate your message to your followers in order for them to know what your goals and expectations for the agency are.
Agreed and it seems that this module was a list of definitions aimed at breaking down and explaining a process in which to communicate.
Clear and concise communication is very important of being an effective leader within the organization.
Yes, It communication is key to being a successful leader. It is essential that the proper information is continuously being communicated.
It always comes back to the basis of a good leader is communication. Either individual communication or companywide communication, without it we become stagnant as leaders and as organizations. This lecture was hard for me to grasp.
I agree. This lecture was very difficult to grasp. I think the idea of an ever changing department attempting to complete it's vision and mission statement helped me grasp it.
I agree, a good leader can always communicate whether it be to individuals or department-wide. I did have a problem understanding some of this lecture as well.
As leaders, we should all be concerned with the levels of motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and personal development within our subordinates. We can take extra steps using positive communication to get them where they need to be, while accomplishing our short, intermediate, and long term goals.
This lesson explained that organizational communication is a process by which we adapt to, alter, or maintain our environment. I think the biggest take away for me on this on this lesson is the importance of having good communication throughout your organization. If effectiveness measures are not clearly communicated and understood by staff, they have little chance of being achieved.
There was a lot of good information in this module, however, I found it to be overly complicated considering the material. It's almost ironic that a presentation on communication failed to clearly communicate its own message. At the end (and after reversing the video multiple times), I was able to grasp enough of the concepts presented for it to make sense. One area that I thought was interesting was the dimensions of the environment; I hadn't always considered some of the ones mentioned.
Eric- I thought the Dimensions of Environment were interesting. In typical public safety agencies, external forces always have some degree of impact on your message, both what it entails and how it is delivered. Seeing such just drives home that very fact. At the end of the day, we have to be prepared to handle eventualities associated with external impingement on our message as well as how it is delivered.
Best and stay safe-
Ken
Effective communication is the key to success in any goal mission, or vison within a department. This module does a great job in breaking down the organizational communication to help leaders in the future make sure that what is wanted to be communicated is done correctly
Steve,
I could not agree more. Effective and organized communication is the key to success in anything. It especially crucial in law enforcement. Failure to have effective communication can lead towards many negatives and can interrupt an organization quickly and could potentially lead to a mass exodus of employees.
One-on-one communication is easy right you have a sender (encoder), message, receiver (decoder), and some feedback to prove understanding yahoo you have communication. Communication is central to people and organizations, it develops leaders and strengthens the organization. Leadership and communication have a symbiotic relationship in organizations, a company will or will not survive depending on the ability to communicate within the organization and with the stakeholders of the organization. It was interesting suggesting spoken language in a symbol or a sign as a raw element of communication, I just never thought of the spoken word as a hieroglyph.
I also found it interesting to learn symbols can be considered a raw element of communication. I think the important take away from this is unless the symbol is understood, it has no meaning. It is important that our communications are clearly understood in order to meet our effectiveness criteria.
When there is clear communication throughout an organization, then the organization productivity and satisfaction will increase.
This module on Organizational Communication was in depth, precise, and specific. Some of the particulars in the lecture were quite detailed (and perhaps too detailed), but overall the point was clear that communication is central to personal and organizational development. Communication is needed for any amount of development and is key to having a reciprocal relationship with the environment.
Clear, concise communication seems like it should be easy, but we add people to the mix and it takes a lot of effort to create clear concise communication.
It always comes back to the basis of a good leader is communication. Either individual communication or companywide communication, without it we become stagnant as leaders and as organizations. This lecture was hard for me to grasp.
You are correct, it is easy until you add people. Unfortunately, it only takes one person to break the chain of communication. Once that happens it`s almost impossible to get it back on track.
It almost seems like everyone attempts to put their own spin on things as the message is passed down. By the time it reaches the bottom, the message from the top has changed drastically.
As with my reply to Mike, I have had to play some of these modules repeatedly because I am not sure that I have a clear understanding of how the concepts of organizational communication differs from other lessons on communication. I believe that the main difference is focusing on the environment of the organization and being prepared to alter it if needed.
This training is unclear as to what I was supposed to get from it. The bottom line to me is that "communication" is vital.
You are correct Marshall, communication is vital. This tends to be the central issue in most problems that we face with our peers and our administrators. If someone projects with poor communication skills, and they are not fully understood at the start, we should seek clarification immediately before executing the task.
Communication is key to maintaining a clear focus on the organizational mission and vision. This needs to be communicated down from the top to the bottom ensuring the same message is being conveyed. This responsibility falls on leaders within the organization. When directives are clearly communicated and everyone is on the same page the negative reaction to policy shifts is minimized because there is an understanding of why.
Leaders in today's profession have a minimalistic understanding of the integrated approach to organizational communications. Leaders must understand their requirements to set goals and the communicative message for the different periods (short, intermediate, and long). One can see how each level defines where one is in the leadership pyramid. Leaders often do not understand the differences between tactical and strategic leadership, and the communication requirement changes for each. Leaders at the policy implementation, future development, and planning processes must understand the long-run plan's implications. Being able to break or segment the process into intermediate goals is an art. The failure to appropriately communicate is the rationale for individuals to always state the agency's most significant problem is communication. Too often, those in the trenches or the daily knife-fight cannot see or understand the directives, policy shifts, and training changes when their leaders cannot articulate the strategic plan. Understanding why one pushes down items enlightens all to have an ability to understand better where the organization is trying to go.
Effective communication is the basis for everything we do as organizational leaders. Without good communication we lose all continuity within our agencies. This module discussed the concept of communicating our short, intermediate and long-term goals, as well as outlined how effective communication is critical to both personal and organizational development.
I believe as as agencies we often fail to clearly communicate the intermediate and long term organizational goals. We often focus on the now. When all of the goals are clearly stated then the organizational mission is more clearly understood.
Often times we are blindsided by short-run goals that we lose focus on some of the intermediate and long-term. Chances are we get busy on projects that arise quickly. It may be wise to document these other goals and revisit them once or so a year, just to gauge if any changes occurred.
This module really breaks down the organizational communication process in depth. Communication in an organization is in everything we do as leaders, and I think many times we simplify it too much and do not recognize the importance of everything we say or do. As the module says an organization is a group of people who collaborate for a purpose. Many times, I believe miscommunication occurs when the purpose between different people in the organization is defined differently. A lot of this has to do with expectations. These expectations are different from each dimension of our environment. Many times, the dimensions clash and this creates problems within the organization.
This module certainly emphasized the importance of communication for leaders and organizations. While I felt it defined things to a fault at times, I appreciate the importance of the lesson.
The lack of organizational communication can become a huge problem with in an organization. Non effective communication could be the down fall of the organizations operational effectiveness.
It has been made clear that communication is crucial in an agency and also in our personal lives. We use at work mostly with people with deal with, and more importantly use it with the people we work with every day. I think the biggest take away from this lesson was that as a leaders, we need to focus on improvement. We always want our teams to improve, but we have to remember that there is plenty for us to work on as well. I know that I am fairly decent at communication compared to others, but I also realize that I can always get better or should keep working on it.
I agree, everyone can always do better. The day someone things they are perfect is the same day they begin to fail.
This module covered a lot of material and was a quite in depth look at organizational communication. Organizational communication is a symbolic act through which organizations adapt to, alter or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving goals. I enjoyed how they broke down external input, organization design and change management and ended with the external output presented to our customers.
Communication is a little deeper than it appears, after watching this lecture. It is how our organizations adapt, alter or maintain in the environment. I think we can all appreciate the adaptation that has taken place in the past year. We have to communicate out to the public and internally on the changes we're facing along with what the agency's short, mid-range, and long-term goals are to adapt to the fast-paced change we're encountering.
We have to communicate our feelings, beliefs, and values as well. This needs to also be through internal and external messaging. Some agencies are better than others at this, however.
I was quite surprised to learn that there are only 4 functions of communication. Information exchange, problem/solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management. Because communication is the very foundation of our society I would have thought there were more then 4 functions.
These four functions made the understanding of the functions of communication easier.
I agree with you when I heard that there only 4 as well. When i think about it more it makes sense to have as little as possible when dealing with communication. You want the message to be able to be delivered and understood. If you add more and more functions to the definition the message could get lost.
When law enforcement agencies need to adapt, paying attention to the five dimensions of legal/political, economic, social, competitive, and technological is crucial. I have seen too often that a work group is formed and gets in the weeds when it comes to focusing on the issues. These five dimensions can keep a meeting focused and achieve meaningful outcomes.
I also think i'ts important that all employees understand the 5 dimensions as this is where a lot misunderstanding can occur, especially when it comes to the legal/political and social aspects of an organization.
There was a lot of information passed along in a short amount of time. Dr. Long touches on three important concepts.
The first is that communications goes beyond just the person to person interaction. It is used to explore/ identify problems and develop solutions, influence peoples behaviors and resolve conflicts. Second, I found it interesting that Dr. Long referenced the collaborative way democratic leaders communicate as compared to the direct way that autocratic leaders communicate. I have seen both styles in various forms over the years. I would add that there is a time for collaborative communications (when time is not of the essence) and a time when direct communications (in emergent situations) is appropriate. The effective leader should know when to transition from one or the other. Last, is the function as compared to the use of communication. As Dr. Long eluded to, function and use are not the same. Prior to this presentation, I considered them the same thing. I thought of communications as a way to (enhance/ use) influence the actions of others. In short, communications is a continuous process involving many people/subgroups that is necessary for an organization to survive.
I agree there was a large amount of information squeezed into a short lecture. The information is valuable and important, so I appreciated that perspective. Your summary is accurate and I concur that the large lesson is that communication is ongoing and continuous.
Organizations rely on effective communication to be successful and to achieve their goals. Communication connects individuals, departments, organizations, and communities together. If we imagine an organization as a living organism, it seems to me that communication is like a circulatory system that keeps the organization healthy and alive. When communication fails, critical information is not delivered, departments fail to meet their goals, resources are wasted, and community needs are not met. As leaders, it is our job to make communication a priority.
That's a really good analogy, Maja. Communication is therefore the "lifeblood" of our organizations. Breakdown in communication is the scourge on any organization. The most common thing that followers complain about is a lack of communication.
You provided an excellent description on effective communication and its impact. I liked how you tied it into the bodies circulatory system - That was a great analogy!
I agree Maja. Communication does connects the individuals together. It also makes it easier for individuals to complete tasks. I also agree that when communication fails, the organization fails as well.
Organizational communication is crucial for the agency to function effectively. The agency must adapt to, alter or maintain its environment. The agency must also constantly reevaluate its short, intermediate and long term goals. To quote a movie: "improvise, adapt, and overcome"
The module covered the necessity and ways in which communication is achieved in an organization. It defined the types of communication and provided for their application. It provided definitions for the key components of communication and how it all collectively affects short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals. The module seemed to make it more complicated than what the actual use or function consists of to effectively communicate.
This lesson was confusing and in the end reiterated to us that communication is key to our survival. Without it we would fail to exist. We as departments must be fluid and able to adapt to our environment. In today's culture of policing, this concept bears ever-greater importance. We must be able to adjust whether it's to changes in legislation, local politics or within the community we serve.
Confusing is right! Fluidity is certainly the key. We're never done communicating and we should never be done with goals.
IN this module we discussed organizational communication. Helped me grasp the concepts of organization and how the organizational communication process works within the agency. I liked that it included the adapt, alter, and maintain component. All of it incorporated within the input; though-put; and output process.
Excellent reminder on goal setting and effectively communicating those goals. We can have the most well intended mission statement in the world, if our leaders cannot communicate that effectively the organization will fail to meet its goals.
This module is talking about communication which is something all organization need. In order for your organization to strive, you must make sure you have good and open communication. When society changes the organization must make changes to in order to survive.
This module discussed the importance of communication. Communication is vital for an organization to succeed. I found the functions/uses of communication section interesting and found it difficult to find an example that didn't fit one of those categories.
Communication is ALWAYS the one thing that can be improved. I can't remember one single AAR that didn't have "improve communications" listed somewhere.
Communication is certainly key to successful organizations. Everyone seems to say and know this. Why is it that we still fail to communicate effectively? I appreciated this module, especially the last figure. Communication must be constant and consistent at all times. That's not easy to do and we will likely fail to communicate at times. But we have to commit to doing better. I believe that when communication is consistent the organization is most successful. We as leaders must commit to effective communication with our organizations and teams.
I think you made a good point by saying that communication has to be constant and consistent. We will most certainly fail at times, but what really matters is that we continue looking for ways to improve.
A challenge with communication is understanding the contexts, and the function one is trying to use. As stated in the course, there is a difference between function and use or purpose. While it commonly aligns, the organization and leaders do not understand the actual use of the contexts. This misunderstanding of the contexts is seen in counseling or disciplining in public, using social media or "reply alls" to impart information, usually to remediate behavior. Too often, the last two contexts, public and technological, are commonly used to regulate behavior and manage conflict. More than being constant and consistent is the need to be concise, clear, and to the correct audience precisely. Constantly communicating a poor message is not beneficial to anyone.
Once again we have been taught that communication is the key to everything. Management needs to know where they are, where they are going, what we need to get there and communicate it in a clear, concise manner. As an organization especially in our line of work, we need to be able to adapt, alter and maintain to allow us some level of continuity.
First line supervisors need to demand better communication from upper level staff in order to make our organzations successful.
I agree with your comment. We had a Captain that would relay a message to the subordinates of a Lieutenant. The Lieutenant would be the last to know of any changes within his shift and his subordinates were the ones having to keep him abreast. The organizational structure obviously required some adjusting.
There was a lot of information to take in from this module. Ultimately, my takeaway was on the importance of understanding effective communication and the need of understanding effective communication for the success of an organization in reaching the desired outcome of motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and development.
It would appear that this module essentially says that communication, on multiple levels, is essential to the short and long-term success of an organization. And the more an organization communicates, the more the organization develops and benefits from the communication (both internal and external) which pays dividends both within and outside of the organization.
My thoughts exactly Kyle, everything we do for the success of the organization and the people we serve boils down to communication. This also works externally as well though I believe, those coming at us from the outside need to have a clear, defined problem (not just angry at us because of who we are) and communicate effectively as to how the problem can be addresses and corrected.
I struggled with this module. The take away that I had from this module is focusing the message that I want to deliver in way that will be understood and aligned with my organization.
I agree Chad this one was a struggle. Pretty much address a group that is not performing with group communication to find out what the problems are.
This lesson broke down how effective communication is the key to success. This needs to be from the top down to the bottom and likewise. They also talked about the four functions of communication which are, information exchange, problem/solution identification, behavior regulation and conflict management.
I agree, it is a key to success. And I like how this module emphasized it is a continuous process within the agency to create positive outputs.
I think that the larger an agency is the greater the challenge communication becomes. For this reason it is so crucial that we clearly communicate internally as well as externally. Going beyond the use of email, text messages, twitter etc... we need to have all of our leaders on the same page when it comes to organizational goals and culture.
So true. I agree communication is much more difficult the larger the organization. The same can be said for the size of your division. I also agree with your assessment that all leaders need to be on the same page.
I could not agree more with Sgt. Ackman and Sgt. Lodermeier in that leaders need to be on the same page. The message must be consistent no matter the topic. I have literally seen subordinates moving from office to office asking the same question and observed them almost seem frustrated when they get the same answer from everyone they talked to. They were intentionally fishing for alternative interpretations so they could chose which one to follow. When the message is not clear, people are left to decipher it's meaning on their own. This generally means that everyone comes to their own conclusions about what they should do and leads to unexpected outcomes.
Very true! Having cohesiveness amongst leaders in the organization is key to success.
In order for mission success in an organization, it is essential that leaders clearly communicate the purpose. Equally important, job, performance and conduct expectations have to be clearly communicated. Without clear communications, the goals and objectives of any mission can be missed. Organizational success depends on effective communications. These must be communicated and understood by the people performing the duties. Regardless of the size of an organization, communication is key from the top down. All levels of a public safety organization require effective communications to function and prevail.
I agree, top down communication and back up. This is why high credible organizational leaders towards the top hold high expectations for supervisors who are down the line, they rely on us to accurately project the message and culture of the agency
In this module, Long discussed how communication creates effectiveness and how it leads to positive personal and organizational outcomes. Effective communication is essential in creating purpose and achieving goals. We must be able to communicate internally to be effective and listen externally to develop relationships and trust in order to accomplish positive outcomes.
I like the statement about effective communication leading to positive personal and organizational outcomes. So much is lost when people fail to communicate or miss-communicate what needs to be shared. Also, the concept of Adapt, Alter, or Maintain is a variation on the Adapt and Overcome theory that I am familiar with in my own agency. In the end, communication is the key to most any situation, and many issues can be traced back to poor communication.
I agree. Effective communication is key. Poor communication can lead to misinterpretation of a message and cause conflict or misunderstanding of the intended message.
James, I agree that communication is essential for individuals, organizations, and societies to thrive. When communication is effective, it can lead to positive outcomes for individuals, organizations, and the world at large. Effectively communicating involves being able to transmit information in a way that is easily understood by those receiving it and responding with meaningful feedback. To achieve this, individuals must be able to adapt, alter, or maintain the communication process to achieve desired outcomes.
I would agree with the other comments that this module was hard to follow. However, as we all know communication is one of the most important elements for a successful organization. Often times when there are misunderstandings or lack of direction it is typically because communication is failing. I did key in on the three communication principles of adapt, alter, and maintain. We always want to be able to adapt our communication to meet new challenges. As we adapt we may need to alter how are doing the communication and then finally once we have adapted to the changes and our communication is effective trying to maintain effective communication.
Having a structured and organized line of communication throughout your organization is a key element to success. The communication lines need to be established and open. Communication is key to the development of an organization. This module discussed the importance of that but I too found it a little difficult to follow.
For a police agency to be successful, it should keep an open communication line from the Sheriff to the newest deputy in the department. Communication is essential when it comes to large departments when there are many employees to be reached. Sometimes the problem with communication in larger departments is that there is little face-to-face contact between those who send a message and those receiving the message.
I think the larger the department, the more difficult nailing that communication aspect can be. I believe it takes a concerted effort from supervisors to make time for face-to-face contact.
I agree with your comment that communication definitely needs to flow from the bottom down and then back to the top. When this does not happen mistakes, morale, lack of direction can happen.
This module was quite difficult to follow however, the information speaks the same. Effective communication within organizations can be a great tool to boost productivity and employee satisfaction. If the employee knows what to expect and what is exactly going on they will be more likely to have a better approach to work and their leader.
I, too, had difficulty grasping the concepts of this module. As we have all learned, effective communication is essential for mission success throughout all ranks of public organization. When communication is effective, employees can work more productively and cohesively. When employees know what to expect, and the expectations are clearly explained, employees can function correctly.
The bottom line is that "communication" is important. I thought this module was very difficult to understand.
This module was confusing and hard to follow. I believe Dr. Long was trying to explain how important it is for information to be passed down from your administration to your subordinates. He did show if you don't communicate clearly, people won't understand the mission.
This module reiterates the need to have established and clear lines of communication. Unlike the previous module, this one takes a deeper dive into what it means for the organizational process itself. We must remember that when we are setting our goals, there must be inclusion from all levels internally and externally. It does no good to have our goals conflict with community needs and established standards.
I like your statement about when setting goals, we must have inclusion from all levels, and that you included external. This is all related to the Open-Systems model and needing to factor in those things outside of our own agency, because we do not operate in a void. Community needs should and do drive what and how we offer services.
I agree, this model, while similar, was a bit different than previous segments. I guess it once again emphasizes on how important communication is to the overall leadership process. If we don’t get our message across and interpret the response, we are not as effective.
The way in which members of an organization interact with one another and the people they serve is organizational communication. We need to be able to communicate throughout our organization. This has always appeared to be a matter in question back then and even now with today’s leaders. With utilizing the different methods of communication, we can learn to become effective communicators. As other modules, provided detailed examples of communication, demonstrations confirmed that communication is a principal key to any organizational success.
This module let all employees aware of the vision and goals of the organization and it should be communicated top down. This is done in my organization by weekly meetings of all supervisors and the communication is then shared with subordinates in department meetings.
Two specifically learned through this module is about the effectiveness of organizations and exactly what that means on paper. As Dr. Long pointed out, no organization plans on failing, nor is it their goal to do so. However, and therefore, the need for the goals instructed about regarding the short term, intermediate and long runnning and the needs of these for the overall health of the organization. In other words, if we are not setting goals as an organization, the question can be asked "Where are we going?". I also appreciated the definition provided for organization communication: the symbolic act through which organizations adapt to, alter, or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving goals.
This module is definitively the backbone of what makes any organization stronger, effective communication. IT is vital to have a great system in place ans the right people to keep it moving. Also is very important to have great communication for people within and outside to the people we serve. Person to person and beyond is how we get our communications across and give clear, concise mission for our organization.
It is imperative to have effective communication, as the results will make, or break down, an agency. Without effective communication, how are we to integrate the organization processes? As the module states, effective communication leads to positive personal and organizational outcomes. It seems to be something simple, but communication on all level can be quite difficult when attempting to send specific messages from top to bottom, and vice versa.
This training module is a good reminder that effective communication is crucial to the overall functionality and success of an organization.
I agree effective communication is important in my organization from shift to shift changes and day to day operations.
I agree that without effective communication, organizations would struggle to function and fail to succeed in a positive manner. Everyone within the organization should have to ability to provide input and have the opportunity to achieve goals.
This module reinforced the concept that effective communication is vital for success. If the agency's message and vision are not explained correctly and passed down, your agency will work against itself. Everyone must be included in all changes made within the agency, and the purpose of the changes must be clearly stated.
As we have seen in modules before this one communication is key. We need to be able to communicate throughout the organization as well to listening to external communications. we use this key to adapt, alter or maintain the organization. this module was the easiest to follow, a lot of information to simple say that you need to be able to communicate.
This module demonstrates how communication comes back to each level/phase of the organization. Communication can make us alter our goals and the way that we interact with the world, community and ourselves.
Its important to an organization as large as a Law Enforcement organization to have constant communication on all levels. A department which can't communicate when addressing with the changing times is doomed to mistakes and failures.
This module has taught me once again how vital effective communication is to an organization. Without it, there is little chance that an organization can achieve it's short-run or intermediate goals much less it's long-run goals. I found the explanation of Adapt, Alter, and Maintain the environment to be particularly interesting also.
The flow chart at the end help considerably to help me understand how communications flow.
I like the way the module explains how an organization needs to have very Active Communication for development. It's this communication that helps an organization adapt, alter or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving short, intermediate, and long run goals.
again we as leaders cannot be leaders without communication.
This module reminded me that effective communication leads to positive organizational outcomes. It was interesting to learn the different phases of the organizational communication process.
I agree and then to learn that they recycle all over again going back into different levels.
This lecture has thought me that communication is vital, as a supervisor we should have effective communication skills, having these skills helps resolve many conflicts, crime, and build solid work teams.
Deliberate and effective communication are vital to an organization. Information must be communicated and received both within the organization and external, into its larger environment. Organizational communication allows us to collaborate to determine if we as an organization, or the subsystems within, need to adapt, alter, or maintain our processes to achieve our short-run, intermediate, and long-run goals. In essence, the relationship between our law enforcement agency and community are interdependent on our ability to communicate effectively across and through our organization and the multi-dimensional aspects of our environment.
I agree, it is definitely important for an organization to be able to adapt, alter, and maintain to achieve our goals.
Being a Communication supervisor for 11 years brings appreciation to this module. I really was unaware of the factors that should be considered when attempting to make a communication center function efficiently depending on the size and number of output communication processes expected of the center. This helps identify ways we can organize, train and change processes to ensure more consistent effective communication.
I agree this will help because of getting more ideas through feedback from communicating.
Communication as a survival tool brings the whole concept of effective communication full circle. Without effective organizational communication, you risk losing the meaning of your information, the ability to identify problems and solutions, regulation of unwanted behaviors, and managing conflicts that arise. All of which are necessary for an agency to survive.
Well said Lt. Jenkins! Effective communication is vital for organizational success.
Well said, and very true. Seeing how survival is tied to accurate communication is important.
I agree effective communication must be utilized down the chain, up the ladder and every way possible to ensure everyone is on the same page and not left behind.
We have had several modules on communication and it is extremely important. This module was about having and utilizing good communication throughout the entire organization so that a leader can have great outcomes for everyone.
I agree. As the previous modules have presented, the leader that communicates in an acceptable way and excels, is seen as credible and authentic.
I think this module can be summed up by saying you have to know how to communicate to get results. As an agency leader, you have to communicate your goals in a clear, concise manner in order to get favorable results.
I agree with this. Good effective communication is the key to everything.
Correct you need to be able to communicate, to be a successful leader and successful organization.
As we look at the whole broad picture, we have to be able to not only speak with others, and they have to understand our message. Communication is so much more than just saying the words,
This lesson helped me define many different functions of communications, along with how vital the symbols of connection are.
Failure to communicate is one of the biggest problems that we have in our personal lives and professional lives.
Agree Scott, I think the reason communications seems to fail so often is because we do not immediately realize the failure exist. We do no realize the level of communication until after the problem surfaces or incident is over.
In this module on operational communication I found the four functions and use of communication interesting. If you think about it we use communication to exchange information, to identify problems and work out solutions, in behavior regulations and in conflict management. I think of it as a simplified outline of how communication works.
The failure or success of a department lies in it's ability to effectively communicate from the top to the bottom and from the bottom to the top. Those on top must clearly state what their end game is when communicating with those below them in a way that those below than can not only understand the words in the communications but also the intent behind the communications.
i agree with you. Often changes are made that influence the workers at lower levels of the agecny and they are provided no explaniation on what occured to make such changes necessary. They are often left to decide how to implement the changes due to not being provided an outline.
Communication is the key that makes every organization run and is often the biggest hindrance. I stated before in several essays that we always say before a training exercise that we need to work on better communications and at the end of every exercise in the debrief, we talk about communications failing. The same thing happens in an organization, either the information doesn't get passed down, or by the time it makes it to the bottom, the message is so watered down it is not understood.
The ability to make sure the same message is heard throughout the entire organization is paramount for organizational communication to be effective and achieve an of its goals.
The law enforcement profession is always changing, and departments have to adapt to change with everything that is going on in the country today. Officers will have to change the way of responding to calls, patrolling the community, and community relations. Officers have targets on their backs, but we still have a job to carry out. It is essential to communicate the goals of the department and the way officers interact with the public.
I agree Beau, I have talked several times about communication being key and the ever-evolving changes in police work today.
Next to trust, communication is a key element to the success of an organization. In this module, it is critical to the success of shaping short term, intermediate, and long term goals for the agency and the people who make up that agency. If we remember the credible elements of leadership, withdrawing from the ladder principle, an agency will maintain a level of high productivity or adapt to achieve the same level. Employees of an agency who have to buy into the vision, will ensure this happens.
I agree; communication is essential for law enforcement agencies. Without a sense of direction, officers will not completely understand the task at hand or the goals that the department is trying to accomplish.
This is so true. Clear effective communication from the highest to lowest ranking officer will ensure that the mission and vision of an organization stay the course to serve our communities.
sounds simple, but unfortunately the message often gets miscommunicated. I often times send follow up emails to personnel after having a discussion with other commanders to ensure everyone gets what is being said.
Effective communication is the key function in every aspect of the profession. It is extremely important for every agency to have short-term, intermediate and long-term goals they need to achieve and this will not happen without communication. The most important key is linking communication to the organization.
In the learning area 4, module 2, organizational communication you have to know what makes an effective organization. Knowing that organizational communication is the symbolic act through which organizations have to learn to adapt to, alter and maintain the environment for the purpose of achieving goals. Communication and effective communication you have to have.
Communication is vital for the functioning of any organization. To sum up a portion from Dr. Long, he stated it is the basis of survival for any organization or agency; without it, we would fail to exist. I appreciated how he broke down the relationship between how law enforcement agencies adapt to and alter our response to situations in order to maintain a good station within the communities we serve. Using the semi-permeable model for flow of information in to and out of an organization, we can see how we need to seamlessly and fluidly interpret and respond to all stimuli which we can encounter.
In our continually evolving job, effective communication throughout the organization is how we meet our objectives. We also have the unique ability to adapt to situations for the best possible outcome. Without communication across the board, we will not function as a cohesive unit.
This module highlighted the four functions of communication. Information exchange, Problem/solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management. It was informative learning about putting it all together. It was also helpful in learning about organizational communication.
This module clarified organizational communication as a whole in the open model system. Using communication as an organization to meet short, intermediate and long term goals that affect all parties involved. Decent overview.
Communication is an area that many departments have been historically lacking, the free flow of information up and down the chain is vital and must be constantly attended for success.
I agree that it is crucial for us, especially those that are in a supervisorial role, to share information throughout the organization from top to bottom. Having this “free-flowing” information like you mentioned is vital to the success of an organization. I am a strong advocate for networking, where I found it more beneficial than it being an obstacle.
Communication is essential at every stage of leadership. It must be present to present goals, convey expectations, evaluate and recieve feedback. It functions for information exchange, problem/solution identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management. The process of communication can be simply between two peoople (dyad) or between people, grouops, the public, and even diverse modes of technology. When placed into the Organizational Communications Procedure diagram it can be seen the fluid exchange of information as an organizational process. Without communication an organization and its leadership could never share or accomplish any goals.
I agree, if we fail to communicate we fail the organization and those we are supervising.
Communication is essential in getting the mission accomplished regardless of the task. Also, organizations must be able to adapt to achieve their goal.
Many departments forget that communication is a two way street and seldom evaluate if the message is getting disseminated clearly.
Absolutely. It seems the further the message goes down the chain the more diluted it becomes. By the time it gets down to the bottom it is almost an entirely different message or at least can be understood in different ways.
I am certain that many of us have "endured" through several examples of this very issue through stages in our career. No doubt about it. For me, I have learned that it is often the subtle messages, or communications from those above that are most important to learn from. Not necessarily what they are saying, but maybe what they are not or how they are not saying something. No surprise, we must learn to read between the lines within our organization just as we do when we respond to a call or cope with family issues, etc.
This module helped me understand organizational communication from a standpoint of an executive leader. Knowing that organizational communication is a key to adapting, altering and maintaining their environments for the purpose of achieving organizational goals. Executive leaders understand that organizational communication is a continuous process.
Many people fail to see the difference between leadership on a team or shift level and leadership on the organizational level. The people lead and the goals at each level are difference. Our frame of reference has to change so we can understand what our organizational needs are.
This module helped me break down the different characteristics of communication within an organization. A lot of what was taught is already in practice within my unit. It helped me figure out what we are doing correctly and what areas that need to be improved on.
Yes, after this module I can better appreciate and analyze the communication system as a whole rather than just interpersonal communications.
I agree. This module did help break down different functions and uses of communication. It helped me think about the different uses of communication in my department.
This module touched on varying aspects. What I took from this lecture is that organizations must know how to integrate efficient concepts within organizational communication. I also agree that organizations must be able to adapt, alter, and maintain for the purpose of achieving goals.
After watching this module I found it to be a little more complicated than it needed to be. I perceived that an organizations communication begins with goal setting. At some point the smaller and intermediate goals build on one another to reach a long term goal. Throughout this process these goals may be altered to reach an improved result. In other words, the goal may change as time goes on. Communicating this within the organization is the adaptation part of it.
It was a bit complicated for me to follow. I think if you look at organizational communication not just in the aspect of internally, but also externally. Its a little easier to understand the point made about the environment as a whole. Not just the organization environment, but the outside environments, i.e. the communities we serve. It was difficult for me to understand as well and I'm still not 100 percent sure I get it.
Once again, the point of effective communication, both internally and externally, is key to an organizations success. It is essential communication occurs upward, downward, and laterally.
I especially agree with external communication. I think this is a critical area that we sometimes fail to do thoroughly.
I agree communication is vital in everything we do if we expect to achieve the desired results.
I agree with you Amanda, the ending when it was all tied together was good.
This module was interesting, very descriptive on the subject of communication. I agree that without effective organizational communication it is impossible to reach the long term goals and the organization will die.
This module provided a lot of information on communication, but I found it confusing. I do like how they broke everything down and then put it all together in the end. I also like adapt to, alter & maintain.
I agree Amanda. I thought I was the only one that found this module difficult to understand.
My take away from this module is that for an organization to function it needs to balance its short run, intermediate, and long run goals. To achieve this it has to exchange information, identify problems, regulate behaviors and handle conflict resolution within internal and external factors.
I saw it as a way to reach set goals too. I think it shows how to adapt to changing times requiring you to alter your goals. Maintaining is receiving the changing “need”, altering it, and putting back into the environment you operate for a desired result.
In this lesson I learned that organizational communication is important, but complex process. I learned the difference between short run, intermediate, and long run goals. Short run and intermediate are needed to continue the long run goals. I learned the four functions of communication. information exchange, problem identification, behavior regulation, and conflict management.
My takeaway from this module was that, once again, communication is absolutely vital.
Up, down, sideways... internally, externally…. it is all equally important.
While I did not love the way the information was presented, it made some excellent points on how to steer the communication process toward a positive outcome.
Christian, i agree with you. This lesson was difficult to process.
I agree this module was hard to follow. One thing I have learned through this 6 weeks is communication is vital.
I agree Christian with both of your points. I found the diagram slides somewhat confusing.
In this module, I believe the message that was trying to be conveyed was that there needs to be communication within an organization at all levels. Both internal and external factors need to be taking into consideration when establishing the short, intermediate, and long term goals of the organization. Once these goals are set, the organization can effectively communicate within to adapt, alter, or maintain their environment to achieve those goals.
Organizational communication is extremely important. The morale of your agency can be negatively affected if communication from the top down is not accurate. Clear and concise communication is vital from the top down to the troops.
Organizational communication is vital, but how it's delivered is just as vital in my opinion. If you have fractured lines of communication from the top down, it's going to show a lack of cohesiveness, making leadership appear to be on different pages. Clear and concise communication from the top down is required for a department to move in one direction to accomplish the department's mission.
This module was very confusing. It is understandable that Organizational communication is vital for any agency and all too often lacks. All too often in my department we are the last to know what is going on in the agency….information is not funneled down from the proper chain.
I agree. This module was very confusing. Information needs not only to be funneled down through the chain but also shared across. Something one division may be doing or want to do could affect the way another division operates.
Definitely confusing! Leaders should make sure to share information, especially right now. With most personnel working from home, a lot of information can fall through the cracks.
I agree organization communication is vital but is seldom used effectively in most orgainiztions.
I agree with you, Laure. My head is still trying to comprehend what was discussed. In regards to your statement that information not being funneled down, you are correct. A lot of times, my division is left out of the loop on things that are occurring.
I am glad to see that I was not the only person who felt like I was drinking out of a fire hose. So, I would say that organizational communication is used to understand a mission. Without communication, an organization can’t be as effective. It is the managerial subsystems of the organization that must be clear and concise when exchanging information amongst the dimensions to achieve a mission. Organizational communication uses contexts to move the content of the information through the internal departments in a police agency. This is considered a never-ending process in the organization or police agency.
I couldn't agree with you more Clint. Nothing is worse than an administration that is sending out mixed messages, or even worse, not supporting the message after it has been conveyed to the subordinates.
Breakdowns in communication generally lay at the foundation of any issue. Whether it is individual communication or organizational communication, neither are immune to these communication problems. As an organization, the ability to receive communications or send out communications is critical to the level of effectiveness and success. Organizational communication is an intelligence function that allows an agency to adapt to, alter or maintain the environment in which it operates.
While I believe the content is relevant in this module, the delivery and convoluted terminology distracted the intent. Communication within any organization needs to be consistent and able to adapt to the ever changing environment. There needs to be a continual flow of information from the executive management level to rank and file. External communication with all stakeholders must be present, consistent and relevant to ensure success.
The scale of satisfaction productivity was of interest to me although there is not a definitive relationship. In the middle of the graph where there is a moderate level of productivity and satisfaction seems to be where the focus should be.
The ability to please all parties involved is not always the endgoal for all organizations. In our line of work, it seems that being able to satisfy all is harder to do everyday. Being bale to communicate our mission, goals, and how we serve is important. But at the end of the day, we have to deliver an efficient form of communication.
Organizational communication is used to those in the agency to understand the goals that must be met. Communication of even the smallest changes in my organization have a tendency to be misinterpreted as its passed down through the ranks.
Chasity, thanks for making it easier to understand. I found this module to be overly difficult to follow at times, but I ultimately grasp the points, I think.
I agree the smallest changes in our agency have a tendency to be misinterpreted as it is passed down through the ranks. This often affects morale within our agency because of the rumor mill starts to fill in where the communication fails.
This module provided and in-depth breakdown of an organization and the process for communication. In discussing the environments, organizations must adapt, alter or maintain for effective communication and goal achievement. These goals could be short, intermediate, or long run goals. Any large agency can always improve on organizational communication to ensure these goals are met, but it takes everyone to understand the process and importance.
The uses and functions of communication was interesting to me. The information exchange especially. I can not count the times that I am the last to know something in what seems like the entire department already knows. Some things are trivial, but some things are a new way of doing something important. I usually hear about it but its a day late. This information exchange has been an issue my entire career, not just since I have been in a position of leadership. I try to relay information to everyone that needs to hear it before it gets mangled up with wrong information.
Jason,
I felt a bit of relief after reading your post, because I too many times feel like I am the last person to know things! I know the feeling of frustration when it occurs, and it motivates me to make sure that I am communicating to those I supervise as efficiently as I possibly can.
I agree the module was very abstract in the methodology used to teach the meaning of organizational communication. Simply, I would use the common complaint within law enforcement organizations - communication up and down the chain of command needs significant improvement. We have all been guilty of failing to communicate within our own departments. The "survival" of any organization depends on the leaders' ability to effectively communicate and adapt to the internal and external environment so they can accomplish short-run, intermediate, and long-run goals.
Nail on the head. It is the same in our agency. Without clear and concise information traveling up and down the ladder it makes being an effective leader that much more difficult.
Agree. There often are internal failures when agency heads fail to communicate to their subordinates. Messages that need to be disseminated urgently are often lost and fail to detail why an action or direction was made, thus further illustrating the lack of effective organizational communication.
I totally agree you have to have the understanding and utilize the effective communication in order to understand. I feel as if you don't know the meaning of communication, you won't be able to utilize it effectively.
Yes I agree. Some Agencies leadership see communication as a one way street diminishing the effectiveness of organization and its overall goal.
Agree Brian. There often are internal failures when agency heads fail to communicate to their subordinates. Messages that need to be disseminated urgently are often lost and fail to detail why an action or direction was made, thus further illustrating the lack of effective organizational communication.
Same in our agency....information is not communicated down to where it needs to go. We find out stuff on the street about what is going on inside our agency.
I agree as well.
It is important to remember that internal and external communication are both vital.
I agree. Communication up and down the chain of command is always going to be a problem. I don't believe I have ever heard of an organization that didn't have a communication problem. Human error will always be a factor. All we can do is try to minimize our mistakes and try to do better.
Organizational Communication is the method that is used for organizations to understand the mission. In reviewing this module, many different aspects were covered. In order for an organization to be effective, competent communication must be provided to the entire agency. This is an area that most agencies that I have been around needed to improve. Delivering a clear, concise message that everyone in the organization understands is essential to achieve the goals set by the agency.
Drauzin, I agree with your comments. As leaders, we need to keep the message short and simple, while always focusing on the mission. If our Mission, Vision, and Values are always clear and reinforced on a daily basis they become the DNA of our people and the organization.
This lesson had a lot of information to digest, but it drove home the importance of organizational communication. It is important to understand that organizational communication is a process and it is important for maintaining your environment and achieving goals. Organizations should look to adapt, alter and maintain with regard to communication. While I maintain communication is one of the most vital aspects of not only being an effective leader, I also feel there is always room for improvement. The success or failure of an organization can often be directly tied to a failed or successful communication strategy.
Frank
I agree, communication is the greatest factor. Every agency has to be able to adapt. The world and the agencies are ever changing and it is paramount to adapt or you lose all effectiveness.
I completely agree that communication is very important, but more importantly that there is always room for improvement. No one will ever be perfect, and there are many things that we all need to constantly work on. But, in a work environment and being a leadership role, being able to communicate effectively is crucial and can make or break an organization and a team.
Organizational communication is essential to agency survival. The agency must learn to adapt, alter or maintain its environment. This makes sense for as societal norms change, the organization must also change. The agency must also keep tabs on short, intermediate and long term goals.
Joey, I agree organizational communication is essential for agency survival. We must be fluid and adapt to our environments. The old "that's how we have always done it" is not a sufficient enough reason to stay stagnant. Change can be good, especially when it comes to improving communication.
Frank
Joey,
It appears you hit the key points within this module. I agree that changes must occur within the organization as societal norms change. It is an ebb and flow.
Joey,
I agree with your summation that organizational communication is essential to agency survival. Agencies must have the ability to adjust and adapt to the ever-changing environment - whether it is changes in legislation, local politics, or within the community they serve. The ability for an organization to maintain its effectiveness depends on the ability to understand and stay in touch with the environment. This plays a huge role in developing goals.
Joey, I agree. As our environment changes, we must reassess our goals and adapt to meet them.
I like that explination
Listening to the lecture and trying to understand what was being said, I found it very difficult to visualize the concept of what was being said. I understand management and leadership and the difference between the two. I really don't see the difference in information between this module and the last.
Mike, I would definitely agree that the way this material was presented was not conducive for the entire audience to understand. The content should have included some better examples of what they were trying to get across. We have learned already that communication is an essential aspect of being a good leader.
Drauzin, I agree with you and Mike. The module was confusing. We already understand the importance of communication.
I agree Lt. Richard
I am glad I am not the only one. I was also confused by the way the information was presented. I feel that examples should be presented to get the point across.
Mike Brown,
I had difficulty following this lecture/module as well. However, to put things in perspective I had to read from the “Leadership in Organizations” book provided day one. It talks about the organization and the environment that affects communication in 3 directions. (upward, downward and lateral) plus much more. It wasn’t an answer to all the clarity that I was looking for in this module but it helped.
Dan
Thanks for the insight Mike, because my initial thought was communication shouldn't be this complicated. At this stage of the game we have been doing it our whole life and I can't remember the last time I needed to chart how communication has an effect or what the chart meant.
I get that communication takes place and is important to everything we do but this was confusing.
I also struggled with this module.
I thought I was the only one! I agree this module was complicated. It took me quite a while to fully grasp the concepts, especially related to that chart at the end.
I thought it was just. Thank goodness for the discussion board.
I'm glad I am not the only one
Agreed. It seemed like a long over complicated way to explain what should be a simple concept. Many of the charts presented require further explanation to make sense.
Kyle I agree. It seemed like a very long module and complicated. I had gotten lost for a minute.
I agree with you, I found this lecture difficult to visualize and at times confusing. I understand one needs to have good organizational communication for delivery of the message to both the employees and the community. I just don't know how this information is any different that information from the previous lessons.
I agree with everyone who struggled with understanding the difference in this module. It wasn't that I took anything new away from this lesson, it just reiterated the messages that have been previously stated in other lessons. It just further placed emphasis on how important communication was within the organization and how important it is for the organization to communicate externally.
I agree, it was confusing. Good organization communication is needed for both the community and employees, but I think it could have been delivered in a less complicated manner.
Mike I too struggled to grasp the concept of organizational communication. I believe that I understand communication, and I understand that it is important in an organization. I am not sure that I clearly understand how this differs from other forms of communication that were discussed in previous lectures.
I agree! I thought that maybe I was the only one who found this module confusing.
Joey, organizational communication is essential to survival and is one of the things we spend little time with. I think it is important to always be examining how we communicate so adapting to an ever changing environment is not as painful as it normally is. As change becomes necessary, how we communicate that need to the team can make all the difference in buy-in and a desire to adapt.
Organizational communications is important to adapt, alter, or maintain their environment to achieve their goals they have set. Since law enforcement answers to the community I surmise that any agency that doesn't have effective organization communication will basically "rot" from the inside out. The agency will have have employees that will not know what the public is asking for which will make their "output" poor, along with a poor community relations.
If the agency cannot adapt to its environment , it cannot survive and will cease to exist. The organization must adjust to changing societal norms.
I agree that effective organizational communication must be established and maintained to be effective within our communities.
I agree with you, lack of organizational communication can have a negative impact on the agency and the community.