Sandy,
Communication with an organisation depends very much on how relationships
are seen. Implicit on your question is a very traditional framework in
which top management generate the goals and merely communicate them to the
"workers" (doesn't top management work) and the "workers" only express
concerns. Increasingly there are more balanced perspectives being
developed in which people throughout the organisation play a role in
defining strategy (see "What's wrong with Strategy in the latest Harvard
Business Review" (Nov-Dec 1997, p42-51)), and management is in more of a
service role (see Servant Leader by Greenleaf).
My observation is that communication depends essentially on the
willingness of management to understand and support the staff. Once this
is in place, a wide range of avenues can be used. It if is not, then any
sort of communication is just window dressing. No set of mechanism can
overcome indifference.
Yours
Gray Southon
>A colleague is interested in communication in organizations and is asking
>for assistance with the following:
>
>1/ Does anyone have good references for latest reviews of research, in
>particulr, about best ways for top managment and workers to communicate
>with each other? For example, can top management communicate the goals,
>strategic planning, etc., to everyone? Do the workers even want to hear
>about any of that stuff? Also, how can workers best communicate their
>concerns to top management, e.g. through anonymous suggestions, through
>their supervisors, special teams, etc.
>
>2/Also looking for references on any reviews of research about the
>effectiveness of training people on listening skills
...snip by your host...
Gray Southon
Consultant in Health Management Research and Analysis
15 Parthenia St., Caringbah, NSW 2229, Australia
Ph/Fax +61 2 9524 7822, mobile +61 414 295 328
e-mail gsouthon@ozemail.com.au
Web Page: http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gsouthon/
Temporarily: Lecturer in Health Management
University of New England, Armidale, NSW.
--Gray Southon <gsouthon@ozemail.com.au>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>