Research and Analysis on Changing Modes of

Communication within Organizations in India

Vinisha Panwar
GOA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT
Abstract

This study is primarily based on secondary research done on practices followed by Indian
organizations. A small survey has also been conducted based on questionnaire focusing on the
following areas of organizational communication:

 Various modes of internal communications used in an Indian organization (Merits and

demerits associated with every communication mode)

 What are the most preferred modes of communication? Have they changed over a period
of time? Reason behind the preference of an Indian organization towards a certain mode of
communication?

 Has any new mode of communication replaced any old way of internal communication?
Reasons behind that change?

 What are the specific situations within which organizations prefer a certain mode of
internal communication over other modes? Does the mode change with the change in
situation?

Introduction
Communication within an organization plays a crucial role in functioning of the organization.
Without proper communication channels, no organization can achieve sustained success in long
term. So, it becomes really important for every organization to ensure the effectiveness of
communication within it to sustain organizational functional efficiency. Communication within
organization may face various barriers but what crucial is to note how barriers affect the
performance, satisfaction and development of employees. These parameters determine the quality
of communication within an organization.

There are two broad ways in which communication can be characterized within organizations. It
can be characterized into formal and informal communication. It can also be differentiated into
vertical (downward or upward), horizontal and diagonal.
Formal communication means communication in prescribed organizational format (written or
electronic format) to its employees. In many established Indian organizations, the most common
channel of informing employees through downward or upward channel is via means of formal
communication. Informal means of communication within organizations, for example, usage of
social media is also gaining importance in today’s era. For efficient and fast response, dynamic
informal communication is becoming more important in modern organizations.

Vertical communications plays more important role in organizations following a hierarchical

structure where important positioned people need to make time to time downward and upward
communication. Previous research in this areas has suggested that downward communication is
more prevalent than upward communication.

Upward communication plays important role in understanding employee satisfaction with

organizational communication like employee surveys, employee grievance programs, employee
participation programs like quality circles. On the other hand, downward communication plays
important role in determining the satisfaction of employees with the organizational communication
as employees generally want to hear more organizational news directly from the top management.

Lateral communication is the communication among employees who do not stand in hierarchal
relation to one another. Research in this area is limited but it do supports the fact that lateral
communication among managers of same function shows high levels of satisfaction. But as many
corporates have the concept of doing work in teams where people belonging to different functional
areas work together, lateral communication among employees in different functional areas has
become a matter of crucial concern.
 Lateral
communication

Upward Downward
Communication communication

Internal
Communication

Various modes of internal communications used in an Indian organization (Merits and

Demerits associated with every communication mode)

Various ways of communication has been mentioned in the table below:

Formal ways Informal ways

Work councils/groups Online communities

Face to Face meetings Briefing groups

Newsletters Quality circles

Work reports Verbal or telephonic

Emails/Letters Chat rooms/discussion forum

Type of communication Merits Demerits
PERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Face to Face meetings, Human connection & Possibility of power tripping
Dialogues, relationship building or manipulation by leader
Workshops, Information sharing Time taking exercise
Quality Circles, Teamwork and productivity Lack of skilled facilitator can
Briefings groups, turn dialogue in a waste of
Dialogues, time
Work councils Boost employee morale Unnecessary conflicts may
occur
Impactful when done with a Unnecessary repetition of old
well-defined purpose & ideas from previous
quantifying results meetings/briefings
Understanding building Not a direct problem resolving
process process
Flexibility of length and Hard to cover every important
frequency of sessions topic within a tight schedule
Reduce misunderstandings & Lot of things rely on skills of
conflicts instructor/facilitator
A platform to ideate and Lack of adequate leadership
evaluate can create problems
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
Newsletters, Permanent means of Cost in terms of stationery and
Boards, communication manpower
Pamphlets, Useful where record Response is not spontaneous
Memos, maintenance is required
Reports Proper delegation of Time consuming as feedback
responsibilities is not immediate
 More precise and explicit Requires great skills and
competencies, not easy to
master
Develop and enhances Too much paperwork
organization image
Provides ready records and
references
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
Email, Speedy transmission Undelivered communication
Intranet, due to fault in technology
Telephone, Wide coverage Dependency on technology
Voicemail, Exchange of feedback Information may be distorted
Pager/Fax Managing global operations

NEW COMMUNICATION METHODS

Online communities, Two way communication Rumor mill (spreading false
Blogs/Chatrooms, platform information)
Online trainings, Occur in any direction , Less accountability
Video conferences, between employees of
Social media different roles/job statuses
Key factor in how people get Casual conversations may be
work done spontaneous and inaccurate
Building effective
relationships
Boosting employee morale
Most preferred modes of communication? Have they changed over a period of time?
Reason behind the preference of an Indian organization towards a certain mode of
communication?

In today’s era, it has become crucial for Indian organizations to keep its employees informed about
the strategy and the direction in which business is heading. The main challenge which Indian
companies generally face is a geographically dispersed workforce. We have differences of
language, culture within different parts of India. These differences along with poor infrastructure
serve as barriers for the information flow towards employees related to understanding of business
decisions.

The challenge with the internal communication system of Indian organizations is whether the
efforts they are putting to disseminate the information is really worth it or not. If organization is
using newsletter to inform its employees, then are people interested enough to open the newsletter
and go through it?

Some of the technology companies in India prefer to use a mix of web based and traditional
communication tools to keep their employees informed. Local intranet is used a channel where
employees can find all current information regarding company, latest strategy, blogs and other
links. Regional newsletter is also generally shared on monthly basis with all employees. Some of
the Indian IT firms and technology firms do believe in organizing workshops to keep people
informed about the company vision and mission. Also, some of the firms in India do use passive
form of communication like HSBC India uses a desktop calendar through help of which company
can simply direct their IT teams to send messages to staff members via screensavers or desktop.

Virtual conferences is emerging as a latest means of internal communication within Indian

organizations. It has become an important medium of communication these days as work generally
involved staff from different offices.
Has any new mode of communication replaced any old way of internal communication?
What are the specific situations within which organizations prefer a certain mode of
internal communication over other modes? Does the mode change with the change in
situation?

From the survey and research result, we can say that in Indian organizations, still traditional and
formal means of communication like newsletters, emails, face to face meetings prevail more as
compared to modern means of communication. Social media and other informal means of
communications plays a very small role.

Virtual conferences is emerging as a new medium of internal communication in today’s era in

Indian organizations apart from a traditional conference. Also, it is to be noted that when
information record has to be kept in the organization like in financial firms, written communication
is preferably used. Email and instant messaging plays a speedy medium of communication, so that
action can be taken faster.

Workshops are preferred when company needs to inform the staff about certain new policies
launched or strategies adopted or wants to train the staff in certain areas. A dialogue is preferred
than a meeting, when different aspects of a problem has to be thoroughly understood by the
company.
Survey and Analysis
A small online survey was conducted for developing a good understanding of internal
communication in Indian organizations. Fifty employees at entry level and managerial level from
financial firms, IT/Technology firms and other businesses responded. Analysis has been shown
below.

Information Communication type Preferbly Used

Communication approach used by companies

BOTH 40 25 40

FORMAL 60 75 40

INFORMAL 0 20

Percentage of Repondents from types of firms

IT/Tech firms Financial Firms Other businesses

As shown in above graph, it is clearly depicted that 75 percent of respondents from financial firms
and 60 percent of respondents from IT/Tech firms responded that their companies use formal
communication as a preferred way of communication.

On the other hand, majority of respondents from other business like small consultancy firms
responded that their firms equally prefer formal and informal way of communication. It shows that
in Indian firms formal way of communication is most preferred especially in business like financial
firms.
 Communication channel preferred in companies
1
NEW COMMUNICATION METHODS (ONLINE/APPS) 0
0
Communication channels

0
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION 5
0
14
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION 21
28
6
PERSONAL COMMUNICATION 7
7

0 5 10 15 20 25 30
Percentage of respondents

Other small businesses Financial firms IT/Tech firms

Most preferred medium of communication by Indian organizations as depicted in survey was

electronic communication. Especially IT/Tech firms give a major focus towards electronic
medium of communication. Next best preferred medium of communication, especially for
downward information flow, is personal communication.

Respondents from Financial firms and IT firms have given almost equal importance to personal
communication which is being used as the second most preferred way of internal communication
within these organizations. Only few respondents from other businesses responded that their
organizations prefer certain new means of communication. As per the survey response, IT and
financial firms generally not prefer new means of communication over formal and traditional
ways.
 Communication effect on productivity - From
employees view

41% Traditional communication

Modern communication
59%

Approximately 6o percent of respondents believe that traditional communication like formal

communication via electronic or written means, face to face meetings, work councils, briefings
have more effect on their productivity as compared to modern communication. While nearly 40
percent of respondents think that modern means of communication can have more impact on their
productivity as compared to traditional means.

Important factor for employee performance

CORPORATE INFORMATION 75

PERSONAL FEEDBACK 80

SUPERVISOR'S COMMUNICATION 85

COMMUNICATION MEDIUM 60

COWORKER COMMUNICATION 70

COMMUNICATION CLIMATE 50

0 20 40 60 80 100

Respondents percentage who consider the factor important

When people were asked about the factors that are important for their work performance, majority
of respondents preferred supervisor’s communication as the most critical factor for their
performance. Second most important factor recognized by the majority of the respondents was
personal feedback. Corporate communication followed by coworker communication were also
considered as important factors but communication climate was considered to be least important
among all other factors by the respondents.

Dissatisfaction

Not a two way communication

26%
32% Poorly timed communication
Fear of reprisal
Filters
10%
Information overload
10%
11% Too many meetings
11%

Majority of respondents, approximately 32 percent, expressed the major reason behind their
dissatisfaction with the existing communication of the organization is that the communication is
not a two way communication. Second most preferred reason behind dissatisfaction was that the
organization follow too many meetings. Other factors like fear of reprisal, filters and poorly timed
information plays almost equal roles in creating dissatisfaction among employees.
 Employee's clarity about Employer
22
Clarity level of Respondents

FULL CLARITY 43
50

64
PARTIAL CLARITY 50
43

14
NO CLARITY 7
7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Percentage of Respondents

Company policies/procedures Company goal Job & Responsibility

How strong and successful is the organization communication can be determined by understanding
the clarity level of employees. It was surprising to know that majority of respondents, i.e.,
approximately 64 percent were partially unclear about company policies and 50 percent were
partially unclear about the company goals and more than 40 percent were partially unclear about
their jobs & responsibilities. Only 22 percent of respondents were fully aware of company
policies/procedures and 43 percent of respondents were clear about company goals. It is clearly
depicted that approximately more than half of the respondents were somehow unclear about
company’s aim and their own jobs.
 Exisiting Communication System of Company

43% Employees happy with the system

57% Unhappy employees

Overall, by the survey analysis we can say, that approx. 57 percent of respondents were happy
with the current internal communication system of their organizations while approx. 43 percent of
respondents were found to be unhappy with the current communication system. More than 40
percent is not a small number. It is important to note that near to half of the respondents were found
to be unsatisfied with the existing communication methods followed by their companies.
Company’s need to modify the existing communication system in a way that at least it satisfy more
than 80 percent of their employees.
Conclusion

Though it’s clear from the research and survey that Indian organizations prefer to follow formal
communications approach but some of the organizations are looking to follow a mix approach of
formal and informal way of communicating with employees. There is no clear evidence from prior
research whether informal communication improves productivity more than formal
communication but our short survey reflects the opinion of Indian employees working in diverse
Indian organizations that informal communication is also preferred by a large chunk of people,
specifically communication from immediate supervisor affects employees performance in a
significant way. Also, employees are not fully clear about organizations policies, goals and even
about their own job and responsibilities. So, it becomes really crucial for Indian organizations to
look for a combination of modern and traditional communication methods which make their
employees clear about company’s goals and changing priorities. Last but not the least, it is true
that in certain situations, formal communication might be more preferred and correct way of
communicating but restricting only to formal communication will be not the right approach.
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