Student Name: Janice Doe

Candidate Number: 160009XXXX

School: Bishop Anstey High School

Centre Number: 160009

Business Cognate Subject: Principles of Business

Teacher (s): Mrs. Bitu / Ms Gittens

Territory: Trinidad

Year of Examination: 3

Topic Sentence: An investigation on the impact of covid-19 on internal methods of communication

at TATECO Credit Union.

1
Contents

Topic/ Issue/ Problem 3

Objectives 4
Background 5
Methodology 6
Presentation and Analysis of Data 8
Conclusion 11
Recommendation 12
Bibliography 13
Appendix 14

2
Topic/ Issue/ Problem

An investigation into the impact of covid-19 on the internal methods of communication at

TATECO Credit Union.

3
Objectives

⎯ To identify internal methods of communication used at TATECO Credit Union.

⎯ To identify barriers to communication at TATECO Credit Union.

⎯ To evaluate the effectiveness of the methods of communications used at TATECO Credit

Union.

4
Background

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of internal methods of

communication and hindrances to communication at TATECO Credit Union. Communication in

business is the process of delineating information within a business. (DiNardi, 2019). Thus,

communication is vital to the success of businesses.

Since the pandemic breached the shores of Trinidad and Tobago in March 2020, many public

facilities had to be temporarily closed, businesses included. (Mike, 2020). This disturbance in

business communication has caused numerous obstacles for businesses, however, technological

development has allowed us to adjust to the sudden changes. Many businesses resorted to virtual

methods of communication, such as Zoom, Google Meet and WhatsApp. (Saud, 2020).

Amidst the pandemic, it is crucial for businesses to adapt to the new methods of communication

as, according to effectio.com, “Quality communication in the workplace can eliminate

unnecessary problems and promote better performance.”

This topic is important to students as it helps to identify real world struggles in communication

and the issues that may arise due to poor communication. This research will focus on identifying

the methods of communications utilized TATECO Credit Union, and to analyze the effectiveness

of the methods implemented during Covid-19.

5
Methodology

In this study, two instruments of data collection were employed, a questionnaire and an interview.

The sample selected was from The Assistant manager, Mr. Virgil Charles, and nine employees

from the Customer Service Department. This department was suitable as it deals with many levels

of communication, whether it be internal or between an employee and a costumer.

The questionnaire was prepared in Google Forms and consisted of six close ended questions. The

link to the Google Form was shared with the customer service department on November 17th,

2021 and was to be completed by November 24th, 2021. The interview took place via Zoom on

Wednesday 24th November, 2021 at 5:00pm, lasting a total of twenty minutes. The interview

was conducted on Mr. Virgil Charles, and consisted of six open ended questions.

The use of a questionnaire was appropriate as it allowed for a greater number of persons to

answer the questions anonymously, while also reducing cost and time. This is advantageous in

this study as it is more beneficial to have more opinions on the quality of communication.

Conversely, the interview was effective within this sample because it creates room for more

detailed information regarding personal feelings and opinions, and as the study intends to

investigate the effectiveness of communication, the personal conceptions of employees

are important to note. On the other hand, the aforementioned instrument of data collection also

6
have a few limitations or disadvantages. Questionnaires do not enable respondents to have

personal contact with the creator of the questionnaire, thus if there is an issue within the document,

there is no immediate resolution. Coordinately, interviews are limited in that they are typically

done verbally, which then facilitates the need for it to be transcribed in order to access the

information needed for this study. Additionally, when conducting an interview, the risk of

misunderstanding questions or responses increases. In order to mitigate the issue of

miscommunication in both the questionnaire and interview, the questions to be asked were

carefully plotted such that they were very easily understandable.

7
Presentation and Analysis of Data
Objective 1

Figure 1: Internal methods to communication before and after March 2020.

Prior to March 2020, TATECO Credit Union relied mainly on face-to-face meetings. After March

2020, however, their main method of communication was emails. TATECO Credit Union also

introduced the methods of a webinar, online meetings, online notices and video calls after March

2020.

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Objective 2

Figure Two: The barriers to communication before and after March 2020.

Communication barriers which were produced after March 2020 were that persons lacked access

to electronic communications and that there were interruptions in electronic communications, with

the latter being among the two main barriers, alongside differences in perception. On the other

hand, other barriers to communication lessened as compared to before March 2020, such as the

main barrier, differences in perception. Information overload did not exist after March 2020.

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Objective 3

Figure Three: The effectiveness of communication prior to March 2020, and after March 2020.

The effectiveness of internal methods to communication was accepted as generally effective prior

to March 2020, which the exception of one person being undecided, and another believing it to be

very effective. After March 2020, it remained that one person believed the internal methods to

communication to be very effective, however the number of undecided persons increased by two,

persons who felt the methods effective lessened by four and two deemed the methods as

ineffective.

10
Conclusion

Through the use of a questionnaire and an interview, an investigation into the internal methods of

communication, the barriers to the internal methods to communication, and the effectiveness of

the internal methods of communication experienced by TATECO Credit Union was conducted,

and the results were recorded and analyzed.

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Recommendation

Based off of the barriers delineated by Mr. Vigil Charles, recommendations to alleviate the issue

of persons not being attentive during meetings are

1. The person in charge of taking the minutes of the meeting can be rotated. This will prove

to be effective as it is important to remain focus and attentive when taking minutes of a

meeting, or assisting with it.

2. Supply employees with an agenda at least one day prior to the actual meeting. If this is

done, persons will be ready to ask any questions that they may have beforehand, which will

result in a swifter, more concise meeting.

3. Provide the employees with the dates, time and location of the meetings beforehand will

aid in resolving the issue of lack of access to methods of communication or interruptions

in communication.

12
Bibliography
DiNardi, G. (2019, May 3). What is Business Communication & Why Do You Need It? Nextiva
Blog.
Mike, S. (2020, April 24). The first month of COVID-19 in Trinidad and Tobago . Diplo.
Ward, D. (2021, September 02). HOW COVID-19 IS CHANGING HOW COMPANIES
COMMUNICATE. AEM.

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Appendix

Appendix 1

INTERVIEW WEDNESDAY 24th NOVEMBER 2021 5PM – 5.20PM

1. Introduce yourself and tell us about how long you have been at TATECO Credit Union and
tell us about your role and function in your departments.

2. How many people are you in charge of?

3. What method of internal communication did you use with your staff before March 2020?

4. What method of internal communication did you use with your staff after March 2020?

5. What barriers to internal communication existed in the department before March 2020?

6. What barriers occurred in the department after March 2020?

7. How effective were the methods of internal communication used in the business before March
2021?

8. Would you say that the methods used now would be more effective than before?

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Appendix 2

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Which of the following internal methods of communication were used by the business prior to
March 2020?
- Face to face meetings
- Online meetings
- Phone calls
- Video Calls
- Emails
- Notices
- Online notices
- Announcements
- Reports
- Webinar
- Conferences

2. Which of the following internal methods of communication were used by the business after
March 2020?
- Face to face meetings
- Online meetings
- Phone calls
- Video Calls
- Emails
- Notices
- Online notices
- Announcements
- Reports
- Webinar
- Conferences

3. Which barriers to communication existed prior to March 2020?

- Language
- Emotional inferences
- Differences in perception
- Information overload
- Selecting wrong channel of communication (upward, downward, horizontal)
- Interruptions in electronic communication
- Non access to electronic communication

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4. Which barrier to communication existed after March 2020?
- Language
- Emotional inferences
- Differences in perception
- Information overload
- Selecting wrong channel of communication (upward, downward, horizontal)
- Interruptions in electronic communication
- Non access to electronic communication

5. In your opinion, how effective have been the methods of communication prior to March 2020?
- Very Effective
- Effective
- Undecided
- Not Effective

6. In your opinion, how effective have been the methods of communication after March 2020?
- Very Effective
- Effective
- Undecided
- Not Effective

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