What type of organizational communication flows from a higher level to a lower level such as a manager communicating with subordinates?

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Upward Communication
Pros and Cons of Upward Communication
Downward Communication
Pros and Cons of Downward Communication
Horizontal Communication
Pros and Cons of Horizontal Communication
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By Dr. Shirley J. Caruso, Ed.D.

Today’s organizations are multifaceted communal structures which cannot effectively function without meaningful communication between its employees. Communication is the process by which all employees within an organization are connected. Communication within an organization flows mainly in three different directions – downward, upward and horizontal.

Upward Communication

Upward communication originates from the subordinate level and continues to flow up to the organizational hierarchy to those superior in the organization. It is an upward flow of information from employees at the operational level to top executives. Upward communication can occur through suggestion systems, appeal and grievance procedures, group meetings, the practice of an open-door policy, morale questionnaires and exit interviews.

In order to promote effective upward communication, the upper level of management must create a working environment in which subordinates feel at liberty to communicate.

Pros and Cons of Upward Communication

Pros

Managers can obtain specific knowledge about every situation in the organization. This type of communication assists management in comprehending the performance of employees, the problems of employees, and the results of decisions they have made.
Upward communication helps the organization to implement innovative techniques developed by the lower level employees.
Employees are enthusiastic because they feel they are an essential part of the organization.
The process of downward communication is facilitated as good listening becomes a two-way channel.

Cons

Employees hesitate to communicate bad news for fear that it will make them appear incompetent.
The valuable time of superiors may be wasted in listening to trivial matters of subordinates.
Superiors often listen only to what they feel is important and may be ignoring other important information.
Superiors are often too busy to listen to subordinates.

Downward Communication

Communication that streams from employees at higher levels to those at lower levels in the organizational chain of command is referred to as downward communication. Oral downward communication may take place by means of instructions, meetings, the telephone, loudspeakers and even the grapevine. Written downward communication engages the use of memorandums, letters, handbooks, pamphlets, and policy and procedure statements.

Pros and Cons of Downward Communication

Pros

Assists employees in gaining support from their superiors by providing job instructions, rationale and feedback.
Makes employees aware of the organization’s policies, procedures, objectives and programs.
Facilitates understanding of employees’ responsibilities and helps them achieve their goals.

Cons

It is a time-consuming process that may frustrate top level managers.
Lack of knowledge on the part of the subordinates may cause misunderstandings and create conflicts.
The message may lose its accuracy because it becomes complicated. Lack of trust between superiors and subordinates can cause the message to become distorted.

Horizontal Communication

Horizontal flow refers to the flow of information among employees at the same or similar organizational levels, who have no direct reporting relationships. It can take place orally during informal meetings or over lunch. It can also take place during formal conferences and board meetings. The company newsletter and bulletin board notices are the usual mediums for the written form of horizontal communication.

Pros and Cons of Horizontal Communication

Pros

Facilitates understanding between employees at same hierarchical level by allowing them to share information to achieve organizational goals.
Assists in solving conflicts among employees working in a department.
Provides social, psychological and emotional support to each other.

Cons

Since the horizontal form of communication does not follow any particular chain of commands, problems may arise between employees at various levels and between various departments of the organization.
May waste time on matters that are unproductive.
May cause disharmony among employees as too much personal information is shared.

Summary

Effective communication is a necessary component in the planning and implementation of managerial activities. It functions as the basis for efficient leadership. The communication process is complex and often unpredictable. There may exist barriers to communication such as cultural misunderstandings, inattention and premature evaluation, impersonal communication, information overload, and lack of trust in the communicator. The communication process can be enhanced by improving effective listening skills and providing proper feedback.

In an organization, communication flows in 5 main directions-

Downward Flow of Communication: Communication that flows from a higher level in an organization to a lower level is a downward communication. In other words, communication from superiors to subordinates in a chain of command is a downward communication. This communication flow is used by the managers to transmit work-related information to the employees at lower levels. Employees require this information for performing their jobs and for meeting the expectations of their managers. Downward communication is used by the managers for the following purposes -

	Providing feedback on employees performance
	Giving job instructions
	Providing a complete understanding of the employees job as well as to communicate them how their job is related to other jobs in the organization.
	Communicating the organizations mission and vision to the employees.
	Highlighting the areas of attention.
Organizational publications, circulars, letter to employees, group meetings etc are all examples of downward communication. In order to have effective and error-free downward communication, managers must:

Upward Flow of Communication: Communication that flows to a higher level in an organization is called upward communication. It provides feedback on how well the organization is functioning. The subordinates use upward communication to convey their problems and performances to their superiors.

The subordinates also use upward communication to tell how well they have understood the downward communication. It can also be used by the employees to share their views and ideas and to participate in the decision-making process.

Upward communication leads to a more committed and loyal workforce in an organization because the employees are given a chance to raise and speak dissatisfaction issues to the higher levels. The managers get to know about the employees feelings towards their jobs, peers, supervisor and organization in general. Managers can thus accordingly take actions for improving things.

Grievance Redressal System, Complaint and Suggestion Box, Job Satisfaction surveys etc all help in improving upward communication. Other examples of Upward Communication are -performance reports made by low level management for reviewing by higher level management, employee attitude surveys, letters from employees, employee-manager discussions etc.

Lateral/Horizontal Communication: Communication that takes place at same levels of hierarchy in an organization is called lateral communication, i.e., communication between peers, between managers at same levels or between any horizontally equivalent organizational member. The advantages of horizontal communication are as follows:

	It is time saving.
	It facilitates co-ordination of the task.
	It facilitates co-operation among team members.
	It provides emotional and social assistance to the organizational members.
	It helps in solving various organizational problems.
	It is a means of information sharing
	It can also be used for resolving conflicts of a department with other department or conflicts within a department.

Diagonal Communication: Communication that takes place between a manager and employees of other workgroups is called diagonal communication. It generally does not appear on organizational chart. For instance - To design a training module a training manager interacts with an Operations personnel to enquire about the way they perform their task.

External Communication: Communication that takes place between a manager and external groups such as - suppliers, vendors, banks, financial institutes etc. For instance - To raise capital the Managing director would interact with the Bank Manager.

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The article is Written By “Prachi Juneja” and Reviewed By Management Study Guide Content Team. MSG Content Team comprises experienced Faculty Member, Professionals and Subject Matter Experts. We are a ISO 2001:2015 Certified Education Provider. To Know more, click on About Us. The use of this material is free for learning and education purpose. Please reference authorship of content used, including link(s) to ManagementStudyGuide.com and the content page url.