Communication in organizations

How your organization thinks about problems has a lot to do with the quality of solutions it applies. All too often, organizations rush through problem-solving, overlook the relationships between contributing factors, and fail to test assumptions before implementing an ineffective “fix.” Systems Thinking

• To understand change in organizations we must understand what influences people’s behavior within an organization and how it does so. Behavior is conditioned by the information people have, their knowledge of what it is they are to do and the means provided to them to do it. It is also conditioned by the prevailing norms – people know what is expected of them, what is acceptable and what is not acceptable

• You cannot over-communicate when you are asking your organization to change. Every successful executive who has led a successful change management (Links to an external site.) effort expresses the need for over-communicating during a change experience and makes this statement in retrospect.
• No organization exists in which employees are completely happy with communication (Links to an external site.). Communication is one of the toughest issues in organizations. It is an area that is most frequently complained about by employees during organizational change and daily operations.

Answer these questions

What system of communication is used in your current or previous organization in the face of change?
• Identify a situation involving a change:
o Discuss the situation and what prompted the change
o Discuss 2 systemic communication strategies that worked during the change/transition and why you think they worked? Cite from research
o Discuss 2 challenges the organization had to overcome in order to effect this change, however large or small.
 Include reactions from those involved and
 How the challenges were ultimately overcome utilizing systems thinking.