COMMUNICATION : CHANNEL AND ITS TYPES

CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION 

—Formal communication

—Informal communication

TYPES OF FORMAL COMMUNICATION

—Downward communication

—Upward communication

—Horizontal communication

—Diagonal communication

DOWNWARD COMMUNICATION

—Downward communication involves a message travelling to one or more receivers at the lower level in the hierarchy. The message frequently involves directions or performance feedback. The down ward flow of communication generally corresponds to the formal organizational communications system, which is usually synonymous with the chain of command or line of authority. This system has received a great deal of attention from both managers and behavioral scientists since it is crucial to organizational functioning.

UPWARD COMMUNICATION

—In upward communication, the message is directed toward a higher level in the hierarchy.

—It is often takes the form of progress reports or information about successes and failures of the individuals or work groups reporting to the receiver of the message. Sometimes employees also send suggestions or complaints upward through the organization's hierarchy.

—The upward flow of communication involves two distinct manager-subordinate activities in addition to feedback:

HORIZONTAL COMMUNICATION

Horizontal communication is the transmission of information between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy. You can distinguish it from vertical communication, which is the transmission of information between different levels of the organizational hierarchy. Horizontal communication is often referred to as 'lateral communication