Deciding upon the Nature of Communication

A number of factors need to be taken into account when deciding upon the best method of communication in a particular situation:

• the cost of sending the message;
• how soon the message needs to be received;
• the length of the message;
• the content of the message, for example a notice of redundancy, announcement of a Christmas party or a change in the pension plan.

Examples of different methods of communication and when they might be used are given below:

• Written Communication - a letter is private and can provide proof that the communication has taken place, for example legal notices, an order to a supplier, formal warnings to employees and redundancy notices.
• Memo (internal Letter) - this is a cheap and easy way of communicating to other staff any information that may need to be referred to in the future, for example sales targets and the time of a meeting;
• Reports - provides more detailed information than a memo, for example a summary of the past year’s accounts or a marketing plan for the next six months;
• Notice Boards - cheap and effective method of communicating to the entire staff as only one copy has to be produced, for example inviting all staff to the Christmas party and detailing the timings and schedule for the evening;
• Internal news medium - can provide detailed information to the entire workforce, for example staff news letter or magazine;
• Oral (speaking) - it can sometimes be easier to convey your feelings when you are able to have eye contact with the person you are talking to. It can also be appropriate when you need to discuss an issue or get instant feedback;
• Telephone - similar to oral communication, but it is not so personal;
• Public Address System - announcements can be made over a loud speaker, for example announcing offers in a shop, or via a telephone paging system, for example asking a member of staff to report somewhere. This form of communication is not suitable for personal messages or those containing sensitive information;
• Fax and E-mail - provide a cheap way of passing information, for example passing messages and computer files ( e-mail only). E-mails have generally taken over from faxes, although faxes can sometimes still be preferable because they can show a signature;
• Answerphone - the problem with leaving a message is there is no guarantee when the person will hear the message, for example non urgent communication.