Message Flow
Like roads, some channels of communication go uphill, and
some go down. Some are superhighways and others are dirt roads. If you don’t have a
roadmap, you can’t be sure that your message will go anywhere at all.
Internal communication can be broken down into three basic
classes:
Downward Communication: This is how messages move from the top
down, from superiors to subordinates. Quite often, the actual content of these
messages is not nearly as important as where they are coming from. Downward
communication is often composed of instructions—and information—about getting a
job done.
Upward Communication: These are the messages going the other
way. They often are used to provide feedback, suggestions, observations and
information that management needs to evaluate how its messages have been received, what
needs to be done, and also gives them a sense of general employee mood and satisfaction.
Grapevine: The grapevine is an informal network found in any organization, from factories to university think tanks, private organizations to top-secret government facilities. Everyone eventually gets plugged into it in one way or another; from the CEO to the newest hourly employee. Truth and rumor both move with equal swiftness—up, down, and laterally. One of the most important functions a grapevine serves is to explain the significance of the decisions that are made, supplying interpretations and background information that are often lacking in the more ”formal” communiqués.