How Does Communication Affect Motivation?

Communication is defined as a two way process of understanding something, in which people exchange ideas and information ⁽¹⁾. Motivation on the other hand is defined as the process that initiates, guides and maintains goal orientated behaviours ⁽²⁾. Motivation is what makes us act, or in simple words, motivation is what makes us do something. If a person does not have motivation to complete a task, he would most probably not complete or, do it half-heartedly or even do it, but not by the deadline. Motivation is a very crucial and basic need in every human. Without any sort of motivation, nothing in this world would have been created, and therefore, no one will know anything. In my point of view, with motivation and a goal, that one wants to achieve in the end product, that product will have quality in it. From this, I have to agree that communication and motivation have a lot to do with each and other. This is because, communication can help motivate someone. In this essay, I would be discussing about communication, leadership and organisational structures, and how they affect motivation.

Types, Methods and Internal/External Communication.

There are three types of communication, verbal communication, visual communication and written communication. The type of communication used depends on whether it is an internal or external communication. Internal Communication means a communication that occurs within a company, between the employer and his employees. This means that internal communication might be private and confidential, and cannot be shared openly to everybody.  External Communication on the other hand means communication that occurs outside of a company, and is most of the time open to the public. One method to market and advertise would be by communicating externally.

           

Verbal communication is a medium for communication that entails talking using the spoken word such as talking face-to-face, on a telephone, or as a speech ⁽³⁾. This form of communication can either be external or internal. A real life example of verbal communication would be a prime minster giving a speech during the yearly Budget. He is speaking to the public and other minsters, and therefore, it is classified as a verbal communication method and it is a form of external communication.

           

Visual communication instead is a form of communication in which an image is used to communicate an idea or message ⁽⁴⁾. Methods used to communicate visually would be; a sign, poster, flyer, advertisement, drawing and a photograph. This form of communication can either be internal or external.  A real life example of visual communication would be the flyers by Domino’s Pizza ⁽⁵⁾. Domino’s would place their flyers, which have coupons on them in the newspaper, so that they are advertising to many people, since many of us do buy newspapers. This is an effective method of communicating and marketing.

           

Written communication on the other hand means a medium for communication that entails the written word ⁽³⁾. Examples of written communication are letters, emails, and manuals. A real life example of Written Communication would be including manuals in the products and gadgets sold, like what Apple does when they sell their products ⁽⁶⁾. They even have the manuals online and in the packaging of the gadget, so that customers who own Apple products to learn how the gadget works. This is one very effective way of communicating, so that users will know how to use the gadget, and therefore, will find out features that the Apple products have in which may not be in other products.

Types, Methods and Internal and External Communication and how it affects motivation.

           

The types and methods of communication relate to motivation as it is how the idea is communicated to people. In a manager staff relationship, the manager has to communicate in the way that the way the message is communicated, motivates the staff to do his/her job. For instance, in a visual communication, a certificate might motivate a staff. This is practiced in schools, where they actually give the teachers and staff who have been doing an excellent job on teachers’ day, or during the annual dinner. The leader could motivate the staff by recognising their effort, in the form of a certificate. This will make the staff feel that his effort is appreciated and recognised. Therefore, every time he does a job, he will do it really well. Since this form of communication occurs inside a company, it is considered as an internal communication method occurring between the manager and his staff.

            

An example of how verbal communication can affect motivation would be in a meeting. The manager who is conducting the meeting has to try his best to make the meeting as interactive and interesting as possible, like what is done in the company Google ⁽⁷⁾. The meetings here are not boring, and the person conducting the meeting will not just read the problem that has to be resolved and expect the staff to do all the work, the staff might get fed up and bored. What they do to make them motivated is try to engage all of them in the conversation, and start guiding them on how they could resolve the problem. They also do not conduct meetings with a large amount of people, to avoid some people from getting lost or not participating in the discussion. In this case, again, it is an internal form of communication, which occurs in a company.

           

An example of motivation in written and internal communication would be in a letter or email. When the manager writes an email to his staff, he should make it straight forward, and hit the points, and not go round the bush, and make the task/ message seem so complicated. He should also try to be polite in the message, and not make it seem like he is forcing the staff to do something. For instance, if his staffs likes smileys, and smileys motivate them, he should try to use some smileys in the email. This would make the staff feel that their boss is trying his best to make them feel comfortable. This would make the staff feel they are valuable.

Formal and Informal Communication

Formal Communication is defined as a type of verbal presentation or document intended to share information and which conforms to established professional rules, standards and processes and avoids using slang terminology ⁽⁸⁾. This means that this form of communication is professional, and is most of the time used for official uses, for instance in a project paper, annual reports, bulletins and handbooks. In this communication, language has to be precise and as said, slang terminologies cannot be used. An example of formal communication used in an Annual Report by Maybank ⁽⁹⁾. Based on how the information is addressed and communicated in this report, the words used are suitable, and the sentence structures are grammatically correct. This shows that the report is written formally. From this, it can also be said that formal communication can be trusted as it has to be certified before being published to the public.

Informal Communication on the other hand is a casual form of the sharing of information, which is typically used in personal conversations, with friends or family ⁽¹⁰⁾. This form of communication is unofficial and can only be used in certain communications, like on a phone call, certain e-mails and instant messaging. An example of an informal email would be when a boss wants to send an invitation to his staff, on an expo sale that will be held. He does not need to communicate the message in a formal way. Wherelse, if the staff needs to send a report on a recent project to his manager, the report has to be written in a formal way, which makes it a formal communication as it has to be kept as a record for the company. This report might also be used for other purposes in the future.

Formal and Informal Communication and how it Affects motivation.

Formal Communication affects motivation as it is also a way that is used to communicate, and there are definitely ways to use formal communication, that will still be motivating for staff. One way that a manager can motivate staff, is to recognise if a staff prefers messages to be communicated in a formal or informal way. It cannot be denied that certain documents have to be written formally, and this is the duty of staff to be able to accept them. However, for other communication purposes like reminders, tasks and many more, the manager can choose if he wants to communicate the message formally or informally. This is when knowing your staff plays in handy. When the manager knows what his staff prefer, he will be able to communicate the message accordingly. This will definitely play a part in the understanding of the staff. In a case in which the manager has to send a formal document to a staff that does not like formal communication, he should at least give the staff enough time to be able to understand or work on the task. This again will make the staff know that his/her leader understands him/her.

However, if managers use too much informal communication when communicating, the communication will seem not professional, which might make the company seem not very professional and in-official, and therefore, the leader should be able to distinguish whether formal or informal should be used in a specific situation. This is a skill that should be acquired by a good leader. Based on my opinion, I feel that there are more people who prefer informal compared to formal communication, because formal communication is sometimes quite complicating, and if it is very long, some people might get bored reading it. Therefore, I feel that leaders have to know how to motivate their staff, even in formal communication, by suing some of the methods that I have stated.

Upward Vertical Communication, Downward Vertical Communication and Horizontal Communication.

Upward Vertical communication is communication that occurs between a staff from a lower rank, to someone on a rank higher than him/her. For example, if the staff wants to send an email to the manager, it will be a form of upward vertical communication. Downward vertical communication on the other hand means the flow of information from a higher level to a lower level on the hierarchy ⁽¹¹⁾. 

Downward vertical communication occurs when someone on a higher rank wants to communicate with someone with a lower rank in the hierarchy. For instance, if a manager wants to talk to his staff, the communication would be a downward vertical communication. Horizontal communication on the other hand occurs when two people on the same rank communicate with each and other.

This is an example of Upward Vertical Communication in a bank ⁽¹²⁾:

From this image, I can deduce that if the officer wants to communicate a message to the branch manager, he would have to go through the operation manager and then to the Branch Manager. This would not only apply to verbal communication, but it all three types of communication. This is because, before submitting something to the main manager in a department, staff would have to consult their immediate leaders, who in this case would be the Marketing Manager, Finance Manager and the Operation Manager, so that they can know if what they have done is right or not, before sending it to the Branch Manager.

This is an example of Downward Vertical Communication, also in a bank ⁽¹³⁾:

From this image, I can deduce that if there is a message to be communicated by the Branch Manager to the Cashier, the message has to be passed to the finance manager, so that he will know what his staff would be doing, and then he has to inform the cashier on the message. This is to ensure that the sub-managers would know exactly what their staff would have to do, so that they will be able to advise them on how to complete the task well.

This is an example of Horizontal Communication in a bank ⁽¹⁴⁾:

           

From this, it is shown that all the members on the same level would communicate with each and other on a matter. I can deduce that this maybe because it is a major project, which involves all staff, and therefore, all the staff have to collaborate, as each of them have the areas that they specialise or work on, and all their knowledge is needed. 

Upward Vertical Communication, Downward Vertical Communication and Horizontal Communication and how it affects Motivation.

Upward vertical communication and downward vertical communication and how it affects motivation has been discussed throughout the essay, and therefore, I will not be discussing it alone. I have linked it with other sub topics in communications in the earlier part of the webpage. However, I will be discussing on how Horizontal Communication affects motivation.

Horizontal Communication, as said earlier is communication between people on the same rank. It will link to motivation as all staff in the same level would have to work together, and motivate each and other in the working environment. This is most likely because they work on the same thing most of the time, and know what each and other are doing. Therefore, it is not only the job of managers to motivate staff, but staff to have to motivate other staff and managers, to create a peaceful and smooth flowing working environment. Staff can motivate each and other by helping each and other out, and being there when people need help. For instance, in a real life situation like when one of the staff from a team is on medical leave, the other staff in the team should try their best to help out the sick staff by trying to cover for what he has to do as well. This does not mean that they should do his work, but they should just assist and guide him with it, so that he does not get overworked once he comes back to work. This way, there will be some sort of cooperation and form of teamwork among each and other. This can also improve the relationship between staff, which would also add on to the positive environment in work.


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