Effective Organizational Communications

Chris Argyris argues that the needs of a traditional formal organization and those of healthy adults creates conflict resulting in an unhealthy dependent relationship between subordinates and their leaders. He states that "job enlargement and... democratic or participative leadership are elements which... can go a long way toward ameliorating the situation".

The key elements of a communication strategy to effectively meet the needs of the members of the organization would include; communication of the purpose and vision of the organization, team alignment to the overall vision, and involvement of teams that would set employee work standards, goals and norms.

A company must define and communicate its overall vision to each department and member of the organization in order for individuals to understand and appreciate their role in the organization. Without this effort, individuals feel disconnected from the larger organization.

Communicating vision helps to enlarge the viewpoint of individuals to help them understand how their contributions are linked to the overall purpose and success of the company. Next teams must be given the opportunity to understand and define how their work links to and provides value to the vision of the organization. If teams are given the opportunity to participate in defining and setting their own roles, goals, standards and norms, they will be empowered to put into action the answers to how they can help the overall company meet its vision.

These communication strategies will then give individuals the opportunity to expand beyond the basic task of their individual job requirements, giving them the opportunity to express and develop more independently while still meeting the needs of the overall organization, and decrease dependency and conflict.