The Structure & Lines of Communication in an Organization by Dave Samuels, Demand Media

Different organizations use different structures, often based on the size of the organization or whether it has multiple divisions operating autonomously. Depending on the reason a company chooses a specific organizational structure, lines of communication must help facilitate not only accurate messaging, but also timely responses to prevent missed opportunities or late delivery of work.

Organizational Structures

While a variety of organizational structures exist, small businesses generally use a flat or hierarchical structure, based on their sizes. A flat structure is one that allows a few key staff members to work directly with the owner rather than through a vertical chain of command. As companies grow and add departments and employees, they create a hierarchy with directors, managers, staff workers and contractors. If a small business has multiple locations or different divisions, the company might assign some functions to each location, with a corporate headquarters providing centralized administrative support. Some businesses use a matrix structure, which creates project groups who share multiple department managers, requiring more multi-tasking and careful coordination of communications on the part of top management.

Lines of Communications

The more employees a business has, the more ways communications occur, not just in terms of what methods people use but also where and how they send messages. Lines of communication can include a chain-of-command that requires employees to communicate only with their direct superior rather than bringing comments or concerns directly to leaders higher on the org chart. One of the disadvantages of a strict chain of command is that employees might "cocoon" in their departments, creating less interaction and exchanges of ideas with co-workers in other areas. Other lines of communication might require specific messaging procedures such as submitting expense requests before making a purchase, getting work schedule swaps approved by a manager, or requiring sales contracts to go from sales representatives to a sales manager, then to the accounting department, then to the production department.

Communications Structure

Business use specific communications methods to streamline reporting, such as requiring managers to use the same employee evaluation form, having employees fill out the same expense reimbursement form or mandating that vacation requests be submitted to direct managers by a specific deadline. This type of communication structure allows those receiving memos, reports and proposals to quickly get to the relevant information and find the information they need because the information is presented in the same way every time.

Restraints on Communications

By instituting specific lines of communications, a business can prevent the chaos that results when workers continually go over the heads of or around their bosses. It also reduces problem caused by executives assigning work to staff members without their managers’ knowledge, or by customers calling and speaking to employees other than their sales rep. While a manager might have to follow a director’s request that a specific employee perform a specific task, by having the director go the manager, rather than the subordinate, the manager has a chance to shift some of that subordinate’s workload or to change other deadlines. Strict lines of communication help to ensure that key employees aren’t accidentally left out of important communications. Mandating that employees put communications in writing prevents miscommunications and he-said/she-said accusations.