Communication in Wasa
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The larger an organization becomes, it can easily lose sight of effective communication. The assignment of roles and increased management layers pose a greater challenge in achieving two-way communication. In WASA, communication is best described as ineffective. Management uses the intranet, notice boards, and memos as tools for communication to disburse information throughout the company. However, each tool has its limitation in ensuring all departments from management to skilled laborers are well informed. The intranet is a form of email which includes management only. Memos and company updates are quickly communicated via email but must also be printed and circulated for all staff without intranet access. Beyond management, communication is uncertain. Notice boards are a passive tool of communication that staff must proactively take the time to go through board postings. News, memos and company actions must be handed to the next employee after printing from the intranet, as in a relay. Because of these fleeting communication practices, non-management and skilled laborers actively participate and trust the messages of the grapevine. Like the game telephone, management to skilled labor communication readily becomes distorted and loses its vitality. More so, downward communication works to a certain point amongst managers, and skilled labor to management feedback is non-existent.
Within WASA, communication is most efficient among managers with the use of company blackberries and the intranet. Downward communication works from the General Manager to the Regional Managers office. However, periodic meetings and the reliance on emails inhibit face to face communication and non-verbal interaction. Email dependence prevents the “information-rich” nature of face-to-face communication. In addition, email has the tendency to cause information overload. The volume of emails managers may receive in one day can surpass their ability to process it. This informal communication medium should be used to support the use of email communication. Although emails have the power to inform, they do not convey the complexity of certain situations and many times do not result in rapid feedback.
The absence of thorough and formal communication has created a huge and powerful grapevine within WASA. Over time, employees have become dependent on this as their only channel of communication. Although the grapevine fosters informal communication and much face-to-face contact, its negative outputs outweigh its good. The grapevine is born out of social relationships and is an informal network that is based on rumors. Details are edited and exaggerated for the excitement of important points to a story. The most harmful consequence of the grapevine is its ability to create a sense of distrust for management, and negative attitudes toward the company. As in WASA, when formal communication is slow and is effective only to a certain level within the