How Can Communication Affect the Flow of Work in an
Organization
The Importance of Communication
Communication within an organization is critical for work
flow. Poor communication causes
confusion, and chaos. When there is great communication, things run smoothly
and efficiently. There are many
instances where effective communication can make or break the flow of work. I
have provided a basic flowchart for communication in a production environment
as this is the best representation I can think of. Please see below for said
flow chart.

As you can see above, if either one of these chains of
communication breaks, it will stop the flow of production in its tracks. If you suppose that each group of workers has
48 hours to communicate to the next group in order to adhere to the goals of
the company and the lean manufacturing capabilities it advertises, then state
that there are snags in one or more of these lines of communication, this would
prevent the company from providing the lean manufacturing it has promised to
its customers, which in turn will result in loss of customers, loss of profit,
and if the problem is never resolved, loss of the company in general.
I live in a city that has several different manufacturers
providing jobs for thousands. One of
these happens to be Toyota. They are
known worldwide for their excellent production capabilities. What isn’t known too well about Toyota is the
extreme importance they place on proper and effective communication. There are thousands who work within the
Toyota plant and every one of them knows the expectations and knows that even
the slightest miscommunication can be devastating to the production lines. Imagine you are part of the welding team that
ensures the frame is welded properly, and you don’t communicate that you are
running low on the rods used to weld with. You end up running out, and now you
have to stop production. Now, production
being halted for as little as five minutes at Toyota costs them roughly three
hundred thousand dollars according to a team of management I know there. Imagine this happens twice a week on three
production lines. A simple task such as communicating
low inventory, costs millions of dollars a year. This is why proper and effective
communication is key to work flow. It
can literally cost millions to a company when poor communication takes place.
To communicate effectively is easy. One, be transparent with every
department. Two, ensure they are in full
understanding of what you are attempting to communicate. Three, ensure they reciprocate the
communication. And last, be sure you
understand fully what they are trying to communicate.
Communication is a two way street. All involved need to properly communicate
everything needed to everyone else involved.
Otherwise, we are all just talking to a wall and that gets us nowhere.
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