Effectiveness of internal organizational communication models: a case study of the ministry of planning and national development

Abstract

The study sought to determine internal communication channels used by senior managers at the Ministry of Planning and National Development to communicate to the junior staff. Specifically, the study objectives included determining the internal channels of communication used by senior managers to communicate to junior staff, establishing the internal communication channels considered most effective and to identify the barriers to internal communication and feedback. The Ministry of Planning and National Development plays a key and strategic role in the overall structure of government and administration in Kenya. Its mandate is to facilitate and coordinate the national development planning process and to provide leadership in national economic policy management. The Ministry plays an indispensable role in wealth creation, employment generation, reduction of levels of poverty and general improvement of living standards of Kenyans. Employees' commitment and productivity are influenced by internal working conditions in addition to individual as well as other external factors. Internal communication forms part of internal working conditions and the efficacy of channels of communication used influences the attainment of the Ministry's objectives and contribution to economic growth and development. Internal communication and its tenets are largely ignored in the equation resulting to poor delivery of service and attainment of set objectives within the specified budget and time period. The most frequently cited source of interpersonal conflict is poor communication. Assessing the efficacy of the channels of communication, identifying better channels and adopting their predominant use in the Ministry of Planning could be significant in re - orienting the quality of services offered by the Ministry through improved employee output. While studies have been done in the field of communication, little attention has been given to internal communication with specific reference to channels. This study is significant to reduce complex issues about effective internal communication channels to manageable observation that are theoretically sound, testable through research and built around variables that truly make a difference. The study was premised on the hypothesis that; different channels of internal communication used by managers at the Ministry vary in effectiveness at passing information and generating feedback. The study found that both written and non written means of communication are used at the Ministry by both junior and senior managers. Verbal communication was widely used to convey information at the Ministry of Planning and National Development. Memos and telephone communications were found to be dominantly used by senior managers when communicating with their juniors while notice boards, memos and telephone were used by junior managers when communicating with their junior employees. It was reported that fax and emails are preferred when communicating externally. It was found that the channels most used on daily basis by both junior and senior managers when communicating with junior staff, were memos and telephone respectively. No channel disparities were observed among senior managers when communicating with their peers. It emerged that telephone was the most used channels by senior managers when communicating with their peers. However, it was revealed that junior managers use memos and telephone when communicating with their peers. The notice board was discarded when junior managers communicate with their peer managers. It was also observed that those channels are no mutually exclusive, but are utilized complementarily. Memos and telephone are considered superior in handling internal communication. Different channels of communication have both strengths and weaknesses. A combination of various channels including written and verbal communications can improve internal communication at the Ministry. Following the study findings, the following recommendations were made. The Ministry should encourage staff interactions through team building sessions to reduce barriers to communication since it provides an opportunity for members of staff to understand each other.