Successful Communication in a Quality Project

Introduction

This post covers the range of factors required for successful communication of a quality project. The discussion here mostly follows Goetsch & Davis (2021) except for the last section.

Communication and Effective Communication

Goetsch & Davis defines communication as follows: “Communication is the transfer of a message (information, idea, emotion, intent, feeling, or something else) that is both received and understood” (p. 162). This covers verbal, nonverbal, written, and other forms of communication.

According to the text, receiving and understanding a message is not sufficient for effective communication. The message must then be acted upon by the recipient in the desired manner, thus effective communication may require persuasion, motivation, monitoring, and leadership on the part of managers.

Effective communication is essential in a total quality environment, as focusing on customer needs requires communication of those needs. Other aspects of total quality management (TQM) that depend on effective communication include leadership, teamwork, conflict resolution, and employee empowerment. “The role it plays is facilitation.” (Goetsch & Davis, p. 164).

Traditional Forms of Communication

The text covers aspects of medium-specific communications such as verbal and written communication.

Written communication is best for when a permanent record is needed, and when the message needs to be clear and concise. For communicating in writing, the text recommends that the message should be (Goetsch & Davis, p. 172-174) well-planned, brief, direct, accurate, and should be edited for spelling, grammar, and clarity. Another reason for using the written medium is for situations when a list of requirements or instructions must be transmitted; this is done not only for accuracy but also as a courtesy to the recipient.

According to Goetsch & Davis, during verbal communication, either face-to-face or via telephone, the manager should show interest, be friendly, flexible, tactful, and courteous (p. 171). It is also important for managers to ask questions effectively (p. 172), which involves dropping defenses, stating your purpose, using open-ended questions, phrase questions carefully, and acknowledging emotions. These last two recommendations are questionable, however. Being overly sensitive or emotionally fragile has no place in any organization, whether it practices TQM or not.

There are also nonverbal communication factors ranging from posture, tone, facial expressions, and even the color of the room or the environment (Goetsch & Davis, p. 170). These nonverbal factors can carry information such as the relative importance of specific thoughts or sentences.

Video Conferencing

A form of communication not mentioned in Goetsch & Davis is video conferencing, which is common in companies with remote workers or with globally dispersed organizations. Video conferencing has many of the advantages of face-to-face communication, but it lacks many nonverbal communication factors.

The 1988 paper by Edigo notes that videoconferencing dates to the 1960s, but describes it as a failure, stating that it is not a substitute for face-to-face meetings, and there is a lack of real utility for a video capability. A more recent paper by Karis et al (2016) shows the increased popularity that video conferencing has gained in various industries including Google, Inc. The main weakness of this form of communication, according to that paper, is the early state of tools enabling collaboration. The tools they explicitly mention as promising are Google Docs, e-mail, and instant messaging. Of course, the rise in globalism and COVID-19 has made video conferencing a very practical option.

Conclusion

Effective communication is essential in a total quality environment, as it facilitates the clear transfer of messages and fosters collaboration. Traditional forms of communication, such as written and verbal methods, remain vital for their clarity, permanence, and ability to convey nuanced information through nonverbal cues. In response to globalization and COVID-19, video conferencing is now indispensable in modern organizations. By using these communication methods, managers can ensure that customer needs are met, teamwork is enhanced, and quality products and services are delivered.

References

Egido, C. (1988). Videoconferencing as a technology to support group work: A review of its failure. In Proceedings of the 1988 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work, 13-24. https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/62266.62268

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2021). Quality management for organizational excellence: Introduction to total quality (9^th ed.). Pearson.

Karis, D. (2016, 1 January). Improving remote collaboration with video conferencing and video portals. Human-Computer Interaction, 31(1), 1-58. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370024.2014.921506