COMMUNICATION DIAGRAM

Management experts have long speculated that two organizational structures exist in most business environments—formal and informal structure. The formal structure is reflected in an organization chart that displays the reporting relationships among individuals or business units. No such chart exists to reflect the informal power structure or the relationships that exist between individuals without the formal endorsement of management. However, you can identify and document informal relationships by developing a communication diagram.

A communication diagram shows the interactions, or level of communications, between two or more individuals in a specific setting, such as an office. It will help in identifying who communicates with whom.

The communication diagram helps you to determine the primary and secondary communications occurring in a workplace and to decide whether to change existing patterns. It also assists in determining where to apply technology that could enhance communication between individuals. Finally, it helps you identify political alliances and learn how to use them to your advantage.

for Developing a Communication Diagram

• Identify all the major participants in the communication process on the diagram.
• Determine the length of time and the medium for monitoring communications among participants.
• Have the participants record their communications with each other.
• Compile the statistics.
• Generate conclusions from the data (e.g., areas for improvement).