Discussion 1

Chapter 9 of Communication in Organizations says that the “primary goal of organizational development is to enhance organizational effectiveness (Kreps, 2011). Simply put, the goal of organizational development is to make the organization work better. I am in the Army, (it is the one job I have ever had so sorry for all of the boring Army stories) and things change constantly. Since I have joined, we have changed combat uniforms three times, physical training uniforms twice, and our dress uniform once although I have heard rumors that there is another prototype in the works. We have changed the way we do PT in the morning, in fact is it now called PRT. The Army song has changed, the operating system I use for Supply has changed. Can I say that all of these changes have made things better? Of course not, but what would have made them easier to accept is if the reason why things needed to be changed was communicated in the first place. I think that failure to communicate is the number one barrier to effective organizational development. At the end of the day, when the people up top want to change something, they are going to do it regardless of how their employees feel. But helping those employees understand why the change needs to occur in the first place could make those same employees more willing participants in the change.

As a leader in the Army, I have a responsibility to prepare my soldiers for change. I do that by informing them of what I know as soon as I know it. I may not be able to stop it from happening, but I can at least give them some warning, and try to help them understand why it is happening. This can be hard at times because sometimes, I don’t even understand it myself.

Reference:

Kreps, G. L. (2011). Communication in organizations [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

Discussion 2

Hello class,

I think one big hinderance is the lack of ambition certain employees have within their position. It could be an employee whos young and does not really want to be there. It could be a person who does not agree with office standards. Or it could be an employee who feels like giving up because they are not receiving the recognition they feel the deserve. If the staff is not willing to work and help every tean member than the company an never grow to its fullest potential. There will always be a gap within the productivity, and organizational structure. Either some people are voicing to many opinions, whether irrelevant or true. Or some people not saying much of anything. There are communication habits that are hindring the team from being proactive in the company (Kreps, 2011). If employees are not willing to listen they cannot perform company expectations. You can identify company expectations and difficutlies within the compaany but it wont do any good. The company starts work work in an unprogressive circle. That could be a reason companies close. Their choices in staffing. Clients dont want that and companies will have to fire alot of people. New employes cannot keep up because they have new inexperienced co-workers training them.    I cannot stand a slacker in the workplace. They force the workload onto other employees with no regards for the co-workers (Montluk, 2011). Some seem so ablivious of lifes responsibilities its almost unnerving. One thing is safe to say, there will always be a slacker at a fast food restaurant.  References  Kreps, G. L. (2011). Communication in organizations [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu    Motluk, A. (2011). A tool kit for the real world (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. New Scientist, 209, 5. Retrieved from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19969-a-tool-kit-for-the-real-world.html?full=true (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.    Iesha Westmoreland

Discussion 3

According to Dziak (2017) “mediated communication is the exchange of ideas or information using some form of technology”. Technology is everywhere these days, and organizations would be foolish not to take advantage of the benefits technology offers them. By using mediated communication, organizations are able to communicate with their employees and customers faster and easier than ever before. For instance I have a friend in NC who is a teacher and when they were having bad weather during the winter, she was alerted via Facebook as to when the schools would be closed. Parents were able to receive this same alert. Now imagine being the one parent who does not have Facebook, and for whatever reason, you missed the evening news saying there was no school and that the roads were closed? As with all good things, they can be misused, even if unintentionally. In January of 2018, an alert was sent out that there was going to be a missile attack on Hawaii. This sent the entire island into panic, just to find out that it was not true. The emergency management agency was conducting a drill and the employee who sent out the message did not hear the word exercise. This is an example of how essentially having the world at your fingertips can go wrong. I do feel that the benefits outweigh the risks however and could not imagine going back to life without technology.

Reference:

Dziak, M. (2017). Mediated communication. Salem Press Encyclopedia,

Discussion 4

Social media and employers, makes me think of when my cousin was working for Nordstroms and Nordstroms had just got a Facebook. While many employees added the company to theres followers and friends, some did not feel that way. My cousin being one of them she felt as if Nordstroms was following her they would monitor her activity. Many people felt this way when their employers were keeping track of the employees. She as many others felt their hmelife and social media pages are a part of their personal life that they wish to keep from the jobs. Understandable yet, overexaggerated. If your not doing anything illegal why care.

     I do like how certain companies give their own email and messaging sites. Employees can put in requests for time off in the comfort of their own home. Somee ways through an app or others through company websites. GroupMe  is a great app for maintaing company conversations and messages. I have used it on quite a few operations and it does work well. Next training modules are going to be on an app so you can start efore your first day. Media outlets have came a long way with company exposure. Advertising and reaching new audiences (Kreps, 2011). Making any small mom and pop company a new sensation. Non profit organizations can use certain apps such as Facebook to receive donations (Raman, 2016). Linking certain accounts to another as forms of rconition or affiliation. Profiting of many companies shipping from the pages to broaden their client base. Excepting clients worldwide. As a business owner and employee I value the impact social media has.

References

Kreps, G. L. (2011). Communication in organizations [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. 

Raman, Aparna(2016). How Do Social Media, Mobility, Analytics and Cloud Computing Impact
Nonprofit Organizations? A Pluralistic Study of Information and

Communication Technologies in Indian Context. Information Technology for Development. Vol. 22 Issue 3, p400-421. DOI: 10.1080/02681102.2014.992002.