There are three forms of communication within an organization – upward, downward, and horizontal. This is where generational influences can really come into play.
Upward communication is communication up channels from staff members through management. This communication can range from accountability for projects to complaints about working conditions or other staff members. Traditionally, this communication was from younger members to senior managers. Reading the section on Transference will shed much light on how this type of communication was healthy or very dysfunctional.
Today as our generational diversity issues intensify, upward communication has become even more of a challenge. We have older staff members reporting in to managers who are young enough to be their children or grandchildren. It is still upward communication but the dynamics have become quite challenging.
Downward communication is from ownership or management down to staff members. This type of communication can come in the form of organizational announcements and new projects to changes in protocol and feedback to staff members. Typically, I see communication focused more on the details or the issues. The tone of these communications can be laden with emotional and/or a derogatory tone. For this type of communication to be effective, excellent communication skills, both written and verbal need to be used. Take a moment and consider the perception of the message by the readers and the ripple effect of the message’s tone.
Leadership and management skills at all levels must be effective to handle any issues or feedba
ck from the message, as well as develop the goals and plans for implementation.
Horizontal communication is through working peers.
Generational influences can cause this type of communication in its simplest form to become quite messy. We will examine this further when we dig into the Transference topic later in this book.
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