ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AS THE CHALLENGE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF RUSSIAN SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT

Communication is an inevitable process in the workplace. Through communication it is possible to give tasks, control, and support, appreciate and recognize the achievements and so on. Thus, an effective communication at work leads to the overall success of the organization.

For many years Russian public organizations were highly centralized and employees were not involved in the decision-making processes. The managers did not consider internal communication as an important aspect of work. Many years have passed since the collapse of the USSR, and it was of significant interest to investigate if the organizational communication was developed. This article is the result of theoretical analysis and empirical research aimed to examine the internal communication in Russian schools to date. Such method clearly showed that internal communication in Russian public schools is still not very developed. Internal communication needs to be improved by the better involvement of employees in the organizational processes, improvement of the leadership style, and active application of methods preventing from communication barriers.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Коммуникация – это неотъемлемый процесс в любой организации. Благодаря коммуникации можно поручить выполнение той или ной задачи, контролировать ее выполнение, отмечать достижения сотрудников и тд. Таким образом, эффективная коммуникация на рабочем месте в значительной степени способствует успеху всей организации.

На протяжении многих лет государственные организации были высоко централизованными и сотрудники, в большинстве своем, не участвовали в процессах принятия важных решений. Руководители высшего звена не рассматривали внутреннюю коммуникацию как важный аспект в работе. С тех пор как произошел распад Советского Союза прошло много лет и сейчас важно проанализировать какие произошли изменения в сфере организационной коммуникации. Данная статья является результатом теоретического анализа и эмпирического исследования, направленного на изучение внутренней коммуникации в Российских школах на сегодняшний день. В качестве метода исследования был выбран качественный метод исследования. Благодаря проведенному исследованию было доказано, что внутренняя коммуникация в российских школах может быть улучшена за счет активного вовлечения сотрудников в принятие организационных решений, совершенствованию стиля руководства и применению методов взаимодействия, которые способствуют предотвращению коммуникативных барьеров.

Ключевые слова: организационная коммуникация, школы, менеджмент, государственный сектор

Keywords: organizational communication, schools, management, public sector

Communication plays one the most important role in the organization. Through communication it is possible to give instructions and tasks, give support and express recognition and appreciation, support, share ideas and opinions and so on. When communication is effective, the employees tend to fulfill their obligations and tasks better thus the productivity increases significantly. According to the interviews with employees, internal communication is still not really well developed in Russian public schools. Even despite the implementation of the new policy, Russian schools still have many aspects to improve.  Regarding flows of communication, downward flow still prevails over the upward communication in public schools but it is necessary to mention that significance of the upward communication has slightly risen. So, there is a positive tendency that employees became partly involved in the decision-making processes. The importance of upward communication in school is difficult to overestimate because it allows subordinates to present their ideas, suggestions and critique. Such information can be useful in achieving goals of school. Lunenburg and Ornstein claimed that it is impossible for an organization to be fully successful without upward communication (2011:287). So downward communication as well as upward communication should be developed in parallel to reach an effective communication.

Each organization faces definite barriers that prevent it from successful communication. Russian schools are not an exception. Employees have fears of disturbing their subordinates with additional questions and requests. It can be the result of the status gap that is quite evident for the Russian public system of management. An accurate impression was formed that superiors avoid accepting any suggestions or ideas from superiors and it is better to solve all issues on your own. Such way of management can’t be effective, and it influences negatively on the employees’ work performance. One should say that it is crucially important to take employees’ ideas and concepts into consideration because it can help to achieve organizational goals better and increase the employees’ sense of worth. Filtering is another serious barrier in Russian schools that prevents from successful communication at work. The misuse of filtering in the organization leads to the distortion of the meaning of the original message and, what is more important, to the loss of trust between employees. Trust is a high-powered force that builds loyalty, strengthen the confidence and enhance the organizational communication. It can be said that for schools to be productive, it is necessary to promote open and honest communication at work.

The most effective methods to overcome communication barriers in the organization are feedback and holding of meetings. Feedback is also presented in Russian schools but only in a form of annual public report. It is a compulsory procedure for all schools and is perceived by the employees as formal report that does not contain objective and reliable information and thus can’t be an essential communication tool. Feedback at schools can be of high usefulness. It is not aimed to demotivate or offend employees but to identify the possible problems and drawbacks and to eliminate them. Regarding meetings, they also take place in Russian schools but in the absence of trust between superiors and subordinates and the fear of subordinates to fray relations with the employees of the higher hierarchical level, they can express their actual opinions or disapprovals only if their colleagues support them on the matter. Thus, it is important to conclude that without open and honest dialogue, such meetings have a formal character and their utility decreases significantly. The idea of such meetings is to propose new ideas, share opinions between each other, express problems and queries, explain strategies and plans and create valuable group cohesion. That is why it is necessary to create a favorable and confidential atmosphere during the meetings.

While working in the organizations, employees interact with each other and create social and friendly groups. According to the expressed opinions of the employees in Russian schools, informal groups and informal communication play an integral part for them. Informality creates a better working environment, develops personal relations and gives psychological support. It is evident that informal discussions at lunch, informal meetings after work reduce stress and boost confidence in employees. Moreover, for a human as a social being it is necessary to belong to a definite group; it develops employees’ sense of identity. However, there is a form of grapevine communication that can cause many problems and misunderstanding among employees – rumors (Robbins 2001:208). Workplace rumors are a destructive force that may also influence negatively the productivity at work. Employees in Russian public schools face rumors and the situation with the implementation of a new rating evaluation system clearly show the negative impact it had on the working environment and relations among colleagues. That is why it is necessary to create the culture in the organization that promotes cooperation then competition.

It also necessary to admit the importance of the information technologies in Russian schools. Such implemented technologies as e-mail, electronic journal and electronic diary improve significantly the organizational effectiveness at school. Since information technologies allow saving a considerable amount of time, the teachers spend on the improvement of quality of their work. Also, such type of information technologies as e-mail breaks the distance between higher and lowers hierarchical level (Dewett and Jones 2001:321). Yet, information technologies have several negative aspects as possible information overload and the decrease of face-to-face communication but still they are the stimulus to progress; that is why for a school to be successful and effective, it needs to balance between the usage of information technologies and oral communication.

An effective communication at school also highly depends on the leader. Leader provides the team with instructions, supervision, direction and support. Moreover, a good leader is able to inspire and motivate the subordinates through communication. According to the respondents, the supervisors in Russian schools are authoritative, tough and perceive the employees only as recourses to fulfill the tasks. Evidentially, such attitude leads to the decrease of employees’ motivation and desire to work. To reach an effective communication, it is necessary for a leader to have more dialogue than monologue at work and to appreciate and recognize the employees for their efforts. When employees feel valuable and able to express their opinions and ideas that will be taken into consideration, the satisfaction form work will increase, and they will keep doing their job well.

Overall, it can be said that internal communication in Russian schools still needs to be significantly improved. The main problem, expressed by the employees, lies in the actual absence of understanding of the importance of the communication at work. Communication trainings can be useful to give such understanding and introduce the ways to improve communication skills. According to the superiors in Russian public schools, the implementation of a new policy, notably the new status of a teacher will have positive effects in the near future, and it is hoped to believe that new policy will lead to the significant improvement of the internal communication in Russian schools.

References:

1. Lunenberg Fred C. & Ornstein Allan (2012). Educational Administration: Concepts and Practices. Houston: Sam Houston University.
2. Robbins Robbins P. (2006). Essentials of organizational behavior. Arizona: Prentice Hall.
3. Dewett, T., & Jones, G. R. (2001). The role of information technology in the organization: a review, model, and assessment:Journal of Management: file:///C:/Users/diana.sazonova/Desktop/DD/The_role_of_information_technology_in_th.pdf