Formal Communication: What It Is And What Are Its Characteristics
We all know different communication styles and use one or another depending on the context in which we find ourselves.
One of the most important is formal communication In these paragraphs we can learn everything about this style, discover the frameworks in which it is usually used and what its main characteristics and advantages are compared to other communication models.
What is formal communication and what are its characteristics
Formal communication is a communicative style that is used in professional and institutional contexts It is a regulated method in which colloquial words are not allowed, since the tone used must always be cultured and aseptic. Likewise, we can also call formal communication the flow of information that occurs between the different levels within the hierarchy of an organization, and which will be framed within the set of rules that we mentioned.
The flow of formal communication can occur in spoken or written form. Generally, interactions that are resolved briefly are carried out in an oral conversation. However, communications that require more extensive or complex information are usually chosen to write in writing and transmit them to the interlocutors by the chosen means (circulars, emails, postal mail, memo, etc.).
Another characteristic of formal communication is that works through protocols known to senders and receivers, which are part of the organization in which said communicative process takes place. These protocols imply, for example, the paths that messages must take, within the hierarchy. Thus, an employee will know that he must send certain information to his manager, and he in turn must transmit the information to his superior, but they cannot skip the intermediate step.
That is, each member of the organization who participates in this formal communication You must know in advance what message must be addressed to which person, in what way it must be done and what is the route that said information must follow to reach your destination correctly.
Depending on the direction we use to transmit the information, we can establish up to four different types of formal communication. Let’s proceed to look at all of them in more detail.
1. Formal upward communication
When in the organization, An employee tries to communicate with one of his managers, whether it is the immediately superior or someone above him, we would talk about formal upward communication. It is a vertical form of message transmission directed from the bottom up. An example of the messages that can be sent in this mode would be the reports that have been requested, but also requests for a specific matter and even complaints that you want to make clear.
2. Formal downward communication
The opposite case to the previous one would be that of formal downward communication. In this model, information is also transmitted vertically, but this time it is from top to bottom. That is to say, It is the managers and managers who are transmitting information to the employees under their charge They can send, for example, instructions about the tasks they must perform and how they must do them. They can do this orally or in writing, depending on the information they wish to send.
3. Horizontal formal communication
Not all formal communication in the organization is directed to people at another hierarchical level. When the message is sent to another worker who occupies the same rank, we are talking about horizontal formal communication since the flow of information is directed laterally.
This model is clearly observed in the meetings of the different department heads, since several individuals from independent sections communicate in them, but all of them are in the same position as managers or directors.
4. Diagonal formal communication
There is a less frequent type of formal communication that can still occur, and it is diagonal. This modality would occur when the two interlocutors belong to different departments but also to different hierarchical levels
It may be the case that a head of a specific section of the company needs to transmit information to employees who are not under his/her supervision, but are at a lower level in the company structure. This would be an example of a case of diagonal formal communication.
Formal communication implies a series of advantages compared to informal communication. Let’s see the most important ones.
1. Standardization
Using this method ensures equality in all the communication processes of the organization, so that all members can know how they should proceed when transmitting information, choosing the appropriate way and form, and at the same time all of them know how to interpret the messages that come to them without any room for doubt. This is a standardized model that allows for a clear understanding of the rules and procedures.
2. No errors
The fact of using pre-established rules and always following the same procedures has an additional advantage, and that is that it does not allow errors to be generated, beyond the human errors that could be committed outside of said rules. The important thing is that by following the indicated protocols, Information must flow through the organization without any difficulty and without generating doubts among the interlocutors
3. Footprint
Formal communication has another clear advantage, and that is that all interactions that occur in written form They are archived and can therefore be reviewed at any time in order to recover specific information.
Logically, the same does not happen with formal oral communication, but we had already mentioned that these types of interactions occur to send very concise messages. All those that have a certain level of complexity must be transmitted in writing, and therefore will be recorded.
Weaknesses of formal communication
Logically, not all the qualities of formal communication are positive. There are also several disadvantages that we should be aware of.
1. Time cost
The fact of following quite rigid protocols means that formal communication sometimes involves an unnecessary waste of time for a transmission of information that could actually be done in a much shorter time This is the case of those endless meetings in which the message is transmitted between the attendees in an inefficient way, when in reality it could be done more directly, but it would imply giving up the organization’s standardized communication channels.
2. Coldness
Formal communication causes messages to be transmitted in a cold way, often without a human touch that makes interactions warmer and makes this communication much more impersonal than the informal style. Furthermore, this rigidity of the rules also greatly limits the communicative style of the sender, sometimes dehumanizing the transmission of the message and causing the receiver to perceive it in a more lukewarm way.
The rules of formal communication should not allow it, but Sometimes it is inevitable that some confusion is generated around the message received This happens when the transmission of information requires several jumps between different interlocutors, generating the possibility that at each of these points the original message is distorted and the one ultimately received is not exactly the same as the first.
Ways for improvement
Formal communication has room for improvement, and to this end there are several recommendations that can make this way of transmitting information within companies more efficient. These are some of them.
1. Limit formalism
It is evident that Formal communication requires decorum in the delivery of the message, but sometimes this excess of formal expressions can generate an extremely serious tone that the recipient could interpret as negative, when the message can be neutral and even go on the opposite line. For example, a department manager can send an email to his subordinates to talk about his performance, which in principle is good, but use such a serious tone that they interpret it in a negative way.
2. Review
This recommendation should apply to any type of communication, but much more so to formal communication. It is essential to review the texts before sending, because sometimes the rush can lead us to make a series of spelling, grammatical or even content errors, which can generate problems in the interpretation of the message, and this can have serious repercussions within the organization. Imagine, for example, that we instruct a worker to ship 5,000 units of a product, instead of 500.
3. Reception
A good rule of thumb is to ask the recipient for confirmation that they have received the message correctly. At the moment There are tools in emails that inform us when the recipient has received our email so in those cases we don’t even have to ask for this confirmation explicitly.
4. Correct use
The last recommendation would be use formal communication only for issues related to the organization Any matter outside the company should not be dealt with through these channels, and trying to send a personal message through an institutional channel will only cause problems, since it is not the appropriate channel.
