Internal communication in non-profit organizations Many non-profit organizations are so focused on communicating with an external audience, such as volunteers, donors and the media, that they forget the importance of communication with its own staff (Bruner, 2011). Internal communication should be guided by clear policies and practices. The management of an organization should actively listen and respond respectfully to the employees that have something to say, and also encourage those who do not, to share their views (“Principles: Communication, n.d.). The management of a non-profit organization should actively listen to the staff, to make them feel included (“Communications toolkit,” 2011). The employees might have some good ideas for improvements
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Therefore, many mistakes are made in conjunction with internal communication. One common mistake made by non-profit organization leaders is that it is easy to think that because they are informed about an issue, everybody know about it. This is often not the case, as the employees usually do not get that piece of information unless the management actually tell them about it. Also, sometime the management inform some staffers, but they do not have a routine for keeping track of who have received the information and not, even when everyone at the organization should be informed. How the information is communicated can also lead to troubles. It can be difficult to determine whether the information is perceived correctly, before it has already led to a big misunderstanding or major problem. Some leaders are afraid that the organization becomes too bureaucratic, and in fair of it, they do not want to impose written policies and procedures. This can lead to confusion. Organizations need reliable communication, that is written down for the the staff to relate to. On the other hand, the management tends to worry more about efficiency than to communicate with the employees. They generate systems that contains a lot of information, but it is raw data that does not seem to be important. When put under pressure or in a crisis situation, which is common …show more content…
As mentioned in chapter one, the Hawaii Red Cross, is part of the Pacific Island Region of the American Red Cross. Not only is Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands separated from Hawaii by massive volumes of water, but there is also separation within the state of Hawaii. The Hawaii Red Cross has offices on four islands; Oahu, Big Island, Maui and Kauai. Since the different parts of the chapter is not physically connected, it makes the communication part harder. The management in the Hawaii Red Cross is supposed to gather for a biweekly meeting. There, the managers from each department on Oahu meet physically, and the neighbor islands ' managers attend over the phone. The problem is that these meetings often get canceled or postponed, because people are busy or traveling. During times of big disasters, the meetings revolves around the emergency. That does often not apply to all the departments, so the managers from for example the CPR and Service to the Armed Forces departments do not attend because it is irrelevant to them. One time the chapter went two months without a manager meeting (Yano,
Therefore, many mistakes are made in conjunction with internal communication. One common mistake made by non-profit organization leaders is that it is easy to think that because they are informed about an issue, everybody know about it. This is often not the case, as the employees usually do not get that piece of information unless the management actually tell them about it. Also, sometime the management inform some staffers, but they do not have a routine for keeping track of who have received the information and not, even when everyone at the organization should be informed. How the information is communicated can also lead to troubles. It can be difficult to determine whether the information is perceived correctly, before it has already led to a big misunderstanding or major problem. Some leaders are afraid that the organization becomes too bureaucratic, and in fair of it, they do not want to impose written policies and procedures. This can lead to confusion. Organizations need reliable communication, that is written down for the the staff to relate to. On the other hand, the management tends to worry more about efficiency than to communicate with the employees. They generate systems that contains a lot of information, but it is raw data that does not seem to be important. When put under pressure or in a crisis situation, which is common …show more content…
As mentioned in chapter one, the Hawaii Red Cross, is part of the Pacific Island Region of the American Red Cross. Not only is Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands separated from Hawaii by massive volumes of water, but there is also separation within the state of Hawaii. The Hawaii Red Cross has offices on four islands; Oahu, Big Island, Maui and Kauai. Since the different parts of the chapter is not physically connected, it makes the communication part harder. The management in the Hawaii Red Cross is supposed to gather for a biweekly meeting. There, the managers from each department on Oahu meet physically, and the neighbor islands ' managers attend over the phone. The problem is that these meetings often get canceled or postponed, because people are busy or traveling. During times of big disasters, the meetings revolves around the emergency. That does often not apply to all the departments, so the managers from for example the CPR and Service to the Armed Forces departments do not attend because it is irrelevant to them. One time the chapter went two months without a manager meeting (Yano,