Organizational Communication- Applied

To help you better understand how organizational communication is used, I thought I would build an organization that prides itself on positive communication within its borders in order to perform its goal(s). I will call this specific organization “Peach Tea Cupcakes & Coffee”. This business will be located in a metropolitan area, and will cater to anyone with a sweet tooth and a need for great coffee. Its customers will range in age from 0-infinity, and the shop will pride itself on carrying a huge variety of products, not to mention those that can be picked by people who are on specific diets. As you can see, the employees will have their work cut out for them. This will be a, “work-hard-play-hard culture.”
In terms of the organization of power, there will be one owner, one manager, five bakers, three baristas, five people that take orders, three “cleaners”, and two people who run errands for the business. The owners will make decisions that change the image of the business; they will also provide the funds. The managers are second in power. They will “run” the business, and make sure everything goes smoothly. All other workers will be on the same level. The people that the owners employed were hired based on their ability to communicate, work in teams, problem solve, and think creatively. Communication will be used by the business to ask that things get done, to promote healthy relationships between workers, and to create a sense of unity and understanding. The managers and owners know that they must support their employees, and also promote individual empowerment. Because this is a smaller business, relationships will be very important. Supervisors will not be controlling, and no one will be “hovering” over the workers. Every morning, goals will be mapped out on a board for that day as a means of supervisory communication. For instance, the board could says that, that day they need to bake 500 cupcakes, deep clean the kitchen, develop new flavor ideas, and mark down certain products. Meetings and announcements will be placed on a board that all employees know about, and are asked to check daily as a means of “downward” communication. Emails will also be sent out for redundancy, and everyone will have each other’s phone number. For “upward communication”, all employees will meet once a week to discuss ideas, problems, financial issues, and communicative matters. This way, the employers receive feedback on how they are doing their jobs, and it mirrors how efficient the “downward” communication is. Workers will not be asked to do a horrible and stressful amount of work because the managers want them to focus on a greater quality of work. Workers will feel comfortable expressing their feelings and emotions because the managers and owner will promote it in their environment. Affective and cognitive trust will be enforced in order to maintain a sense of peace within the business. If employees are doing their job in a positive way, they will be rewarded sometimes with extra vacation days or raises.
If something is going wrong, all workers will meet immediately and communicate means for a change. Barriers between everyone at the business will be greatly reduced, and the idea of teamwork will increase. “Peach Tea Cupcakes & Coffee” will hopefully be a very fun and lucrative business. Though if it is not, that is what communication is for!