Interdepartmental Relationship in an Organization

Having efficient teams in each department of our company is necessary but it is also necessary for each of these teams to have a global vision of the company and, therefore, of the rest of existing departments in the organization.

Interdepartmental Relationship

When representing the internal structure of an organization, the most used resource is the graphic interpretation as an organizational chart, which represents the departmental divisions as well as the hierarchical lines included in said organization. Through this schematic identification, an idea quite close to reality about the organizational model of the company can be obtained.

The informative functions and the option of structural analysis provide the organization charts with value for both the internal and external parts of the company. Through the connection between departments, the hierarchical representation and its relevance in the whole organization as a whole are defined. Therefore, when a department has a direct hierarchical line, it is called Online Structure. Typically, departments included in online relationships with other departments are responsible for strategic decision making.

Labor Relations

The company has a series of obligations, at the individual level the company has a series of relationships with the worker. At the collective level, the company maintains relations with the workers’ representatives.

Collective Agreement: agreement between the employer and the representatives of the workers to regulate the working conditions.

Communication Definition

In general terms, communication is a means of connection or union that people have to transmit or exchange messages. That is, every time we communicate with our family members, friends, coworkers, partners, customers, etc., what we do is establish a connection with them in order to give, receive or exchange ideas, information or any meaning .

Communication is the process by which the sender and receiver establish a connection at a specific time and space to transmit, exchange or share ideas, information or meanings that are understandable to both.

Definition Of Communicative Process

The communicative process is presented, as I said before, in infinite ways throughout our lives. The communicative process is the way of understanding each other, both sending and receiving messages, whether oral, visual, written, through symbols, sounds, gestures … etc.

Communication Elements:

For there to be a communication, it is essential that the elements of the communication are respected.

  • The sender (or senders) is the person (or is alive) who transmits the message.
  • The receiver (or recipients) is the person (or living being) who receives and interprets the message.
  • The message is the content of the information that the sender transmits to the receiver.
  • The code is the set of signs that combine with each other through certain rules to form the message. Both the sender and the receiver must know the code.
  • The channel is the physical medium through which the message is broadcast.
  • The situation is the place and set of circumstances surrounding the act of communication and that help to better understand the message.

Types Of Communication

  • Oral: It occurs when two living beings try to communicate through a verbal code that both must know.
  • Visual: The one we receive with the view through images.
  • Written: It is given through a code called the alphabet with which words with a meaning for both are formed. Both the sender and the receiver must be communicating in the same language, since the language of some regions or countries to others is different.
  • Symbolic: It is expressed through symbols that can express from letters, words, music groups to religions, ideologies … and so on.
  • Sonora: It is produced by sounds that can come from living beings, devices or machines.
  • Gestural: The one we express through physical gestures. This acquires a greater degree of importance

Importance of Interdepartmental Relationship

Interdepartmental relationships enhance employees’ skills, prevent stagnation, encourage communication and encourage innovation.

Many have been the companies that have launched team building programs with the aim of improving relations between the members of a team. However, there are few who put the same attention in building bridges between departments so they continue to be ‘tight’ companies.

There are simple ways to build bridges between employees. It takes time, dedication and imagination to find the most related dynamics with your collaborators that allow a marketing partner to interact with a technician. Some examples proposed by Jordi Robert-Ribes, founder of Connecting Perspectives, are simple: redistribute the coffee machines, expand the dining tables to include more people, choose the rotation of tasks, physical changes of the workplace

It is about gathering and encouraging communication between members of a company that, otherwise, would never have contact.

As a practical example in the US, a pharmaceutical company detected that the sales and marketing teams were barely related. To change this situation they changed the coffee machines, from a small coffee machine for every six employees, to other high capacity ones, for every 120 employees. In this way, they got the employees to move to the machines and, on the way, they talked to people from other departments. Sales increased by 20%.

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