What are external and internal communication flows?

Communication is fundamental to the development of society and, it goes without saying, an essential pillar for organizations to carry out strategies and actions which will allow them to achieve their desired business objectives. But this is not possible through good communication alone. It is vital to know what the external and internal flows of communication are, and how to manage both in an assertive manner.

Internally, it is clear that communication plays an important role in interpersonal relationships within a company. How can an area manager understand what his teammates do on a daily basis if he doesn’t communicate with them? How can Human Resources understand the needs and interests of its employees if it doesn’t raise these aspects with them? And equally, how can a new collaborator find out what a company does if they do not investigate, ask or consult? There’s no other way.

This is mainly because in companies, communication is everything: in meetings, investigations, debates, brainstorming, instructions, and every kind of relationship, whether ascending, descending, horizontal or outward. The functions of a manager are partly, and crucially, communicative: be it with their partners, bosses or with fellow employees.

Furthermore, as workers get to know their own capabilities, their company and the contribution they can make to it, they can exchange relevant experience through different communication flows, to contribute to the achievement of goals set by the company.

This is how business communication works, based on a constant link that exists between an organization, its internal audiences (employees, board of directors, etc.) and its external audiences (customers, suppliers, media, governments, business groups , universities, public opinion, etc.)

We all use communication to create and disseminate strategies, plans or tactics that help us to move in the right direction, in order to guide, lead or motivate a work team, organize resources, interact with people or interest groups, but also to set and project an image of the company externally. It all depends on using the most appropriate communication flows.

Communication flows and their importance

Communication flows are created within organizations, according to each ones’ structure and operations, allowing messages to travel in multi-directionally and land accurately and forcefully with the desired audiences. Getting to know these flows allows company directors and team leaders to manage effectively together with their collaborators and, ultimately, within their company’s operations.

Each organization has a structure that, in part, determines the flow of its communications. The common way to represent this structure is through organizational charts, which use graphs to show the composition of different areas, and how work units connect and communicate with each other .

Let’s start by analyzing the main types of organizational communication and their associated flows. A first, detailed look at the subject should address both formal and informal communication, their characteristics and importance.

No one escapes from the formal to the informal

Formal communication takes place through the official channels that are explicit in a company’s organizational chart. These channels can change constantly, but invariably call for rules, standards and agreements between work teams.

In the framework of formal communication, non-compliance with certain rules is subject to possible sanctions, although common sense should prevail, since formality shouldn’t be synonymous with rigidity or inflexibility. And formal communication is not necessarily the key to resolving all conflicts.

Informal communication is the element which largely defines the quality of the work environment in any given company. This is the flow which runs and unfolds outside the organization’s official channels. This type of communication encompasses all kinds of interpersonal relationships, and the quality of messages varies greatly.

Informality can distort communication, and in less mature companies it can lead to rumors and generate tension, mistrust and uncertainty. Ever been in a massive restructuring or downsizing process? In this propitious scenario the flow of informal communication can wreak the greatest damage, and managers must take care over the message they transmit, and how they transmit it.

The flows of formal and informal communication complement each other, and need each other. Neither one should be eliminated or given special preference. The formal acts as the company’s personal stamp, and the informal provides valuable data on the work environment. We’re not robots, but we don’t party all the time either!

Consolidating the internal structure

Today, an organization’s size, nature and model determine the direction in which most of its information flows. In established and traditional organizations, much of the communication flows vertically, from the bottom up. In more informal companies (i.e. in the technology, creative, advertising and marketing industries), information tends to flow horizontally and diagonally.

Vertical flows: two sides of the same coin

Downward communication is conventional and has been around for decades: a cascade of communication, in which each chain of command reports to the next rank up on topics such as the development of tasks, roles, training, training, guidelines, policies, etc.

Increasingly common, however, is upward communication, which calls for systems of participation that allow for proactivity and feedback from employees within participatory meetings. This is useful for taking the pulse of the organizational culture.

Horizontal flows: an increasingly-accepted trend

Horizontal communication is maintained between collaborators of the same rank. The information’s confidentiality and complexity are shared and, most importantly, the absence of hierarchies eliminates the presence of an authority that conditions or limits the flow of communication.

Horizontal communication also takes place when the high command and the employee do not belong to the same division – the rise of interdepartmental projects and the management of transversal works has led to an increase in this kind of communication.

What about external communication?

External communication is the other essential pillar of business communication, which aims to position, strengthen and consolidate a brand’s image and reputation to its stakeholders: clients, suppliers, the government, associations and society in general. In short, it is the entire set of messages and information flows which the company sends out into the external environment.

Today this type of communication has become an essential strategic tool for any organization which wants to be well-placed within its market; external communication plays a large part in a company’s success, by making it appear more competitive than others.

Why does a consumer choose one product or service over another? The answer is simple: it is due to the perceptions they have of each brand, perceptions which stem from images stored in the memory, which themselves originate from various strategies and actions, launched at different times and in different communication flows.

Individual or personalized: closeness and emotion

Getting to know the flow of individual communication is essential to better understanding situations in which we transmit messages to one or more interlocutors.

Individual communication may only involve two people or two entities, but this does not mean that it is a simple process, as it encompasses a wide range of components such as message and intention influence – when we personalize the information flow, it is much easier to come across as transparent or to get carried away by emotion.

On the other hand, the way a message is transmitted, the language, the tone, the gestures used and the intention make up the personalized communication flow, and become 80% of the communication process. Whether communication is unidirectional or reciprocal, and whether it is virtual or face-to-face, also counts here; but a closer tone always prevails.

Mass or collective: scope is key

This flow of communication involves the management of information aimed at different segments of the population – citizens, governments, opinion leaders and society itself – through a given channel or media.

In this order of ideas, the media is an ideal channel for the mass dissemination of information, since their purpose is to inform, educate, entertain and form opinions, always dependent on the intention with which the message is transmitted: educational, commercial , advertising, informative, etc.

For over a decade, social networks have been transforming this traditionally unidirectional information flow, and making it multidirectional: a communication flow in which everyone can exchange messages among themselves, speak as equals, and have the possibility to speak, listen, and respond. Natural communication allows us to exchange ideas, debate, discuss and reach agreements.

‘Clients’ no more: today they are followers and fans

It is evident that communication flows are an essential dynamic in an organization’s consistency and operational continuity – after all, companies are made up of people, who need to communicate constantly. Communication is part of a business’ DNA, and the success of the latter depends on how its flows are managed.

It is not only a question of forms of communication that have the purpose of establishing a brand’s position in the marketplace, or an optimal work environment. Efficient communication flows generate trust, positioning and, hence, reciprocity, creating strong bonds of closeness, empathy and loyalty between an organization, its collaborators and its external audiences. Today it is not enough to merely have customers, users and collaborators. To go on step further and make these people admirers of your company, it is necessary to ask oneself: what are internal and external communication flows?