How Downward Communication Works in Business

Downward communication is a type of communication where key messages flow from upper management down to lower-level employees. In many iterations of downward business communication, a message begins with C-level executives, including but not limited to the CEO. Via internal communication channels, messages flow down the chain of command to department heads and project managers. Messages then trickle farther down the organizational structure until it reaches all members of the organization.

Downward communication often happens alongside bottom-up communication or upward communication, where messages flow from lower-level employees to upper management (such as customer-facing workers sharing feedback with their supervisors).

Messages that can flow through downward communication systems include:

1. 1. New policies: If top-level management decides to institute new policies affecting the workforce, it can use downward organizational communication channels to spread the message.
2. 2. New company initiatives: When companies take on new projects and initiatives, they can use downward communication channels to alert the workforce.
3. 3. Specific job instructions. Downward communications sometimes flow from department heads to individual workers as they provide instructions or detail changes in workflows and initiatives. Such communication channels do not necessarily need to involve higher-level executives.
4. 4. Employee review and feedback: Managers and human resources departments can use downward communication to share feedback on a team member’s individual performance at work. This can happen on a regular basis or as part of a formalized review process.
5. 5. Non-work announcements: Sometimes, upper-level management needs to share messages that have nothing to do with work. Notices about days off, office parties, or guest speakers are often communicated via downward communication.

Company executives and management can use a number of different channels to disseminate information. Some forms of downward communication include:

1. 1. Employee handbooks: An employee handbook is typically drafted by members of upper-level management (such as a director of human resources) and then shared with all members of an organization. Most of these workers will rank below the authors of the employee handbook.
2. 2. Email circulars: An email circular can serve as a company-wide memo that goes out to all team members. In many cases, these email bulletins transmit information from upper management to the rest of the team.
3. 3. Face-to-face conversations: Downward communication can take a direct interpersonal approach when supervisors speak to their charges face-to-face. They can share performance appraisals or give new job instructions. These conversations can also be a venue for upward communication since an employee can use the opportunity to share perspectives and feedback with their manager.
4. 4. Company-wide directives: Sometimes, upper management makes a decision affecting the whole company, but as a matter of interpersonal strategy, they choose to disseminate that message through departments and managers. Using a downward communication model, C-level executives can spread messages via project managers and department heads until the directive trickles down to every single employee.

Downward communication ably suits the needs of many businesses, particularly those with a clear hierarchical structure. Here are three reasons why.

1. 1. Consistency of message: A top-down message will be equally clear to all team members when it is communicated verbatim and not subject to interpretation by middle managers. If a company commits to a unified downward message throughout the organization, it helps all stakeholders end up on the same page.
2. 2. Reinforces hierarchical structures: Some organizations work best as hierarchies. Downward communication can reinforce these organizational hierarchies and give increased clarity about each person’s role within that hierarchy.
3. 3. Enables nimble movements and shifts: Clear directives from the highest levels can enable swift, decisive action throughout an organization, even ones that are sprawling and multifaceted.

Despite some clear advantages to downward communication, this type of communication does not suit all organizations or initiatives. Here are three reasons why.

1. 1. Not ideal for problem-solving: Institutional problem-solving tends to be easiest when the team gets input from all corners of the business. For such initiatives, horizontal communication—where people of equal status communicate across different departments and project teams—can be more effective.
2. 2. Can lead to dissent in non-hierarchical organizations: Downward communication works best when all team members share an understanding of the company’s chain of command. In more democratic organizations, where authority is spread wide and thin among team members, downward communication can come across as an intrusive form of micromanaging.
3. 3. Takes poor advantage of employee knowledge: Many successful corporate executives embrace the notion that they cannot be the expert on all aspects of the business they oversee. These executives try to limit downward communication and instead seek to promote dialogue between themselves and everyday employees to get a better sense of the company on a department-by-department basis. Gaining such an understanding can be elusive when the executive reverts to dictating edicts from above.

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