MGT502 - Use Of Social Media In Workplace Communication - Business Communication Assessment Answer

Introduction

Communication in business is the human connection that creates mutual understanding, valuing and intimacy among employees, for better organizational outcomes. Research has made it evident that a workplace with efficient vertical and horizontal communication becomes a constant source of continued employee motivation, satisfaction, and productivity (Talpau, 2014). The topic of focus in assignment one was that using social media in the workplace to communicate can be a vital source of company success and establishment of sustainable relationships. The purpose of this proposal is to advance this argument by focusing on how organizations can manage and leverage the value created by social media and use it to amplify the levels of business outcomes. People in the workplace have brilliant ideas they wish to share and lack of platforms to get these ideas across denies the organization a lot of valuable opportunities. Understanding the dynamics of social media is essential for business since it helps offer more insight and inspiration into why organizations should incorporate more social media in their business (Naik, 2015). The proposal assumed that all organizations perceive social media as an important tool for workplace communication. The research assumes that the researcher will undertake the study with an independence of mind and will not be influenced by personal prejudices, opinions or beliefs in making conclusions. There is also a general assumption that any primary or secondary research used to provide insight into the topic of social media in business was valid and reliable. Limitations of the study will include the fact that the numbers of data collection sources are limited and may end up giving ambiguous data for the research which may be hard to connect to the research topic.

Background

One of the main points acquired from assignment one analysis was that for an organization, having the strongest vision and strategy cannot be a through pass to success if the organization fails to inspire effective communication. Organizations fail to achieve optimal goal realization owing to the illusion that communication has taken place when indeed there exists a lot of information asymmetries. Such poor information flow causes a lot of de-motivation, lack of focus and poor understanding of organizational goals which is bad for performance (Towner & Klemz, 2016). A lot of these problems have been solved by the emergence of social media as a platform for communication. Social media has evolved from being a website where people form virtual communities based on random or informal social relationships to a more evolved place where people from a workplace setting can meet and share ideas (Talpau, 2014). From research in the first assignment, social media can be understood as an online platform that allows users to shares media content, ideas and thoughts. Major social media sites identified as ideal for communication in the workplace include: LinkedIn, Face book, Twitter, Yammer, slack, Zyncro, socialcast and matter most. These social media platforms vary in type and functionality but serve the same purpose of bringing people together and influencing them to get a long, so that their productivity and job morale increases.

The research was important in familiarizing the different strategies business can use in improving internal communication through social media. The proposal will now expand this knowledge by helping to gain more understanding of how management can harness benefits and ensure organizational value from social media communication (Derani & Naidu, 2016). Selection of the right social media platform to use in promoting more robust internal communication requires management to understand the business communication needs, culture and purpose of communication. The corner stone of effective communication is the establishments of relationships after which people can manage to express themselves even from a business perspective (Illia, Zyglidopoulos & Romenti, 2015). To leverage benefits from such interactions, it is crucial for management to make sure they encourage and influence the employees to feel free to engage and interact. Based on the technology acceptance model, people will only embrace use of a new form of technology if they perceive that the improvement will bring them more benefits and a perceived ease of use.

Leaders can manage and leverage opportunities of social media communication by being less formal in social media interactions and allowing employees to speak while they listen (Jurišová, 2013). The mode of communication here changes from one where the leaders don’t just listen to employee ideas and suggestions just to reply but also to understand the point made, as well as the unspoken meaning of the messages conveyed on the various social media platforms. The main benefit from social media interactions is that they engage employees (Siricharoen,2012). Engaged employees work more passionately and feel a sincere connection to the company and developing an attitude where they feel extremely responsible for making individual contribution to its performance (Naik,2015). Listening to employees through social media platforms is a valuable opportunity to take advantage of as a leader. Engaging in social media conversations with employees creates a platform where a leader can master more understanding of the employees and develop more clarity, understanding and the emotional capability to interact with the employees.

Context

The research will be based on Qantas Airlines, a multinational Aviation organization in Australia. Qantas airline is the largest Airline in Australia and among the most established in the world. Communication is an important element of the organization and has evolved to take place in social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter. The organization was ideal for the study since it has well established social media connection and engaged management. Studying the communication strategies of Qantas Airlines will be essential in providing insight to other companies on ways to incorporate strong social media connections and will also be an opportunity to identify recommendations for Qantas to improve their social media communication strategies.

Proposal outline

The topic of research will be to identify how management can leverage and manage the opportunities presented by social media communication. This will be done to ensure they create value for the company and also to ensure the conversations lead to the development of value creating relationships for the company.