Advantages and disadvantages of upward communication

Here you will get about Advantages or merits or importance of upward communication and disadvantages of upward communication. Upward communication occurs when information flow upper the hierarchical form subordinates to superiors. The respective advantages of such communication are as follows-

Advantages of upward communication

1. Development of plan: The information received from subordinate plays important role to help development of planning of the organization.
2. Providing suggestions and opinions: By upward communication system, subordinate takes necessary suggestions and opinions from superiors about the work-related issues of the organization.
3. Motivating to employees: Upward communication system allows lower level staff to express their attitude or opinion to upper-level staff. As a result, sub-ordinates are influenced to work more towards fulfillment to target.
4. Providing constructive suggestion: All employees are supplied with constructive and important messages that can help to implement the goals or objectives.
5. Good labor-management relationship: Upward communication I participative in nature. Here, information is invited from lower level executives and employees and on the basis of this information top executive makes a decision. So, good relation between subordinates and bosses should create for the betterment of the organization.
6. Providing feedback: The subordinate’s reaction is returned to the superior in this communication system. So, top level management can decide what to do and what not do clearly understand and followed.
7. Creating favorable environment: Upward communication helps to develop a favorable working situation in an organization by creating a good relation among all employees.
8. Promote harmony: Upward communication creates a friendly environment in the organization which leads to a peaceful and harmonious relationship among the subordinates and superiors.
9. Decision making: Top level executives or superiors needed much information before taking a decision on a particular issue. Subordinates supply this information through the help of upward communication.
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10. Developing creative and innovative ideas: Upward communication facilitates easy excess of the employees or subordinate to the superiors in providing necessary constructive suggestions and opinions about the work-related issues of the organization.
11. Facilitating collective decision: Since upward communication is participative in nature. It communication allows the subordinates to convey their feelings, constructive suggestions and opinions and the work-related in the decision making process.

Disadvantages of upward communication

In spite of having many advantages upward communication, it is not free from limitations of disadvantages. The main disadvantages of upward communication are as follows:

1. Changes of information: In upward communication subordinates may change their accurate information. So, the top executive cannot take an accurate decision.
2. Unwillingness: Sometimes subordinates don’t send the information to their superior willingly. So, the communication system may be disrupted.
3. Fear of inefficiency: The main problem of upward communication is fair to superiors. Generally, superiors make a question about the employees work position and efficiency. Many employees fear to communicate and share their ideas, constructive suggestions and opinions with the superiors.
4. Indiscipline: Sometimes employees communicate directly to superior by avoiding proper channel or chain of command. Here disciplines are not properly maintained.
5. Bypassing: In the process of upward communication, sometimes workers directly approach the topmost authority with their suggestions or bypassing their immediate boss. This is harmful to any organization.
6. Flattery: In order to convince the superior bosses, subordinates can take the help of flattery and for this reason, subordinates may conceal the true and provide incomplete information to top level.
7. Lake of initiative: Generally subordinate is reluctant to take the initiative to upward communication for a different reason.
8. Risk of distortion of messages: In upward communication, subordinates willingly distort the message because they fear if they tell the original fact to their bosses, they may face some problems.
9. Delay: It is an important limitation of upward communication is the long and slow movement of information to the higher authority.
10. Supervisor’s negligence: Sometimes top-level executives discourage the upward flow of information and neglect the constructive suggestions and opinions about the work-related issues of the organization.