Chapter 11

     In chapter 11, it talks about the types of communication. The two types of communication are formal communication and informal communication. Communication is a very important role in organizations and public administration. Communication, although very important and very helpful, also has its flaws like everything else in this world.
     Formal communication is written messages that follow formal chains of command. According to the book, in organizations, managers tend to use more formal communication because the role of an agency's executive is to direct, coordinate, and control the activities of persons below them. One of the biggest issues faced when dealing with formal communication is cost efficiency. Formal communication, especially in large organizations, produces too much paperwork which is very cost heavy. Money must be spent to produce, process, and store formal communication. Another issue faced in a situation such as this is also that it is not environmentally savvy. Creating too much paperwork is not environmentally friendly and this causes issues with many people especially in today's society and the worry about global warming.
     The second form of communication, informal communication, is about oral communication that "flows inside and outside formal channels of communication and written communication that does not follow formal channels" (p.277). Informal communication usually is more informative than formal communication and is spread faster throughout an organization. Forms of informal communication are e-mails, faxes, photocopies, telephone answering machines, and voice mail. Informal communication is a lot more eco-friendly than formal communication but it too has its flaws. Informal communication is limited and prohibited during power outages, when the internet or phone lines are down.