The
extension officer has different view with whom he or she is communicating with
in his work. The directions greatly rely on the levels at which the
communication is being effected. For instance, at the institutional level,
communication takes place between the extension officer and the various persons
or group of persons that constitute the agricultural extension organization. In
this case, the extension officer exchanges information with his superiors and
sub-ordinates. This simply state that there is an upward and downward flow of
information through chain of command. This direction of flow is said to be a vertical
flow. Information flows from the superior or the super-ordinate to the sub-ordinates
in an extension services. The information can either be in written or verbal
such as policy statement, memos, manuals, procedures, telephone calls,
bulletins, and as well as face-to-face instruction. This direction of
communication flow is referred to as downward communication flow, this type of
direction in communication flow is meant to direct, instruct as well as
command.
There are five
other basic purposes of downward communication, they have been suggested to;
- To present information of an ideological nature to assist in the inculcation of goal
- To provide sub-ordinate with performance feedback
- To provide specific task directive of job instruction
- To provide information about rationale of job
- To provide information about organization policies, procedures and practices
In agricultural
extension service, communication flows between employees on the same level, for
instance, between an extension officer and other extension officers that have
equal status that are in the different departments and among age-groups within
the same work group. This is mostly carried out through meetings either formal
or informal, written memos, and informal interactions. Horizontal communication
facilitates organizational coordination and problem-solving, which enables
organization members to form relationships with their peers. Relationships are
an important part of employee satisfactions. Horizontal or lateral
communication often reduces the communication burden of superiors and also
reduces communication inaccuracy by putting the relevant people in direct
contact with one another.
Diagonal direction
of communication is another type of communication flow. This is said to include
all transmissions that cut across the chain of command of an organization. It is
mostly carried out in the form of interaction between line and staff.
In rural population
communication, the direction of communication is directed at farmers and other
rural dwellers by the extension officers. The information exchanged between the
officer and the rural population including the data that can help to identify
and analyze the most important agro-economic and social problems of the rural
population, information on possible alternatives for solution to the major
problems detected, guidance and training for small scale tests and adoption of
innovations. This is usually effected by calling people to parliament meetings;
farm visit, use of town orator, use of poster and hand bills, film shows,
interviews as well as and demonstration/small plot adoption techniques.
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