Internal Communication Challenges in International Development Organizations

This paper examines why communication is indispensable in organisations and theglitches associated with internal communication behaviour of international aid agencies. It reviews some of the consequences of poor communication practices within large bureaucracies such as multilateral agencies and presents broad recommendations to change their internal communications culture in alignment with fundamental organisational priorities and governance structures. The paper draws on conceptual and practical insights in applied communication and development administration to explore the communication dynamics in these agencies and offer suggestions to optimise employee communication in a digital world. From the analysis, it is evident that to achieve the laudable vision of international development, a repositioning of internal communication as an integral component of their corporate communication programme, is inevitable for development agencies. They also need to progressively leverage the power of communication technology in a decentralised, multicultural and professionally diverse work environment for greater cohesion and connectivity.