Research purpose. This paper aims at identifying and evaluating the means of communication used and the perceived barriers from employees of the banking system in Albania. The following research questions were formulated: (a) What are the means of communication used in vertical and horizontal communications? (b) Which mean is preferred and valued as the most effective? (c) Which are the barriers that hinder the effective communication flow in these organizations?
Design/Methodology/Approach. A structured questionnaire was addressed to 120 employees of 3 different commercial banks in Tirana, Albania, out of which 100 fully answered questionnaires were received. The questionnaire is divided into three main parts, each of which has two subcategories, and the valuation used for each question is according to the Likert scale from 1 (very few) to 5 (a lot).
Findings. E-mail is the most used communication tool vertically, whereas phone and e-mail are added at the horizontal one. Employee preferences are mostly for e-mail and face-to-face communication vertically and phone and e-mail horizontally. Time pressure and overload of information are perceived as main barriers vertically, whereas distractions are mentioned as biggest hindrance horizontally.
Originality/Value/Practical implications. We suggest that the managers of organizations in the banking sector should properly consider these two communication tools and create suitable conditions for their use. The employees themselves use more of those tools as, according to their perception during communication with colleagues, those tools improve their effectiveness. Other similar studies might be conducted in different types of organizations to point out similarities and contrasts with banking sector.
