Jemaneh (Ph.D.), AgaredechHailu, Getachew2021-11-182023-11-082021-11-182023-11-082021-09http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/28763The right organizational communication is crucial for success and sustainability. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to assess organizational communication practices in the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction as a case study using a mixed methods research design. A total of 196 employees of the Ministry responded to the questionnaire. The analysis of the questionnaire was supplemented with in-depth interviews with key informants and focus group discussions. An attempt was also made to cross-check the analysis with similar case studies and reports of the Ministry. Most of the respondents 112 (57.1%) rated the use of electronic communication as "very and extremely effective", followed by face-to-face or oral, written and telephone communication which was rated as "very and extremely effective" by over 50% of the respondents. On publications, 104 (53.06%) of the respondents agreed with "not effective and somewhat effective", and on conferences or meetings, 103 (52.6%) of the respondents agreed with "not effective and somewhat effective". The study revealed that the Ministry hardly conducts training and awareness on communication issues. The Ministry has not put in place communication strategies to improve its performance and service delivery. Factors such as communication tools, communication strategies, knowledge and awareness, communication skills and structural communication flows were found to have statistically significant influence on the communication practices of the Ministry (P-values, 0.000). The study concluded that great attention should be paid to communication practices to improve ministry performance. Therefore, improving communication tools, communication strategies, communication knowledge and awareness, communication skills and organizational structure-based communication is essential.enCommunication practices; effective communication tools and regression analysisThesis