channels

The word “channels” means the proper, official routes for communication or approval within an organization. In plain terms, the official procedures or lines of authority for getting something done.

“Channels” is pronounced CHA-nuhlz (/ˈt͡ʃænəlz/ in IPA).

Here is “channels” used in a sentence: “He went through the correct channels to get the proposal approved.”

“Channels” is a noun.

“Channels” is a fairly common word in modern English.

Channels are the official routes a request, message, or approval must follow within an organization, while the chain of command is the ranked line of authority from top to bottom. The chain of command tells you who reports to whom; channels tell you the path a communication should take, which usually follows that chain.

Back channels are unofficial or private routes of communication used alongside, or instead of, an organization's official channels. The term is common in diplomacy, where "back-channel talks" are discreet negotiations held away from formal, public procedures.

Channels in this sense appears mostly in formal and workplace English, in collocations such as "official channels," "diplomatic channels," "appropriate channels," and "through the usual channels." The word is nearly always plural in this meaning.