Transcript Comminication in Organizations

Focus Questions
1. What is organizational culture?
2. How important is it to be involved in the
informal networks of organizations?
3. How do rituals and routines affect life in
organizations?
4. What are the risks of forming personal
relationships with co-workers?
5. What challenges face organizations and
members of them in this era?
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Features of Organizational
Communication
 Structure
– Organization means “structure.” (loose or rigid)
– Hierarchy
 Networks
– Communication occurs in networks.
– ad hoc network: in response to specific issues
 Links to external environment
– Contexts (multiple and connected)
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Communication in Organizations
 Organization Culture
– Ways of thinking, acting, and viewing work
– Shared by members
– Reflecting identity
 Four Communication Practices (next few slides)
– Vocabulary
– Stories
– Rites & Rituals
– Structures
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Vocabulary
 The language of an organization reflects
and expresses its history, norms, values,
identity.
 Hierarchical language
– Distinguishes levels of status
– Eg., military, school,…
 Masculine language
– More typical of men than women
– Words & phrases taken from sports, military…
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Stories
 Storytelling to weave coherent narratives and to
create meaning, and to sustain organizational
cultures
 Corporate stories
– Convey values, style, and history of an organization
 Personal stories
– How people see themselves, and to be seen by others
 Collegial stories
– Personal accounts of other members
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Rites and Rituals
 Verbal and nonverbal practices
– Rites: Sets of activities that bring together aspects of
ideology in a single event (dramatic and planned)
– Rituals: Forms of communications that occur regularly;
perceived familiar and routine
 Difference
– Rituals don’t necessarily bring together a number of
aspects of organizational ideology into a single event
– Rituals are repeated communication performance
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Rites
 Rites of passage
– Artwork in larger office,
special handshake
 Rites of integration
– Holiday parties,
graduation ceremonies
 Rites of blaming or
praising
– Military
 Rites of recognition
– Honors of achievement
 Rites of managing
change
– Training workshops;
office rearrangement
 Rites of resolving
conflicts
– Voting, meditation
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Rituals
 Personal rituals
– Individual routines; delivering staff mail in
person
 Social rituals
– Company dinning room for informal interaction
– E-mail chatting
 Task rituals
– Police officer’s routine questions
– Sales presentations
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Structures
 Organizing relationships and interactions
 Roles
– Responsibilities and behaviors of specific position
 Rules
– Constitutive and regulative rules
 Policies
– Formal statements of practices; mission statement
 Communication networks
– Formal & informal; job description and organization
chart
– Grapevine: Communication outside the formal channels
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Challenges for Communication in
Organizations
 Adapting to diverse needs, situations, and
people
 Moving in and out of teams
– Participating in variety teams
 Managing personal relationships on the job
– Personal vs. professional
– Romantic relationships
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