Week 8

• Organizational communication


  A process through which people construct, manage, and interpret behaviours and symbols (whether verbal or nonverbal), both intentionally and unintentionally, through interaction (mediated or direct), within and across particular organizational contexts
• Organizational communication


  • Structure
  • Communication network
  • Links to external environment
• Structure


  Patterned ways of doing things, set of procedures, relationships and practices that provides predictability for members of an organization so that they understand roles, procedures, and any expectations and so that work gets done
• Communication network

  Formal and informal links between people, including social, task, ad hoc, and virtual networks
• Links to external environment

  An organization's operation cannot be understood simply by looking only within organization, we must look at outside of the organization to grasp how its related to and affected by its context
• Organizational culture


  • Vocabularies
  • Stories
  • Rites & rituals
  • Structure
• Vocabularies


  1. Hierarchical language - Distinguish levels of status among members

  2. Masculine language - Historically organization was dominated by men, several terms related to men was used such as top man, king maker etc.
• Stories

  • Personal stories
  • Corporate stories
  • Collegial stories
• Personal stories


  How people see themselves and how we want to be seen by others, sharing stories that represent yourself
• Corporate stories

  Stories that convey the values, style, and history of an organizations, newcomers learn about the history and identity of an organization
• Collegial stories


  Being told by co-workers about what to expect from whom, whether positive of negative, collegial stories assert identities for others in an organization
• Rites & rituals


  • Rites of passage
  • Rites of acknowledgement
  • Rites of integration
  • Rites of blame & praise
  • Renewal rites
  • Conflict resolution rites
• Rites


  Dramatic, planned sets of activities that bring together aspects of an organisation's culture in a single event
• Rituals


  The forms of communication that occur regularly and that members of an organization perceive as similar and routine parts of organizational life, including personal, social, and task rituals
• Structures


  • Roles
  • Rules
  • Policies
  • Communication networks
• Roles


  Responsibilities and behaviors that are expected of people because their specific position in an organization
• Rules


  1. Constitutive rules - specify what various kinds of communication symbolize

  2. Regulative rules - specify when, where and with whom communication occurs
• Policies


  Formal statements of practices that reflect and upload the overall culture of an organization
• Communication networks


  Formal networks like job descriptions and organizational charts, and informal "grapevine" networks
• Guidelines for effective communication in organizations


  • Balance investments in work and the rest of your life
  • Manage personal relationships on the job
• Balance investments in work and the rest of your life

  None of us is only a career person; We are also parents and citizens and people who have other responsibilities. Many organizations are becoming more flexible to reduce turnover.
• Manage personal relationships on the job


  Understand the relationship and manage them well. Friendship between coworkers, subordinates, and supervisors can increase job commitment and satisfaction, but can also lead to favoritism and unfair treatments. Differentiate private life and professionalism.