What is Organizational Communication? (full version)

so what is organizational communication and what are we doing when we study organizational communication I want to try and answer these questions from two different perspectives first we can talk about organizational communication as the communication that happens within organizations that is all the communication activity you'll see if you go to any organization today sending emails writing memos talking on the phone having meetings and more meetings teleconferencing video conferencing speeches presentations and so on this is a more conventional approach and I think it's what comes to mind when people initially think of organizational communication but I want to go deeper I want to introduce an alternative more sophisticated approach of seen organizations as communication this can radically change how we understand human interaction and organizational life and it opens up exciting new possibilities for research and practice but first let's say a bit more about the conventional approach to organizational communication which focuses on communication within organizations this perspective sees the organization as something like a container and communication is what flows within the container if we extend the metaphor we can see how communicating is then shaped by the structure of the organization in the same way that liquids take the shape of their physical containers and by the shape of the container we can mean the physical shape of the organization like if you have to take the elevator up 10 floors to deliver report to your boss or more of a symbolic shape like where you are in the organizational hierarchy and how this influences the way you communicate with other organizational members the key here is that the organization is seen as something that exists separately from communication so communication is quote unquote organizational when it happens within these separate structures we call organizations this relates to what scholars call an informational view of communication because communication is all about transmitting information throughout the container of the organization and quote unquote ineffective communication or communication breakdowns are seen as technical problems the right information didn't get to the right people in the right manner someone didn't get the memo as people like to say and this is important stuff it's how the work of organizations gets done from small businesses and multinational corporations to nonprofits and government agencies if organizations don't communicate the right information to the right people at the right times and the right ways things fall apart directions aren't followed customers aren't satisfied clients aren't served regulations aren't obeyed general chaos ensues and in certain high-risk organizations like our military or your local fire department getting the right information to the right people is absolutely critical so we certainly need effective communication within organizations but again I want to go deeper beyond this conventional view of organizational communication because as important as this conventional view is for the day-to-day operations of organizations I just don't think this view fully captures the complexities of organizing and communicating in our society in a perfect world we could create more efficient structures of information sharing so that the right people would always have the right information and miscommunication would be a thing in the past but a funny thing happened on the way to communication Paradise turns out different people interpret the exact same message very differently that people can be deceptive in their communication and their motives are incredibly difficult to figure out that the meaning of language changes depending upon the context and that what you don't communicate is often more important than what you do communicate or that what you say is often much less important than how you say it and that people often if not usually communicate for many other reasons than to just transmit information and these are not just apparitions this is the normal state of affairs for human interaction why is it after all that quote unquote communication problems are continually mentioned as one of the main difficulties for most organizations is it just that people aren't getting the right information well if so this is merely a technical that should improve as we develop new ways to get better information to more people more efficiently but it seems like almost the opposite is happening that the more sophisticated or communication technologies have gotten over the years the more communication problems we actually have now why is that perhaps it's because there is more going on with communication than just transmitting information so in contrast to the first approach of communication within organizations I want to offer an alternative more sophisticated approach to organizational communication organizations as communication but this means we have to think very differently about both communication and about organizations instead of viewing communication is merely the transfer of information this second approach goes deeper and sees communication as the fundamental process that shapes our social reality communication is not just about transmitting already formed data between senders and receivers but rather a complex process of continually creating and negotiating the meanings and interpretations that shape our lives scholars call this a constitutive view of communication because communication literally constitutes or makes up our social world more on this later additionally this second approach of seen organizations as communication questions the very notion of organization in the first place the first approach of communication in organizations assumes there is this thing called organization that exists and we just focus on the communication that happens inside what exactly is this thing called organization where did it come from organizations aren't natural they don't just exist in nature like trees and mountains and rivers they're created by people and people have different values and motivations and abilities and resources so organizations are never just neutral structures that exist apart from human activity they are the visible manifestations of human activity of communication and so at their core organizations are communicative think about it an organization is essentially an ongoing collection of interactions decisions messages interpretations symbols agreements contracts relationships and so forth there's nothing else there that exists apart from communication well let me qualify that just a bit certainly there are other material or physical things there like buildings cubicles computers and other equipment and these things help make up the organization but these things have no inherent meaning apart from human interaction nor can they have an impact in the real world apart from the choices we make through communication similar the outcomes of communication definitely have consequences in the material world for example you might be thinking hey if I get laid off it's not just a matter of perception it's not just talk there's a stark reality I have to face yes but how the decision to lay you off was made and the meaning of that decision whether seen as cost-cutting efficiency or ruthless bottom-line thinking and how you make sense of this event are all matters of communication and the cumulation of these communication processes are what make organizations what they are I'm not suggesting that organizations exist in an imaginary land of perceptions and symbols and wishful thinking like the material world doesn't matter it's all in your mind no no this constitutive perspective of organizations as communication is very much rooted in the material world of things and stuff but what I am suggesting is that these material things come together and have meaning as an organization only through communication thus leading us to the conclusion that organizations exist as communication and my argument is that the second approach organizations as communication is a much better perspective to guide our study of organizational communication now of course we need effective communication within organizations that's a given but if we limit ourselves to only this perspective we miss important opportunities for deeper insights and understanding but why complicate things with a more sophisticated approach after all conventions become conventional for good reason and conventional views have a lot of practical value what do we gain with an alternative approach I'm sure by now there are some objections in favor of the conventional view of communication within organizations I described earlier after all the container metaphor seems to describe how most of us actually experience organizational communication much of the time and the physical reality of organizations you know buildings computers stuff like that seem to reinforce the conventional view so what's wrong with this approach well when we just focus on communication within organizations based on that informational view of communication we're taking when a colleague of mine at the University of Colorado calls a flat earth approach towards communication what I mean by a flat earth approach is a perspective that seems correct from a limited vantage point because it works for much of our day-to-day lives but ultimately it fails to account for the complexity of a situation for much of human history we got by just fine thinking that the earth was flat even though it was always round and even with our 21st century sophistication where we know the earth is round most of us can actually get by with Flat Earth assumptions much of the time but what about when things get more complex if you want to put a satellite into space or take a transcontinental flight Flat Earth assumptions aren't going to be very helpful remember in elementary school when you compared to globe to a map and realize for example that it's much quicker to fly from New York to Moscow by flying over the North Pole instead of across the Atlantic what seems counterintuitive from a flat earth perspective actually makes perfect sense from a round earth perspective and the same is true with communication we can get by with quote unquote Flat Earth assumptions about communication for much of what we want to do throughout our day much of our communication involves sending and receiving relatively unproblematic messages and acting on that information giving directions planning our schedules requesting information and so on and the conventional informational approach towards communication works just fine in these situations but other times things are a bit more complex like when you need to resolve conflict with a close friend or family member when you have to share bad news with someone you care about confront someone about a wrongdoing or you need to mediate a dispute there's so much more going on in these situations than merely exchanging information you are actually engaged in a complex process of meaning negotiation and social construction in these situations you have to do much more and think about what information you want to exchange you actually have to think about the social realities you're creating what might seem intuitive from a conventional Flat Earth approach to communication like expressing what you think or trying to control information may actually work against you because it constitutes a social reality that produces unfavorable outcomes and this is especially true within the context of organizations issuer much of what goes on in organizations is the transmission of messages between senders and receivers but what about implementing a large-scale organizational change or navigating the politics of an organization or persuading sceptical leaders about the merits of a new idea if you've ever been involved in any of these activities you know you quickly run up against some organizational complexities that make the mere transmission of information in adequate to successfully accomplishing your goals things like power identity gender ideology worldview ethnicity culture and so forth are the quote-unquote round earth complexities of the organizational landscape that call for a much more sophisticated understanding of communication and these complexities need to be accounted for if we are to have a good understanding of organization communication so this has to do with our approach to communication either as a thing that happens within organizations or a social process that actually constitutes organizations and organizational realities and are corresponding approach to organizations either as relatively neutral containers that exist apart from communication or as contested sites of power resources and strategies that converge into recognizable forms we call organizations now I certainly recognize the importance of the conventional approach to organizational communication communication within organizations based on an informational view of communication but I'm trying to push us to a deeper more sophisticated understanding of organizational communication organizations as communication based on a constitutive view of communication the point then is that it constitute a view of organizations as communication enables us to question and investigate key organizational realities not just accept them as given we can question the existence of the organization its structure its forms of power its guiding assumptions its norms of operations and so on if these organizational features are not natural but rather came into existence through specific communication processes then we can examine the implications of those communication processes and explore ways of communicating that lead to more favorable organizational outcomes for more people we can examine for example how certain patterns of interaction give rise to norms of conflict resolution or how they're taken for granted values of a particular industry or sector shape the practice of leadership how interpersonal dynamics affect the success of an organizational change initiative we can look at how certain views of masculinity or femininity are connected to communication practices or how our very identities are often created and sustained through organizational communication we can uncover hidden forms of power and control that are embedded within communication processes we can explore ways to make organizations more equitable and representative by surfacing alternative voices we can figure out how to make organizations more productive adaptive and responsive to organizational communication that encourages innovation and collaboration whatever the case and constitutive view of organizations as communication provides a much stronger explanatory framework to understand the complexities of organizing and communicating what I'm advocating therefore is a communicative approach to our understanding of organizations organizational communication is all about taking a communication perspective to the study of organizations explore an organization through the lens of communication communication is not the thing to be explained communication actually provides an explanatory framework from which to understand the complexities of organizational life of course our natural tendency is to relapse back to the conventional view the container metaphor communication within organizations because it seems simple and intuitive from a limited perspective but I'm trying to push us towards a deeper understanding a perspective that better accounts for the complexities of organizing and human interaction so what is organizational communication and what are we doing when we study organizational communication communication is quote unquote organizational not just because it happens within organizations but rather because it coordinates the activities and interpretations of multiple people into an organized recognizable form and sustains or alters its form for subsequent collective action to study organizational communication therefore is to study the fundamental social processes that create and sustain the dominant structures of our society you

Channel: Matthew Koschmann

Views: 457,642

Rating: 4.782846 out of 5

Keywords: Commprof Productions, Organizational, Communication, Commprof, Educational

Id: e5oXygLGMuY

Length: 17min 6sec (1026 seconds)

Published: Tue May 08 2012