Communication in

workplace
Prof. Roomana N. Siddiqui
Workplace Communication Matters

Effective workplace communication benefits employees' job satisfaction, organizational

productivity, and customer service.

Benefits of practicing effective communication in the workplace.

Reduces work-related conflicts

Enhances interpersonal relationships
Increases workers' performance and supervisors' expectations
Increases workforce productivity through constructive feedback
Increases employee engagement and job satisfaction
Builds organizational loyalty and trust
Reduces employees' turnover rate
Facilitates the proper utilization of resources
Uncovers new employees' talents
Key points to improve communication in the workplace
Set clear goals and expectations
Ask clarifying questions
Schedule regular one-on-one meetings
Praise in public, criticize in private
Assume positive intent
Repeat important messages
Raise your words, not your voice
Hold town hall meetings and cross-functional check-ins.
Successful communication on the job requires listening skills, verbal and nonverbal
competence, and the abilities to build supportive climates and manage conflict.

In addition, organizational communication has three distinct features:

structure, communication networks, and links to external environments.
Organizations are structured

The structure is a set of procedures, relationships, and practices that provides

predictability for members so that they understand roles, procedures, and
expectations and so that work gets done.
Most modern organizations rely on a hierarchical structure, which assigns
different levels of power and status to different members and specifies the
chain of command that says who is to communicate with whom about what.
A second characteristic of organizational communication is that it occurs in
communication networks, which are formal and informal links between
members of organizations. In most organizations, people belong to multiple
network

I maybe part of several networks like faculty, students, administrators, and part
of network outside the organization.

In addition to networks in physical places of work, an increasing number of

workers are part of virtual networks. The growth in telecommuting is striking.
Links to External Environments

Organizations are embedded in multiple contexts that affect how they work and
whether they succeed or fail.
In other words, an organization’s operation cannot be understood simply by looking
within the organization. We must also look outside it to grasp how the organization is
related to and affected by its contexts.

Context in which organizations exist influence communication in organizations..

Organizations may also feel forced to change and adapt to emerging social, political,
and economic condition.
Organizational Culture:
Organizational culture consists of ways of thinking, acting, and understanding work
that are shared by members of an organization and that reflect an organization’s
distinct identity.

Organizational cultures consist of meanings shared by members of organizations

new members of organizations are socialized into preexisting meanings and tradition.

The relationship between communication and organizational culture is reciprocal:

Communication between members of organizations creates, sustains, and
sometimes alters the culture.
At the same time, organizational culture influences patterns of communication
between members.

As employees interact, they create, sustain, and sometimes change their

organization’s culture.

Four kinds of communication that are particularly important in developing and

conveying organizational culture are vocabularies, stories, rites and rituals, and
structures
Vocabulary
The most obvious communication dimension of organizational culture is vocabulary. Just as
the language of an ethnic culture reflects and expresses its history, norms, values, and
identity, the language of an organization reflects and expresses its history, norms, values,
and identity.

Hierarchical Language: Many organizations and professions have vocabularies that

distinguish levels of status among members. The military, for example, relies on language
that continually acknowledges rank (Yes, sir; chain of command), which reflects the close
ties between rank, respect, and privilege.
Salutes, as well as stripes and medals on uniforms, are part of the nonverbal vocabulary
that emphasizes rank and status.
Unequal terms of address also communicate rank. For instance, the CEO may use
first names (“Good morning, Amit”) when speaking to employees.

Lower-status members of an organization typically use Mr., Ms., Sir, or Ma’am in

addressing the CEO.

Colleges and universities use titles to designate faculty members’ rank and status:
instructor, assistant professor, associate professor, full professor, and distinguished
(or chaired) professor. Faculty generally use students’ first names, whereas
students tend to use titles to address their teachers.
Masculine Language:
Because organizations historically have been run by men, and men have been
the primary or exclusive members of them, it’s not surprising that many
organizations have developed and continue to use language more related to
men’s traditional interests and experiences than to women’s
Stories
Corporate Stories convey the values, style, and history of an organization.
One important function of corporate stories is to socialize new members into the
culture of an organization. Newcomers learn about the history and identity of an
organization by listening to stories of its leaders as well as its trials and triumphs.

Veteran employees regale new employees with tales about the laid-back
character of the companies: casual dress, relaxed meetings, fluid timetables, and
nonbureaucratic ways of getting things done.
These stories socialize new employees into the cultures of the companies
Personal Stories: Members of organizations also tell stories about
themselves.

Personal stories are accounts that announce how people see themselves
and how they want to be seen by others.
Rites and Rituals
Rites and rituals are verbal and nonverbal practices that express and reproduce
organizational cultures. They do so by providing standardized ways of expressing
organizational values and identity

Rites are planned sets of activities that bring together aspects of an organization’s culture
in a single event.

Rites of passage are used to mark membership in different levels or parts of

organizations. For example, a nonverbal symbol of change may be the moving of an
employee’s office from the second to the fourth floor after a promotion
A desk plaque with a new employee’s name and title is a rite that
acknowledges a change in identity. Rites of integration affirm and enhance
the sense of community in an organization. Examples are holiday parties,
annual picnics, and graduation ceremonies.

Organizational cultures also include rites that blame or praise people. Firings,
demotions, and reprimands are common blaming rites—the counterpart of
which are enhancement rites, which praise individuals and teams that
embody
Rituals
Rituals are forms of communication that occur regularly and that members of an
organization perceive as familiar and routine parts of organizational life. Rituals differ
from rites in that rituals don’t necessarily bring together a number of aspects of
organizational ideology into a single event.

Rather, rituals are repeated communication performances that communicate a

particular value or role definition.

Organizations have personal, task, and social rituals. Personal rituals are routine
behaviors that individuals use to express their organizational identity.
Social rituals are standardized performances that affirm relationships
between members of organizations

Many businesses have afternoon tea breaks. E-mail chatting and forwarding
jokes are additional examples of socializing rituals in the workplace.
Structures
Organizational cultures are also represented through structural aspects of
organizational life. As the term implies, structures organize relationships and
interaction between members of an organization. We’ll consider four
structures that express and uphold organizational culture:
roles, rules, policies, and communication networks

Roles: Roles are responsibilities and behaviors that are expected of people
because of their specific positions in an organization.
Rules: Rules, are patterned ways of interacting. Rules are present in
organizational contexts just as they are in other settings of interaction. As in
other contexts, organizational rules may be formal (in the contract or
organizational chart) or informal (norms for interaction).

Some firms count working late as evidence of commitment. Socializing with

colleagues after work may count as showing team spirit.
Taking on extra assignments, attending training sessions, and dressing like
upper management may communicate ambition
Policies: Policies are formal statements of practices that reflect and uphold the overall
culture of an organization. For example, my university’s mission statement emphasizes
the importance of teaching. Consistent with the organizational identity reflected in that
mission statement, we have policies that require teaching evaluations and policies that
tie good teaching performance to tenure, promotion, and raises.

Organizational policies also reflect the larger society within which organizations are
embedded. For example, as public awareness of sexual harassment has increased, most
organizations have developed formal policies that define sexual harassment, state the
organization’s attitude toward it, and detail the procedure for making complaints
Communication Networks: Communication networks link members of an
organization together through formal and informal forms of interaction and
relationship. These networks play key roles in expressing and reinforcing the
culture of an organization.
Job descriptions and organizational charts, which specify who is supposed to
communicate with whom about what, are formal networks. Formal networks
provide the order necessary for organizations to operate. They define lines of
upward communication (subordinates to superiors; providing feedback,
reporting results), downward communication (superiors to subordinates; giving
orders, establishing policies), and horizontal communication (peer to peer;
coordinating between departments).
 Tips for effective Communication at workplace
Use short words to talk about hard things.
Long, complicated sentences make written ideas hard to understand — they’re
mentally draining and demand more concentration. You’ll win more fans if you
replace long words and sentences with short ones.

“If you care about being thought credible and intelligent, do not use complex
language where simpler language will do,” writes Nobel prize–winning economist
Daniel Kahneman
Use paraphrasing techniques
When communicating in the workplace, you can gain clarity by
paraphrasing messages. For example, when a co-worker asks a question
after your presentation, start by paraphrasing their question: "So you want
to know why there were discrepancies between this month's numbers and
last month's?
Know when to ask open-ended vs. close-ended questions
Open-ended questions are those that prompt someone to share their thoughts or
opinions and these questions usually don't have direct answers. In contrast, close-
ended questions cause someone to provide a specific answer, like yes or no.
Knowing when to use open-ended vs. close-ended questions can influence whether
you get the information you need to complete your job duties. For example, use an
open-ended question when you want to hear a co-worker's feedback on a project
and use close-ended feedback when you want to know the deadline for a project.

Observe nonverbal cues

To enhance your workplace communication techniques, start by observing what your
coworkers communicate nonverbally. Nonverbal cues can convey how a person
actually feels about a topic or subject. When observing these cues, pay attention to
your co-workers' facial expressions, hand gestures and other signs that would
indicate how they might feel—either positive or negative.
Maintain professional language
Although it's important to make connections with your co-workers, maintaining professional
language in emails, presentations and verbal communications can help convey your
professionalism and dedication to your job.

Establish personal connections

While you need to maintain a sense of professionalism at work, connecting with co-workers
over hobbies or personal interests can help you foster positive workplace relationships.
Learn more about your co-workers' interests and family life during lunch breaks or after-
hours events to get to know them better.
Once you establish more personal connections with co-workers, you can ask questions and
engage in conversations that show you care and strengthen your workplace relationship
Use tone of voice to add clarity

Your tone of voice affects how others interpret your verbal and written messages.
When speaking with co-workers, be sure to use a happy and uplifting tone of voice
to convey your interest in your conversations with them.
Doing so helps co-workers feel valued and helps them gauge your thoughts on a
topic. Similarly, you can convey your thoughts through email by selecting the right
words and symbols.
For example, instead of writing: "Thank you, I appreciate it," use "Thank you, I'm
so grateful for your help!“
Engage in face-to-face communication often

Although emails, memos and phone dialogues allow you to communicate

with co-workers and employees in other departments, face-to-face
communications help you enhance your professional relationships, save
time and increase message clarity.
Be transparent about your needs
Another way to communicate effectively in the workplace is to practice
transparency, which means stating your intentions or needs clearly. For example,
instead of agreeing to take on additional work when you have a lot to do, be honest
with your superior about your current workload and ask if you can work on
additional tasks tomorrow.

Practice interpersonal communication

Interpersonal communication is the process by which individuals adjust their
communication tactics to accommodate the needs of others. By adjusting your
communication, you can maximize your workplace interactions and aid productivity.
Use clear and concise language
It's important to use clear and concise language when taking part in verbal or written
communications because it reduces questions or confusion about the topic. When
speaking with co-workers include phrases like "Does that make sense?" or "Am I easy
to follow?" to refine your message.
Similarly, when writing emails, check over your drafts to identify areas that you could
make more clear or direct. For example, rather than "We will hold the meeting at 3
this afternoon," you can say, "Today's meeting is at 3 p.m."
Demonstrate your gratitude

One way to encourage a positive team or company culture through

communication is to show your gratitude to your co-workers. You can
demonstrate your gratitude by thanking them for their help on a project or
by acknowledging their personal traits you admire, like their optimism. By
doing this, you enhance your professional relationships with your co-workers
and communicate with them more effectively.