The text describes organizational communication as "communicative practices through formal and informal structures of events and persons in a given organization to accomplish a given purpose" (138). I interpret this definition as the structure of communication in an organized situation such as a graduation ceremony, an office, or a student group. Organizational communication promotes the "good" which I interpret as creating ethical choices and actions. The book provides an interesting statistic: "studies indicate that we now spend up to 70 hours a week in some form of organizational action" (137). This statistic shows that many people engage in communication almost every hour of the day. The majority of people are bringing their work home with them.
My personal experience that relates to this concept of organizational communication is that my parents bring their work home with them. Both of my parents bring their work home with them because they have laptops provided by their job, and they have their work email connected to their phone. Sometimes their employers encourage them to work from home on their laptops even though it stretches beyond the typical 40 hour work week.
The text also discusses the concept of "dwelling place" which I find interesting. This concept relates to communication ethics, "no organization is ethically neutral; communicative practices announce daily a given understanding of what is good and what is not good within a given organizational structure" (141). This means that no organization can be welcoming to every individual. There will be instances when one person with a specific background or culture will not feel welcome in an organization. I find this concept interesting because it "no organization is ethically neutral."
I, too, found the 70 hours a week statistic fascinating. If I am not sleeping, in class, or working, I am on my phone. This is because I also bring my work home with me from my internship. I also use my phone to keep up with my classes, student group, and friends. I am never not connected to some sort of organization. You also have a really good point in saying that not every organization is welcome to every individual. I never really thought of this. If a person is not part of an organization then they have no connection to it. Since they are not aware of the organized communication they have no idea that they are not part of the "dwelling" that is that specific group.
ReplyDeleteYour example created a clear understanding of the aspects of organizational communication. Practices through informal and formal communication to structure events in a given organization is necessary to accomplish a given purpose. What other organizational structures would promote the “good” of communication? The example the book provides regarding the statistic of “studies indicate that we now spend up to 70 hours a week in some form of organizational action” (137). Do you agree or disagree that people should engage in communication within all aspects of the day?
ReplyDeleteYou mention that your personal experience relates to the course concept of organizational communication with your parents bringing their work home with them with work provided laptops. I agree that most employers expect their employees to be constantly connected and if their not willing to adhere to company policy, they often experience adverse repercussions. Though not blatantly stated, employees are expected to take work home with them. Do you think that work and home life should be separate? What would you prefer? How can a young incoming workforce break the stereotype of constantly being connected to their work?
Hello Kassi! Thank you for your posting. I also found the statistics that you suggested interesting because I didn't know how much we are somehow engaging or involving in organizational communications. Thinking of my daily life, the statistics is true because I engage in each classes, which are sort of small organizations when I am in school and involve in peer groups after school. I could realize that I nearly spend my time alone and have been in organizational communication more than I thought. Also, as you mentioned about dwelling place, each organization has its own rule and ethics. For example, four different classes that I am taking have their own rules and ways to educate students. They have different ways of testing and giving assginments. In my opinion, these differences makes each organization unique and distinct from others.
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