COMM 615 Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace

Interpersonal communication is an exchange between two people where the dyad creates meaning.  Organizations are structured socially to be a system of power. So interpersonal communications at work result in the combination of the two arenas. 

Theory informs workplace communication.  Post-positivist thought lays out that knowledge and understanding occur from investigation and that observation equals reality.  Social construction deals with how meaning is made, through social interaction and communication, and purports that there is no objective truth or “right”. Critical theory looks at socially constructed hierarchical systems and offers a way to analyze interpersonal communications based on control and power.  Structuration theory connects the agent (individual) to the structure (business organization) and shows how the structure of an organization can shape rules and influence communication.  Leader Member Exchange (LMX) theory emphasizes the negotiated nature of supervisor/subordinate relationships where both are active in the process of communication.

In practice, narrative plays an important role in interpersonal communication.  Narrative can be used at work to deal with conflict, can be used to reinforce a collective organizational identity, can increase creativity, and can impact power positions of people within organizations.  Narrative can be used to flesh out subtleties and simplify complexities and can serve to make day-to-day communication more effective.

The five relationships at work are: peer-to-co-worker, workplace friendship, romantic relationships, supervisor/subordinate relationships, and customer/client relationships.  Each relationship has different functions, outcomes and consequences.  These relationships are impacted by issues of depth of relationship, organizational hierarchy, power, and context.

We explored the five interpersonal relationships in a workplace in class and through our reflections by exploring our personal experiences in each of the relational areas.  The real-life applicability of our readings was what made this course come alive. However, I did not feel that I gained new interpersonal skills or was exposed to practical ways to improve various interpersonal relationships.  This course focused on the theory and seemed to dwell on past/present experiences that did more to illustrate the problematic nature of interpersonal relationships at work than to focus on prescriptive ways to make bad situations better.  This was my least favorite class.

Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace syllabus Interpersonal Syllabus

Journal examples: Journal #1, Journal #2.

Reflections: A reflection on the variety of interpersonal relationships in the workplace, with a look at how interpersonal relationships are at the heart of organizational activities Reflection #1. A paper on supervisor/subordinate interpersonal relationships in the workplace and LMX Theory Reflection #2. A paper on gender and peer/co-worker relationships in the workplace Reflection #3. A paper on romantic interpersonal relationships in the workplace Reflection #4. A reflection on interpersonal relationships between clients and customers in the workplace, with a look at issues of trust and change Reflection #5.

Other assignments were: a meta-analysis on interpersonal communication at work by focusing on adaptation in the workplace Meta Analysis Interpersonal Communications, and a book review on Company, a novel by Max Barry where I analyzed the supervisor/subordinate relationships in the book from theoretical perspectives Book Review.

The final group project was a presentation depicting one of the interpersonal relationships we studied over the semester.  Our group chose the supervisor/subordinate relationship and wrote a script and acted out a play Interpersonal Group Project Script.