Mindful communication

Mindful communication according to the book is "as mental and relational activity that is both purposeful and strategic". This form of communication takes conversation from a script to a communication where both people are invested. Mindful communication is also an important element of authenticism. To be authentic we must use our minds to communicate.

There have been many times when a customer service representative has gone through the motions. As a customer in this type of situation I can see that the employee is beign inauthentic. The "thank you for shopping" is an example of mindless communication. As a customer I apprecuiate the employee who uses mindful communoication and addresses my specific needs rather tham using a predetermined set of answers and communciation interaction. Minful communoication allows the people to be engaged and feel that th eprson with whom they are talking are actually viewing them as an individual.

Secrecy and Privacy

According to our text, up to 65% of management monitors employee behavior by using software to block connections. Also other monitoring behavior is used by management such as monitoring email, mail, and personal internet use. These forms of monitoring may have both positive and negative effects on organizational effectiveness.

As an employee I would feel that things like monitoring email and internet use are a violation of privacy if it were not made clear by the employer that this was done. I think it is important for employers to inform their employees of the action they take that may violate privacy. This way an employee knows right from the beginning and it allows them to form trust with their employer. I think informing employees shows that the company has a policy of not doing personal things at or during work and that employees are given the accountability of being monitored. This also allows the organization to reward good behavior and also figure out who is not on task.

Openess

In chapter 9 the author writes about open communication. This style of communication is in a relationship where you "perceive the other interactant as a willing and receptive listener and refrain from responses that might be perceived as providing negative relational or disconfirming feedback (287)." This type of communication includes both verbal and nomverbal communication. When using this type of communication it allows the people to communicate without feeling as though assumptiojns have already been made.

One study showed the positive affects of this style of communication on employee supervisor relationship. Things that might represent this relationship were things like supervisor enjoyed talking to employees, supervisor thought communication was important, and supervisors persuade instewad of demand.

I can see this style of communication in my own workplace. Very rarely does my boss tell me what to do. He asks if I have done something. i think this allows for me to say yes I already have done x or no I have not and thanks for the reminder. Also my boss talks about his family and his own experiences in the job so I feel like I know him as a person as well as my boss.

Situational Leadership

According to the text, situational leadership is the idea that "appropriate leadership emerges from behavior that is responsive to varied situations (278)." This allows for leaders to emerge from the group process. This would also allow for people who want to tell others what to do to come forward to lead. I think this is often problematic because the person may not be the most capable but is someone who wants to use the opportunity to get noticed by their boss or likes to be in an authority position.

Within group environments there are positives and negatives to having situational leadership. One of the positives is that the person who want to take on leadership responsibility can. Another reason this could be positive is that other group members may have a hard time if they are forced to choose a leader rather than have one that seems to be good at it and voluntarily becomes leader. The negative side of situational leadership could include having someone who has an agenda other than that of the group's. The person also may not have the characteristics necessary to lead an effective team. Another reason the text cites as a drawback to situational leadership is that this type of leader may not have the ability to inspire a team.

Working INterculturally

It is important in business and in fact in many fields to have different perspectives. Many people feel that it is enough to be "tolerant". Tolerance does not create an effective team. Individuals must trust and understand one another to be effective. This may be achieved various ways ,but cultural concepts of communication may vary so greatly that it is only with a concerted effort that teams will work together well.

Our text describes 4 ways to work well intercultural. The first way is to build relationships. This allows people to build trust and learn by experience about a person's culture and how that effects their communication. Second is exchanging information. There must be active involvement in solving issues at hand as well as the comfort and freedom to ask relevant questions. Third there are different methods of persuasion. Many countries don't view persuasion as Americans do. For example some may persuade through stories will here we often persuade by presenting facts, stats, or expiriental knowledge to lead to what we might consider an obvious conclusion. 4th business like deals differ. For example signing a contract may mean very different things in other cultures than it does here. Also saying things in a way that is definitive rather than suggestive may be offensive to those of a different cultural background so it is important to know a little about the culture you're working with.

Workplace Democracy

Deetz's presents the idea of democracy in the workplace in the text. This places emphasis on what our text calls "multiple stakeholder model" in which organizations take into account many different groups thoughts on how they perform their business, not just the stakeholders. In this model there 4 essential ways by which this may be achieved. First all members in an organization must think like an owner (234). This would put all employees in a position where all employees are part of decisions and accountable for their work. Second management and actually work must be reintegrated (234). This points out that paying some people to watch over other who are actually doing work is ineffective and not financially sound. Third only important information should be distributed. This emphasizes how people must have information on the real effects of their work ,not only omn their customer but also on society, the enviroment, and other nations. Fourth the workplace should be more bottom up. This would allow all members of the organization to negotiate and make decisions rather than allowing decisions to be in the hands of a few individuals.

Deetz's idea sounds great but may be impractical. This idea would be a huge shift for most organizations. I think in functioning the idea would work well but the transtition from how things currently are to a system where everyone had input and felt invested might be too much of a shock. Also I thin there are a lot of people who want structure. It can be easier at times to have a structurw in place and go into work knowign that you just have to carry out your tasks. It really depends on the current work culture and personalities of individuals within whether this method could really work in a given organization.

Multipe Identities

Many people feel that they are negotiating between different elements of their identity. In the workplace these elements may be features of the norm or something that is different. In circumstances where self identity varies from the norm it may be hard to negotiate.

Often times a norm is the white heterosexual male, as our text notes. This norm allows for little deviation. Often times people do not match up to at least one of those criteria of what is "normal". For me it is being female. In my current job I do not feel particularly different than the norm because a majority of the employees are female. In the job I hope to have in the future as a social worker there will be a majority of females. Though the social work field has more women in it, it reflects larger society in that more males still hold supervisory and management type positions. For me I consider this a disadvantage ,but one I am not sure how to change.

There are also other groups marginalized because they do not fit the mold. Often times people of color are discriminated against and again we see few people of color in positions of power. Our president is so astounding to Americans for this reason. Not only do people of color have a problem in the workplace ,but also in getting hired in the first place. For instance one MIT study conducted showed that names identified by a team of researchers as"African American" got fewer interviews than "white" names with the same qualifications. This goes to show that it isn't just within the organization ,but embedded in society.