https://uproxx.com/tv/michael-scott-quotes/
Office love, friendships, and rivalries, the classic recipe for any TV drama… and comedy? The Office is a great example of a comedy and drama that showcases all of these things. But what are these things in an office? Well, its this thing called informal communication. “Well... what is that?” Well thank you for asking! Informal communication is a form of communication in a workplace that is much more casual than your traditional or “formal” communication. Think of it as the interactions we have with friends and coworkers that may or may not have anything to do with work. Ever go out to a bar with some coworkers? Anything you do or say while at that bar is informal communication.
So that’s great, but what’s its use? Well, informal communication is actually very important in workplaces. The more often people interact in the workplace actually leads to higher performance, interaction, trust, and self-disclosure. This is basically saying that if you get along with the people you work with, you’ll do better at your job. The Office is a perfect example of that, as the main characters are interacting with each-other constantly, and by the end of the show their branch is doing one of the best among Dunder Mifflin branches.
Informal communication is also great for spreading information. Ever heard the saying that somebody “heard it through the grapevine”? Yeah. Those rumors are a form of informal communication, and often get heard before any real announcements are made. It’s also important to mention that the most common way people interact is with informal communication. It’s what’s natural, and what you most likely use the most when talking to your coworkers, even if you don’t realize it. Embracing informal communication is important for any business, so the next time you’re hesitant on asking your coworkers out for a drink, remember you can just say that its good for business.
I think relating this concept back to The Office makes it a lot more accessible to those who haven't studied it extensively! I'm still wondering what the negative consequences of informal communication might be, though.
ReplyDeleteHas informal communication always been an effective means for communication or is has it only become a popular means to communicate because of technological lingo? Did you find any drawbacks of informal communication in your research? In my mind, I would think that informal communication has a time and place to be used. That is in the work environment and it shouldn't always be used as the go-to form of communication.
ReplyDeleteI really like the prominent example of The Office making it more accessible for understanding this topic. I would love to hear more about the consequences of informal communication and boundaries that can be put in place to help with informal communication?
ReplyDeleteWhat are some areas of further study? Do you think different categories of business have different levels of appropriate informal communication?
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ReplyDeleteI like how you helped describe your literature review in a casual context. The title also caught my eye right away! I wish you would've spent more time showing positive examples from the Office and connected it back to a good business practice, sort of giving the readers what is suggested in the title.
ReplyDeleteI love the way this was written, it was very informal but in a good an educational way! Do you think informal communication is always acceptable? In all different organizaitonal situations? Between a boss and their worker or just worker to worker?
ReplyDeleteI think you could probably tie in The Office a little more to kind of simplify the concept. Maybe some examples of informal comm with clips or gifs, etc... Overall I think your post does a pretty good job of explaining the concept, and the links to other sources were informative.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with Lauren, I loved the way this was written, especially due to your topic! I think applying it to the show would have been more beneficial, but all of the examples you gave of informal communication was awesome. I also liked the fact about how informal communication can lead to higher performance in an organization!
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