Chapter Overview

Whatever the goal and whatever the context, business and professional communication involves both verbal and nonverbal messages. Verbal messages are clearest when they contain unequivocal and nonabstract language and a minimum of unfamiliar jargon. While clarity is usually the goal, ambiguous messages are sometimes useful ways of promoting harmony, facilitating change, and softening the blow of difficult messages.

Language can sometimes communicate and generate undesirable emotions. Biased terms seem to be objective but actually convey the speaker's attitudes. Trigger words arouse strong emotional reactions in a listener. Effective communicators avoid unintentionally biased language and trigger words.

Social scientists have discovered that men and women typically use speech for different purposes and in different ways. Feminine language emphasizes rapport, the creation and maintenance of relationships, to a greater degree than masculine speech, which is focused more on the report function of communication: accomplishing the task at hand and asserting control over the situation.

Sexual harassment is a combination of verbal and nonverbal behavior that has been recognized as illegal and inappropriate in the workplace. What counts as harassment depends in great part on the perceptions of the person who sees himself or herself as the target. This means that communicators must be sensitive to others' reactions, since their good intentions are not enough to avoid accusations of harassment. People who perceive themselves as targets of harassment in the workplace have a number of options available, ranging from informal to formal.

Nonverbal communication also carries a great deal of meaning, but where words normally express ideas, nonverbal behavior conveys attitudes and emotions. Nonverbal messages are always available, since it is impossible to avoid communicating nonverbally. These messages should be interpreted with caution, however, since they are usually ambiguous and are often culture-bound. Nonverbal messages can be expressed vocally, through appearance (physical stature and clothing), and through the face, eyes, posture, gesture, distance, and time.

The physical environment in which an organization operates also has an important effect on communication, both internal and external. The location and design of a building often make a statement to employees and the public about the organization's philosophy and power structure. In addition, the spatial arrangement of units can make interaction between them easy or difficult, and it can also indicate their relative perceived importance. The type and arrangement of space and objects within a given area also have a strong effect on communication, affecting who talks with whom, the amount of interaction, and the quality of that interaction.