4.4 The idea of Rationality

“Because we want to be accepted and successful in society, we usually want others to see us as rational.” I deeply believe that everybody would like to be accepted in society, but I do not believe that one should be rational just for the sake of being accepted. Fortunately there are many companies that still encourage their employees to be in contact with their irrational side as well.

I used to work for a company where formality was strongly emphasized. We should carry ourselves with all the formality during business hours. However, there was some balance on this dynamic. For instance, this company used to promote barbecues with live music once a month – usually on Fridays, so that the employees could get to know their coworkers better, and let the accumulate stress goes away.

In my view there is no way one can be 100% rational all the time. Human beings possess emotions – which differentiate them from machines. Hence, the perfect combination would be some balance between rationality and irrationality.

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4.3 Bureaucracy

The theorist Max Weber believed that the legitimate power of authority is the factor that makes people obey. Among the three basic authority types (charismatic, traditional, and legal-rational), I will focus on the first one, the charismatic.

The best manager I've ever had was certainly a very charismatic woman. She was able to engage the entire team on a very subtle way. She was honest in regarding to our individual/ group goals and deadlines. And even when the projects were not so exciting, it turned out that we faced them as so, because she would show us innovative ways to see conventional things. And whenever she could not convince us, we still engaged on the projects because the team did not want to let her down.

It was a huge loss for this organization when she moved to another company. Her successor was really professional and competent, but we tended to make comparisons with the former leadership. At the same time, I understand that it must be challenging for the upcoming leader to preserve charismatic authority if the team remain convinced that nobody else can keep up the same charismatic level demonstrated by the former leader. Weber claimed that the negative aspect of charismatic authority occurs when the person leaves the organization, and consequently, it is very difficult to preserve it.

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4.2 Structure and Process

I would like to establish a comparison between the “retrospective sensemaking” and structure on organizations. On page 21 of textbook we see that when people describe their lives to others they tend to highlight the main experienced facts, instead of narrating everything that has ever happened. And this is called retrospective sensemaking; on the other hand, companies have their procedures – which shape how they are, and compose their history.

Experiences contribute to bring meaning to people’s lives. One could not make sense of himself/herself if nothing had ever happened. By the same token, organizations also need to have some structure – such as policies, which dictate some of the key things that are expected from the employees, e.g., behavior, dress code, and so forth.

The author reinforces that although there is no process without structure, “too much structure constraints, limits creativity, and leads to alienation and boredom.” I believe that companies should strive for some balance when they define their procedures, so that people have time to get used to it, and do not refute it just because at the first moment it does not make too much sense.

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4.1 Organizational Structures

This episode happened a month ago. I was invited to participate on a meeting, and my opinion was required in advance in regarding to the agenda. I got really excited for having the opportunity to share ideas on how to make our meetings more effective and dynamic. However I was really disappointed when the meeting started and the agenda was distributed to the participants. None of my suggestions were implemented. To me that was nonsense. If they were not willing to make changes, what is the point of asking for people’s opinion?

Initially I did not understand why the employees kept repeating the slogan it is what it is, but after this experience I got the message. I do not feel motivated to share my ideas anymore, because I know nothing is going to change at this company. While having a rigid agenda sounds comfortable for many people inside this organization, it also prevents that others speak up. It makes perfect sense to me when Anthony Giddens defends that “structure is both an outcome of and a resource for interaction…structure is both enabling and constraining.”

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3.5 Interacting with the Market

On page 368 of textbook, the communication scholar Sheizaf Rafaeli argues that interactivity is not a characteristic of media. While media and communication channels set some upper bounds of interactivity, it is the actual use of a medium that determines the level of interactivity in each particular situation.”

When I first moved to the United States I started seeking for Brazilian publications in order to know more about Brazilians who had been in the US longer than I, to find out more about their lives in America. I found lots of websites and publications in Brazilian Portuguese, and it turned out that I became collaborator for one magazine as a translator. My voluntary work granted me an ad on the same magazine, and through this ad I was able to gather some people interested in learning how to speak Brazilian Portuguese.

In fact this experience would not be possible without the existence of those communication channels. They allowed me to interact with other Brazilians and Americans and share common interests. Through this experience I built up my network, and had the opportunity to share my culture and beautiful native language skills with other people.

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3.4 E-mail Use in Organizations

It is known the benefits of using e-mail in Organizations. On this post, I will focus on the misuse of it, instead. “It's been suggested that e-mail may be (mis)used to organize social events…disseminate misinformation, rumors, complaints, or jokes.” (Box 12.9, p.363).

Because some employees misuse electronic tools, companies have been implementing privacy policies & surveillance methods to protect their businesses. The company I work for does not grant Internet access to contractors, for instance. As a contractor, I feel as isolated as if I was in an island. By the first time in my life I have no access to Internet at work, which to me sounds insane, because I would not misuse this tool. Instead, it could be very helpful on some of my responsibilities.

But anyways, the point of using this example is that although I barely have access to the systems I need, I still had to sign an agreement acknowledging, right upon being hired, that I would not misuse their systems. Having no privacy at all bothers me sometimes. If you ask if all this control makes me produce more or being more effective, I would say absolutely no. Although I understand that costs play a big role on this issue, I can not deny my low feeling of belongingness.

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3.3. Interpreting the Effects of Organizational Communication Technologies

Due to personal choice and time constraints, I do not use Facebook or Orkut. However, I do enjoy using Hotmail Messenger and e-mails to get in touch with family and friends. Most of the time I am happy – so I make sure I use cute smile faces along my messages to express my happiness; whenever the opposite occurs, I use sad little faces to express my emotions. Hence, I do not conceive electronic media as impersonal on these moments.

Weeks ago all employees in my department received an email with instructions on how we should communicate with other departments through e-mail. The subject of that email (communication) called my attention immediately, but the content made many people uncomfortable. To sum up, they drafted some guidelines on how to be more rational when writing emails. “These little symbols of happiness are considered annoying to the receiver.” In this situation PEOPLE clearly started “filtering out nonverbal cues and therefore, inhibited the communication of social and emotional content."

On page 12 of textbook, we see that “instead of formulating e-mail messages as formal letters, beginning with a “Dear…” or a “Hi…”many people simply write the message as if a conversation was already going on.” In my view, if organizations want to do whatever other organizations are doing, they should understand that at the end of the day, their biggest asset is still the human being - preferbly happy. Whenever I receive any help from a co-worker, for instance, I make sure I add some happy face at the end of my message to reinforce my gratitude. I do care about writing correctly, but I do not put efforts to become someone I am not just to follow the protocol.

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