Chapter 10: Interpersonal Workplace Communication
In 1964, a Canadian theorist named Marshall McLuhan made a provocative statement. He wrote: “The medium is the message” (1964). This suggests that how we communicate is even more important than what we communicate! The poet Maya Angelou said something that aligns with this. She said: “At the end of the day, people won’t remember what you said or did, they’ll remember how you made them feel.” This section looks at how we communicate with other people–and how we can communicate better with other people–at work.
Try working through the FACED problem-solving protocol to anticipate what this chapter could be about.
Find the problem: Given that this chapter uses the term “interpersonal communication” in the title, what kinds of problems could it possibly help you solve? Can you think of any personal examples where “interpersonal communication” didn’t go as well as it could have?
Ask “What’s at stake?”: What benefits could be gained through effective interpersonal communication at work? What do we risk losing if we neglect this skillset?
Consider resources and options: Scan the topic list in the chapter titles below. What interpersonal tools do you already have in your communication toolbox that maybe you can learn to use in a more effective, more efficient style?
Evaluate solutions: To evaluate the solutions that this resource offers, you’ll have to click on the chapters and scan through the contents to see which solutions are best for your specific situation.
Draft and deliver the communication solution: Most of the time, we assume that “drafting” means “writing.” In this chapter, however, we explore how we can plan out what to say and how to say it even when our communication channel is verbal. As the first chapter in this section shows, we should think ahead even when our communication is a conversation. The best example of this is a job interview. If the specific problem you’re considering is getting a job, the interview puts the work itself at stake!
