Communication Is a Necessity for Any Relationship

Communication is a necessity for any relationship -- whether personal or professional; without communication there is not a relationship. Though communication is the basis of every relationship, there are good forms of communication as well as not-so-good forms of communication (which we are all probably very aware of). Good communication is imperative in the professional sphere because communication in the workplace is synonymous with information (Dainton & Zelley 2010, p. 2). Good communication, however, is a rather uncertain term or idea because of the fact that what one considers good communication may not necessarily be understood by another depending on that person's culture and/or gender -- thus making it "bad communication." This causes misunderstandings and frustration within individuals, perhaps blaming themselves or the other person for not "getting through."

Men and women see the world very differently because their individual experiences are vastly different. Not only that, but communication is largely biased towards the male population because of men's dominance in our society. What seems pretty clear is that language is not neutral, whether it is because of gender differences or cultural differences. Communication is subjective and axiological as well (Mulvaney 2011) and once we know this, we can therefore understand that everything we say carries an attitude with it and attitudes precede acts (2011). What this means is that there is a moral accountability that goes along with communication.

Communicating in groups can be a difficult task because there are many different individuals with different genders and cultural backgrounds that have to come to agreements on various decisions. This means that everyone in the group has to understand the problem, but how often do people understand problems in the same way? Critical thinking skills as well as specific procedures are just a couple of the approaches that can go into helping groups communicate and coming to decisions as a whole unit.

Communicating in groups where there are both men and women can be a challenge. Lind (2010) suggests that the "communication channel usage differs by gender" (p. 234). Lind found that women value connection and cooperation more than men, but at the same time, women tend to want to continue conversations longer than men, which is evidence of insecurity (2010, p. 234). Lind also claims that there is evidence to support the idea that women do not get "overloaded" with information the way that men do. Another finding was that women perceive email differently than men, but in practice they do not use it differently than men (2010, p. 234). Are these things important to know when thinking about communication? While they are somewhat curious, what findings like Lind's do show is that in everyday communication, whether it be face-to-face or over email, men and women perceive communication (information) differently.

Arguably, one of the most interesting theories of communication theory is 'groupthink' -- the theory that members of a group often think the same or similar things to other members in that group. Groupthink problems occur when members of the group make decisions to early because they believe the decision to be correct because everyone else thinks the same thing. This is a very interesting phenomenon considering that group members are individually quite different. I have seen this happen in groups at the organization where I work. It is the power of numbers. If so many people think the same thing, how can it be wrong? Not only that -- the individuals may feel less pressure to make the correct decision because they know that if the wrong one is made, the whole group will be punished, but individuals will not. I have been in situations where I have had to make a decision with a group and I have found myself (after the fact) to have been affected by this phenomenon without knowing it at the time. Just raising awareness about its potential, however, can help groups take more time in coming to important decisions so that premature ones aren't made.