Web Lecture-Dialogic Democracy and Organization

In the web lecture we are informed of different types of possible democracies. These types of democracies include procedural, competitive, participatory, deliberative, and dialogic democracy. Of all these different ways of governing an organization I would say that the dialogic democracy method is the best way to organize an organization. Dialogic democracy benefits the entire organization because it takes active listening and speaking to move forward from one point to another. Organizations who can do get many people actively involved will make people more aware of there surrounds and as a result a better out put by everyone. The only negative to this style of democracy is that it is time consuming. Although this may be true, if time is what a company needs on order to be the most productive, then I would say that it was time well spent compared to a waste of time. 

Chapter 8- Teams

Good communication in teams is vital to its success most of the time. Teams can be found in all organizations, education, and simply through life. Teams with in organizations are defined as groups of employees with representation from a variety of functional areas within the organization to maximize the cross-functional exchange of information. We can see examples of this compared to departments in an organization. Each department has some assortment of teams; whether it’s sales, marketing, or even managing. Teams are vital because it allows for many different points of views and can lead to ground breaking discoveries that could have never happened if it was not for the 'team'. Some different types of teams include virtual, quality improvement, work teams, and also project teams. They all have a purpose and end up serving the whole organization, not only certain departments. 

Chapter 7- Communicating Multiple Identities

In this section we are reminded that as communicators we use symbols and communication to construct our own and others identities. There are many differences between all types of people, and these differences are important to know about when communicating. Allen give us three tools to help us communicate better in groups and on an individual bases. The first is to be mindful when communicating. We have to be aware of what comes out of our mouth so that relationships are not destroyed. The next step is to be proactive. And lastly we should fill our communication toolbox. Doing these three steps will better communication between humans. Knowing how to keep someone engaged, not responding ignorantly, and having a vast vocabulary and modes of communication are ways to improve new relationships that come in our lives.

Chapter 7- Frame 1: Gender Differences at Work

Not many people can disagree that men and women definitely have different ways of communication. In chapter seven we find out some of the ways that men and women converse while at work. According to Tannen of "You just don’t understand: Men and women conversations", Men seek status when engaging and women seek connections when speaking. This may be true, considering how men grow up from being boys; everything is a competition then. But to believe that it the only way men converse is not so in my opinion. Men can also have different motives to speaking with another person, especially in the work place. There are endless opportunities to build relationships in work rather than trying to prove status.

Web Lecture- Pervasive Comunity

I believe our professor was right on when speaking about how we live in a pervasive community. That is why this lecture has been one of the most interesting lectures thus far; we are all well ware of the importance of new communication technologies. The revolution of digital instant messaging along with other technologies has made a huge dent in our everyday lives. There is almost no reason not to either not get a hold of someone or send an important message. Having these technologies keeps all sorts of different groups or organizations connected. I wonder how the 2.6 billion cell phone subscribers would react if all networking signals went down. I'm sure there would be radical problems amongst everyone who puts in use these technologies. 

Blog 4-Technology and the Value of Work

I definitely agree with professor cyborg on that technology has brought many positive changes in life, but has also brought negative impacts. There have been many cases where advanced technological surveillance has helped save a company from problem. As chapter six tells us the top employees in the company are hardly surveillance, when in fact they create most of the moral/ethical problems. Which is a terrible system of checks and balanes. I recall reading about an employee who was caught stealing some medical bandages from work. He was later fired. The ironic part about the whole case is that, his employer provides faulty insurance. In this case who is more in the wrong? Technology serves two sides of the spectrum. It can be somebody’s savior at one point and another’s down fall in different instances. 

Chaper 6- Centrality Of Power

In life there is always going to be some sort of power structure. It is only obvious that there are going to power issues in any organization. We learn five different types of social power according to Robert French and Bertram Raven. There is reward power, coercive power, referent power, expert power, and legitimate power. These different types of powers come down one common theme. One person always has some degree of power over the other. Although, this is an incomplete way of thinking of power. What caught most of my attention was the invisible power that people have over there lives everyday. For example, I am in school so that I have a good job. In today’s world, competition for jobs is vastly growing, so to have an advantage over the next candidate is necessary. People have to work in order to survive. Many people are getting to know this more and more in the U.S. because of the current economic crisis. Our book suggest some type o reform from the invisible power to have a “lifetime of work” the way it is now. Will we see any drastic reform in power over the next eight years? This is something that our president and his staff should look forward to dealing with, while the opportunity is at head.