In line with stakeholders’ expectations about openness and transparency, there is a prevailing academic perspective on communication called the ”ritual” model or creating common meaning, where communication is seen as a circular process where individuals and groups together and continuously create meaning (Jansson, 2009), and the perspective is lifted as the modern and ideal (see, inter alia, Varey, 2000; Axley, 1984; Botan & Taylor, 2004). The opposite is depicted as a transmission model where communication is seen as linear transmission, which can be linked to the traditional rational approach where a given input produces a given outcome. Communication was seen here as one-way and with that perception of the staff, the open work area was a way to monitor but also perhaps a way to easily distribute information, while the open office today can be seen as a way to facilitate interaction by lowering barriers for employees to interact with each other, no walls in between. The threshold for providing feedback is said to be lower if you can ”throw” a comment over the table, than if you have to go out of your room and knock on the employee’s office. On the other hand, one can imagine that there are digital channels that may have the same basic function, to quickly throw away an e-mail, skype messages or the like, while the faceless communication can open up for misinterpretation.
With Weicks (2004) theory of sense-making, communication in the workplace is understood as a way to create understanding and meaning around work, individual and social activity, which is necessary for agents to have the opportunity to interpret. Weick argues (2004, p 543) ”Those who forget that sensemaking is a social process miss a constant substrate that shapes interpretations and interpreting.”, and we can imagine the importance of relationships, group membership and informal communication for the process. Lowered thresholds for interaction can promote relationships which are part of the individual’s creation of identity and identification with the organization (Gomez & Ballard, 2013; Hatch and Schultz, 2009). Having the employees feel connected to the collective is a social cement that can create motivation.
One should however be aware that there can always be a transmission perspective to communication in an organization, and to new channels such as changing the type of office space from closed to open, never in itself can entails a two-way communication, but it is how they are used. An open office environment can never on its own constitute an open and transparent organizational culture, but it can be a tool to promote it .
graspingcommunication 